2025: Unflappable Kering and the Silence of the Lambs
Luxottica, Benetton and LVMH Dynasty Issues and The Apple Does Fall Far from the Tree (with an Exception)...and Tips for Talents! and the Masterclass!
“Anyone can hold the helm when the sea is calm”. - Anonymous
Dear DeLuxers,
How are you? I finally stopped traveling for a couple of weeks and worked from home, delivered a beloved project on which I worked for a year, relaxed in my places surrounded by the Nature I like and I will go back to Milan today for a short week and ready to kick off a new project in Rome very soon and a course at Glion, luxury hospitality university in Switzerland.
First and foremost, I can’t wait to go back working in Rome and sipping my cappuccino with a cornetto alla crema at Ciampini in Piazza in Lucina. Those were the great times of fashion when nothing seemed impossible and when I had the chance to work with the greatest and most challenging minds ever.
Rome is full of ghosts for me, and it’s always challenging to go back. Nostalgia? No, a sense of belonging and pride for the bootcamp I had there. But also the feeling that things have changed dramatically and that we need to push for the evolution of the system. We cannot stay stuck in the past.
Evolve or die.
One can call them ghosts or personal trainers. For me are the latter and they have been the best teachers who gloriously passed the baton to our generation who, honestly, totally wasted the opportunity getting lost in wealth and laziness.
It was sort of an everyday routine to have gatherings with the likes of Bernard Arnault or Sydney Toledano, Michael Burke, Carla and Silvia Fendi, Luca Guadagnino or Silvio Muccino, Anna Wintour, William Klein and Charlize Theron or Sharon Stone asking for Settimio all’Arancio spaghetti al pomodoro at 11am, Karl and Eric Pfrundeur (the most elegant and charming man I have ever met with Toledano, both of them exuding charisma in a quiet, powerful way: today executives are just a pale copycat of them) at Palazzo Fendi in the heart of Rome.
Thanks to them, in a completely chaotic situation, I learned the best rules of a successful brand strategist in fashion and luxury:
stay grounded and well rooted but also follow your instinct and guts
be bold and unapologetic
be neutral, have an helicopter view, see the world as an anthropologist
stay away from the debauchery and mundanity
live authentically, without masks and look the people in the eyes; those wearing a mask or playing a character cannot have mental sanity
do your own homework, study, research, talk to people, create your own community of like minded people
editorials are not real life, Instagram is not real life, my grandfather used to say wisely “The more fire I see the less I heat up” this is the priciple of my analysis. It comes from ancient wisdom, not from a Big Four slide
don't repress what you perceive, it's the most powerful navigator you have at your disposal
if you try to close the mouth of Etna and prevent it from erupting, you will hurt yourself badly: that’s exactly what is happening right now in the industry
This morning I received a message on Linkedin highlighting: “Susanna, you wrote it so many times before and now Les Echos is getting it”!
I can do this thanks to my way of life which is based on openness, authenticity and the clear message that I am not perfect and not searching perfection but that a good brand strategist cannot live a fake life. So many No’s need to be said and clear pathways must be taken, even when it’s painful. You have to build your own story based on real bricks, not on social media retouched and edited pics to show a life that doesn’t exist. I always post on Instagram real time pics, no filter, no editing.
This morning I woke up, had breakfast, decided walk in the pinewood, dressed in the scruffiest way (Karl would have never accepted as he said “"Sweatpants are a sign of defeat. You lost control of your life so you bought some sweatpants."), I met several friends of the old times at school with their dogs along the path, had a chat, walked part of the path with an 80 years old faster than me (I was not in the performance mood, I don’t care), had a coffee at my old time friend bar by the beach, had some chat, came back and got ready for my train to Milan. Fully charged. On Wednesday I will be back to my simple life.
You cannot be a great fashion and luxury professional in the upcoming chapter if you are not willing to see the reality and, instead of escaping every now and then, being able to listen to yourself first. And it’s a trial and errors path, but it’s worthy.
It will make you a better person, and a successful professional.
We should build a way of living that integrates well being every single day, not only for a weekend escape. Last week a managing director told me “yes, I will work the whole week, no bridge, but next Wednesday I will go to Ibiza”. Fantastic. You are a workaholic (like we all are) and you spend your little free time to destroy yourself or to fake a holiday life made of plastic pictures to be spread on social media. And then back to frustration and repression the most of the time. And then you are unhappy, you feel the void, and don’t enjoy your work nor your real life anymore.
We are in the driver seat of our lives, not a vending machine for those who surround us.
I know that this is upsetting for many but if sharing my experience can help even one of you to succeed, it’s worthy. And I know it from the messages that I receive.
Now it’s time for a reality check and a full reset.
We are living exciting times with a fashion and luxury industry dramatically changing its landscape, and by the end of 2025 we will witness the unimaginable but we are ready, as we are not taken by surprise.
The SUN DeLuxe newsletters of the past year clearly highlighted the disrupted conditions of this industry, despite fantastic brand rankings and optimistic consulting firms, but it also tried to support talents with tips and highlights with a long term vision. And, yes, the solutions are there within reach.
And in your archive here on Substack. You can read/listen around 80 contributions about the real state of the industry so far and find insights and highlights that have well and precisely anticipated today systemic crisis.
Also a Big Announcement! Save the Date! The upcoming Masterclass I will deliver for your eyes only, and only live and for paid subscribers only, will take place on Zoom on Friday, May 23rd at 2pm and it will be about “Fashion and Luxury Industry. What’s Next. Building on Ruins: the Next Chapter of the Industry”
Don’t miss it! There will be no registration. But lots of Q&A instead.
We know the reality since a long time and we also got prepared to embrace uncertainty and face very severe issues, supporting the brands in need of a complete reset in terms of brand strategy and business model.
We have all the tools needed to survive this epic bust. Not sure about the establishment preserving the status quo.
Let’s see the key news of the week. It’s clearly about Kering, what else?
Unflappable Kering and the Silence of the Lambs
“A smooth sea never made for a skilled sailor.” - Anonymous
“As we had anticipated, Kering faced a difficult start to the year. In this environment, we are fully focused on executing on our action plans to reach our strategic and financial objectives and strengthen the positioning of our Houses on all our markets. We are increasing our vigilance to weather the macroeconomic headwinds our industry faces, and I am convinced that we will come out stronger from the present situation.”
François-Henri Pinault, Chairman and CEO
This is an epic statement. A very strong and optimistic one.
Kering is openly facing difficult times since at least two years.
There is no clarity nor precision about what are the exact plans to reach the goals
The macroeconomic environment has to be accurately included in the strategic plans because strategists must do that as a routine job.
There is no certainty that any entity of the industry will come out stronger, even less Kering that has very weak fundamentals since too much time
So what’s next? In a standard situation:
The top executives should be scrutinized and eventually fired for not being able to recover the group from a systemic bust
Transparency should be applied and the precise plans for recovery shared officially
The best sailors, the more entitled should be driving the boat
The group seems to be unflappable instead, and making the same statements since too long to be able to reassure enough markets and customers and employees.
Talking the talk is not enough and even the most affectionate investment bankers now are very doubtful of the results of the coming year.
Is Mayhoola going to take over Kering? Everybody is asking me.