From Moncler (and Fendi) hackathon to Gucci start up attitude and Brunello Cucinelli get together with Silicon Valley moguls in Borgo Solomeo. Why fashion brands are so obsessed by the Silicon Valley model?
Once fashion was all about disruption and innovation. Take Mary Quant. Coco Chanel. Giorgio Armani. They galvanized social change through their brands. Fashion has always been ahead of times, of lifestyle, of way of thinking. Because it put creativity at the service of the society.
Today Brands analyze social trends and then try to ride them in order to make as money as possible. In most of the cases perfectly executing insights from management consulting firms. They are prestigious corporations. And they lost the disruptive spirit, the free thinking and the courage to be true leaders in social change. Aware of the lack of creativity and innovation inside, they look for it where they think it's still sparkling. In a place unimpressed by trendy clothes and expensive accessories. “We always think at double digit growth... We must think as a startup and start from zero again every year" , said recently Gucci CEO Bizzarri. But, why an established corporation should think as a start up?
When you are too involved in a business, it’s nice to talk to outsiders, to see different things or look for different angles. But this is to take it too far, especially as mentioned before, to a place where people don’t give a damn about fashion. It doesn’t make sense for me either.
«The Hackathon is a workshop where we explore, learn, cooperate with people with whom we never worked, people with different culture, vision, point of views, using digital and technologies enablers", said Moncler CEO Remo Ruffini and he added "«only the companies with a digital culture have the natural attitude to experiment" Why, a successful billion euro brand should find fresh ideas through a marathon when Fast Company in 2015 wrote "Why Hackathons are bad for innovation. Solving a problem in a vacuum is a waste of time and money. Worse, it distracts from the way innovation actually occurs". "Over the last few days we have welcomed here in Solomeo my friends from the Silicon Valley, a place that is far away in distance but so close to my soul. How could I ever thank these guys, whom I consider the young Leonardos of the third millennium, for coming to visit me to our Solomeo, the Hamlet of the Soul" wrote in a post on Instagram Brunello Cucinelli.
Why being so compliant as to define some smart entrepreneurs in such a prentious way when you are one of the most clever Italian entrepreneurs? It seems that fashion acknowledges its helplessness to create coolness. And the need to borrow from other industries to benefit of a sort of a mirror effect. But the final effect is just a sort of a reproduction of a culture that isn't corresponding to the one existing in fashion today. Fashion has to find its way to be again a leader industry instead of a late adopter. An explorer instead of a groupie. And to show how it can drive the world.
by Susanna Nicoletti - a fashion and luxury marketing, communication and digital senior professional in the industry with boutique consultancy
