Prada Group CEO: The Old Normal of Luxury, the Bet on Versace and Why Patience Beats Trends

Summary

Podcast Summary

In Good Company with Nicolai Tangen
Episode: Prada Group CEO: The Old Normal of Luxury, the Bet on Versace and Why Patience Beats Trends
Guest: Andrea Guerra, CEO of Prada Group
Date: April 8, 2026

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Episode Overview

In this episode, Nicolai Tangen interviews Andrea Guerra, CEO of the Prada Group, in Milan. The discussion centers on the enduring DNA of Prada, the evolving landscape of luxury fashion, Prada's recent acquisition of Versace, the strategy behind Miu Miu's phenomenal growth, and Guerra's philosophy on leadership and company culture. The conversation exudes a blend of Italian heritage, business acumen, and creative leadership, interspersed with candid reflections on patience, storytelling, and the true nature of luxury.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

The DNA of Prada

• Cultural Pillars: Prada is described not just as a brand but as a “point of view” deeply rooted in art, architecture, and literature (00:40).
  • Quote: “Prada is an opinion. Prada is culture. Prada is totally winded in certain cultural pillars such as art, architecture, literature, and has always an opinion.” – Andrea Guerra (00:40)
• Attention to Detail: Every aspect of Prada is meticulously considered; nothing is left to chance (01:09).
  • Quote: “There is nothing which is not thought. There is nothing ... out of place.” – Andrea Guerra (01:09)

The Changing Landscape of Luxury

• Industry 'Normalization': After years of explosive growth, Guerra believes the luxury industry is moving toward a period of “normalization”—or what he calls the “old normal” where exclusivity, selectivity, and experience are central (02:12, 03:10).
  • Quote: “It’s not the new normal, it’s the old normal. Luxury is exclusivity, selectivity, is value, is dreams, it’s experience, it’s hospitality.” – Andrea Guerra (03:10)
• Adaptation: Prada adapts by enhancing the brand experience (e.g., Hong Kong store with an “apartment” floor for exclusive events) rather than simply increasing sales volume or number of stores (03:34, 08:08).

The Role of Patience

• Strategic Patience: Guerra emphasizes patience as essential for sustaining creativity and brand management (04:53).
  • Quote: “This means patience. This means listening to each other, ... debating. This means taking the proper time to take decisions on ... where the brand is going.” – Andrea Guerra (04:53)
• Long-Term Cycles: The success of Miu Miu is attributed to a willing embrace of longer business cycles rather than chasing short-term trends (07:40).

Miu Miu: Growth & Identity

• Inclusive Rebellion: Miu Miu is successful due to its inclusivity and its out-of-the-box approach to fashion (06:15, 07:01).
  • Quote: “Miu Miu is an inclusive brand... you don’t feel wrong with Miu Miu.” – Andrea Guerra (06:15)
• Discipline in Growth: Store numbers have been tightly controlled—growth is focused, not sprawling (08:08).

Storytelling & Emotions in Luxury

• Storytelling as Core: Guerra sees storytelling and emotion as central to luxury retail, more so than product features or price (09:04, 10:01).
  • Quote: “If I’m able to tell you a story that makes sense ... it’s much easier to have your hand going to the pocket and getting the wallet out.” – Andrea Guerra (09:24)
• AI and Personalization: CRM and artificial intelligence are used primarily for personalized messaging and targeted “dream-selling” (11:20, 12:14).
  • Quote: “We are working like hell ... to really understand which message to which people and how to personalize that message ... The more you’re able to do that, the more business becomes hot.” – Andrea Guerra (11:39)

On Trends, Credibility & Sustainability

• Credibility Above Quiet Luxury: Rather than chase trends, Guerra insists that authenticity and credibility sustain a brand (13:07, 13:26).
• Young Consumers & Sustainability: Sustainability is non-negotiable for younger buyers, who expect these values as a given (15:29).
  • Quote: “Not on young. No, not on young people. Not at all. ... You are in that sustainable world. You are in digital. You don’t have to think about it.” – Andrea Guerra (15:29)

Versace Acquisition

• Cultural Fit: Prada bought Versace not to build a conglomerate, but because of its deep cultural roots and potential for revitalization (16:09, 16:33).
  • Quote: “Versace invented glamour, Versace invented pop. Versace invented the great models, Versace invented music in the shows...” – Andrea Guerra (16:33)
• Patience & Challenge: They recognize Versace has been “a little bit mismanaged as a brand,” but are prepared for a patient, long-term approach (18:29).

Scale, Pricing & The Essence of Luxury

• Not Chasing Scale for Scale’s Sake: Growth, not conglomeration, is about protecting distinctiveness while becoming robust enough for the market (20:42, 21:09).
• It’s Not About Price: True luxury should make you “so happy that you give me your credit card without even asking what is the price” (21:41, 22:37).

Global Dynamics (China, Europe, U.S.)

• Market Plateaus: After periods of strong growth in North America and China, consumer rebounds and temporary plateaus are occurring (23:20).
• Tourism & War: Europe faces unique headwinds due to less inbound tourism and general macroeconomic complications (24:34, 24:38).

Leadership & Company Culture

• ‘Resonant Leadership’: Guerra identifies with this model, aiming to align mind and heart toward a shared mission and foster employee expression (25:57, 26:27).
  • Quote: “Convincing your mind and convincing your heart that we are all in a journey with a very clear mission and allowing everyone to express to their best.” – Andrea Guerra (26:27)
• Generational Transition: Guerra sees himself as a bridge to the next generation of leadership at Prada (27:03).
• Decision-Making: Decisions at Prada are debated fiercely but are real, not personal—compromise is “upper, not lower” (31:08, 32:00).
  • Quote: “Compromise is one of the most fantastic behaviors of human beings. But it has to be in the upper side.” – Andrea Guerra (32:00)

Personal Development as a Leader

• Experience vs. Energy: Guerra now leverages deep experience but believes “energy beats experience” (34:41).
• Masochistic Drive: He jokes about his own relentless standards and difficulty celebrating wins (35:24).
• Cultural Change: The goal is to achieve a culture where people feel “everything has changed” but can’t pinpoint when—empowering real debate, self-expression, and agency (36:41, 36:59).

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On the nature of luxury:
  “Luxury is exclusivity, selectivity, is value, is dreams, it’s experience, it’s hospitality. This is what it has always been.” — Andrea Guerra (03:10)

• On patience:
  “Be patient. Be patient. This generation is not patient. I love them, but they’re not patient.” — Andrea Guerra (41:23)

• On pricing and true luxury:
  “You should be so happy that you give me your credit card without even asking what is the price? This is what we have to do.” — Andrea Guerra (22:37)

• On leadership & company culture:
  “Allow people to have real power on things. Allow people to do things, allow people to make some mistakes, allow people to give their opinions. I love when people debate. Then I say let’s take a decision. If you’re not able to take a decision, I will take a decision.” — Andrea Guerra (36:59)

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Timestamps for Key Segments

| Timestamp | Topic/Highlight | |------------|--------------------------------------------------------| | 00:40 | The DNA of Prada | | 03:10 | The ‘Old Normal’ of Luxury | | 04:53 | The Importance of Patience | | 06:15 | Miu Miu's Identity & Growth | | 09:24 | Storytelling & Emotion in Selling Luxury | | 11:20 | AI & Personalization in Customer Relationships | | 13:26 | The Role of Authenticity and Credibility | | 15:29 | Sustainability and Young Consumers | | 16:33 | Versace’s Cultural Identity | | 18:29 | The Rationale & Vision for the Versace Acquisition | | 21:41 | Pricing Philosophy & the Essence of True Luxury | | 23:20 | Shifts in China, North America, and Europe Markets | | 26:27 | Resonant Leadership Philosophy | | 31:08 | Decision-making at Prada | | 34:41 | Experience versus Energy in Leadership | | 36:41 | Driving Cultural Transformation | | 41:23 | Advice to Young Leaders: Patience |

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Conclusion

The episode offers a rich exploration of Prada’s heritage and Andrea Guerra’s leadership philosophy. Listeners gain an insider’s view into the "old normal" of luxury, the disciplined growth of Miu Miu, the strategic vision for Versace, and the patient, human-centric approach that Guerra champions at Prada. Throughout, Guerra weaves together reflections on culture, storytelling, and innovation, providing both inspiration and practical wisdom for leaders—inside and beyond the fashion industry.

Transcript

[A]

Hi everyone. Today I'm in Milan, the heart of the Italian fashion and I'm in extremely good company with Andrea Guerra, CEO of the Prada group. Now, Andrea took over three years ago, stepped into the Prada shoes and at that time the group has grown quarter by quarter. Miu Miu is arguably now the hottest brand in luxury and you just bought Versace.

[B]

So warm welcome, welcome and happy you're here.

[A]

Now Prada is more than 100 years old. What, what's the DNA of Prada?

[B]

In short, you know, Prada is, is a unique brand. It's. Prada is a point of view. Prada is in opinion, Prada's culture. Prada is totally winded in certain cultural pillars such as art, architecture, literature, and has always an opinion.

[A]

And how do you see that in the brand?

[B]

You can see that in a brand. You can see that in a brand in any aspect, in any location, in anything we do, there is nothing which is not thought. There is nothing which you can spot details which are out of place. There is nothing that we do by chance and not linked to a thought and to an opinion about what's going on in the society.

[A]

So what's constant and what is changing in the realm?

[B]

Nothing is changing. Nothing is changing. Obviously the world is changing, the trends are changing, fashion is changing, but the brand is always that same thing.

[A]

How is fashion changing now? How is the luxury?

[B]

You know, I think this industry is upside down.

[A]

What does that mean?

[B]

This industry has gone through a couple of decades of constant growth. Let's go to any textbook. That's not possible, that's not feasible. And I think we were all happy. And this industry has grown by three times, four times, five times in the last only 10, 15 years. So I think that now we have to go through a period of normalization. We have to go through a period where maybe we have been a little bit spoiled. So we have to go back to certain uncertain aspects of the business.

[A]

So what's normalization? What's the new normal?

[B]

I think it's the old normal. This is what we have to look for. It's not the new normal, it's the all normal. Luxury is exclusivity, selectivity is value, is dreams, it's experience, it's hospitality. This is what we have to do and this is what it has always been.

[A]

So how do you, how are you adapting to the new, the new old?

[B]

You know, I can tell you that there are certain things which are very visible. We have gone through a refurbishing of a huge store In Hong Kong, where we would have followed our usual logic of one floor for men, one floor for women, one floor for accessories. Instead we have decided to allow one entire floor to be an apartment, to be a place which is totally dressed by our creative directors. So it's a unique spot where you can spend time, where you can have friends for dinner, for lunch, spend time for your birthday. And we're happy about that. And we're happy to offer you very special and exclusive products. And this is the all normal, right?

[A]

You talk about change at the same time. I hear you talk about the importance of patience. Just how does patience play in.

[B]

You know, I think that the winning brands are those brands where there is a constant positive tension between brand management and creative direction. And this means patience. This means listening to each other, this means debating. This means taking the proper time to take decisions on how to and where the brand is going and where creativity is going. And this is long term, cannot be short term.

[A]

In which brands in the world are you seeing that creative tension?

[B]

I can talk about my brand and we have it. We have it. We have long term solutions. We don't have a creative director coming in and going out. We have long term commitments and that's the only thing that the consumer will pay in the long term, then you can have a success here, XSXX there. But that's short term.

[A]

Talking of creativity, you started Miu Miu from scratch, right in 93. And it's an extraordinary brand growing very, very fast. Why is it so successful?

[B]

You know, Miu Miu has. I always say Miu Miu is an inclusive brand. Miu Miu is women only. It's imprinted in a young lady, but it's inclusive. You don't feel wrong in wearing Miu Miu on a Monday morning or on a Saturday night. You don't feel wrong being 25 years old and 50 years old. You don't feel wrong with Miu Miu.

[A]

You say that it's rebellious how it's

[B]

out of the schemes, it's out of the fashion logic.

[A]

How large can a brand and still be rebellious and out of the fashion?

[B]

You know, I think it's if we look to ladies only brands, there are brands which are four or five times bigger than us. So I'm not alluding that we have to be there, but there is space to grow. But what is important is that we have somehow attracted a lot of brands in our field. We don't have to move from our field.

[A]

Typically you see these three year cycles. Do you Think we'll see that through.

[B]

You know, this is a five year cycle which has lasted a longer than what we expected. And we need to be ready for a normalization. We need to be ready for normal growth. And you know, you're never ready for that. But we have to be ready for that. We don't have to be complacent. It's a tough. We have to be pretty masochistic.

[A]

What are the, what are the tools you use to be masochistic?

[B]

You know, it's, it's no. My, my usual answer is no. We're offering you another store. No. We're offering you this opportunity. No. So this is what we do. We had 170 stores three years ago. I think we got 176 today with the kind of growth we had. So I prefer to enlarge certain stores, but I don't want new stores. In five years time, maybe we will have 180 stores, 185 stores, but that's it. And that gives you the idea that we have not opened the gates to success. We have not gone in new categories. We're not open to men. It's us. This is what we are. This is who we are and these are who we want to talk to.

[A]

Tell me about emotions and dreams.

[B]

It's all about emotions and dreams. If an, you know, I'm always. And this is happening since I was selling white goods. Can you imagine?

[A]

Because I have known you for 20

[B]

years

[A]

and you had talked about this all the time and this is it.

[B]

If I'm able to tell you a story that makes sense, if I'm able to get your emotions going, it's much easier to have your hand going to the pocket and getting the wallet out. But I need to be absolutely credible and I have to be into the brand and I have to engage you and this is everything we're trying to do.

[A]

Where did you learn storytelling?

[B]

You know, I think it's. I think that it management.

[A]

Like did you have a grandfather who were telling you when you were.

[B]

If I take my father. My father probably was saying five words in a day. So it was not a storyteller. I can tell you that there are two things in management which I particularly trust. One thing is that people and emotions are the vehicle to everything. The second is when you're able to manage the mix. Your profit and loss is solid. And these two things go much together because when you're telling a story you need to understand if you are going towards an entry price or if you want to dream of €100,000. And it's not anymore how you're dressed, how you're entering a store, who you are. Because I mean, tech has totally revolutionized society and how people are coming into stores. And sometimes you, you can be really misinterpreting what's, what's happening in the store right now.

[A]

The world is changing and the media picture is changing and we got social media and we got attention spans like ants. How does the storytelling art change?

[B]

You know, I think there are two things. First of all, when people are asking me, how are we using artificial intelligence? The main part we're using artificial intelligence is in our CRM.

[A]

Customer relationship management. Yes.

[B]

We are working like hell, hours and hours to really understand which message to which people and how to personalize that message to that person in that moment. And the more you're able to do that, the more business becomes hot.

[A]

Okay, so I'm coming into your store. You know my background, you know what

[B]

I bought with you. But even before you're coming to my store, okay, that's where everything starts.

[A]

What do you sell me? What dream do you sell me?

[B]

So I think artificial intelligence today allows you to go into your data and really what I always say, look alike. So you bought these things to me. I'm coming out with this new drop, this new package, these new ideas. And I think these new ideas have these characteristics. How can I match these things? And how can I match how, how hot you are in that moment to come into my brand and buy? And when I'm able to connect this, wow, I have conversion rates which I've never seen in my life.

[A]

Well, I, I intend to buy a shirt in Milan. So let's see whether it's going to be a Prada shirt or not. Let's do. Where does this fit in with quiet luxury?

[B]

You know, I do not know where. If it is what is quite, what is quite large. You know, I, I am not able to answer to this question. I, I don't think. I mean, there is brands which are the, the real thing is how credible is a brand? I mean, we're seeing brands going up, got brands.

[A]

What does that pay for a brand to be credible over time?

[B]

You know, it's what I was saying at the beginning. It's that respect of the brand with a creative job, which makes sense at that moment.

[A]

How do you get young people attracted to the brands?

[B]

I think that this is the, the biggest concern, the biggest opportunity, and it's a great amount of our job. We're out today. Exactly Today with a Rhynilon period, which is this. So as you know, Prada has been known for its nylon products since ages. Then sustainability comes and we have recreated a nylon, which is a. Which we call re nylon, which is totally sustainable and anything you look at, you can read something about that fiber. We are out with a communication today which is around the education around pollution in oceans, nylon and plastics. And we are in our stores with a completely and unique collection of Rhein island, which we have linked to a communication to the younger generations. So using those media, attracting those kind of, let's call, influencers, but also having certain price points and it's working really well.

[A]

Is sustainability dropping down on people's preference lists?

[B]

Not on young. No, not on young people. Not at all. For young people is. You are. You don't have to think about that. You are in that sustainable world. You are in digital. You don't have to think about it. Then if we go in government and politics, maybe.

[A]

Yes. Moving on. Versace Iconic has been owned by Americans for seven years now and you are buying it back to Italy. Why did you buy it?

[B]

It's an opportunity. We were not out for acquisitions. We feel that the two engines we had can take us somewhere close to 10 billion euros as an ambition.

[A]

What's the DNA of Versace?

[B]

Versace is something we like because again, it was born in culture, it was born in this Mana Grecia has this Greek, ancient Greek influence on Italian culture and it's winded in pop. Versace invented glamour, Versace invented pop. Versace invented the great models, Versace invented music in the shows. So it's this spin, which is very different from our portfolio, but it's in our DNA that we love, that everything goes and starts from capture.

[A]

So when you have these things with glamour and the things you mentioned and you take Donatella Versace out of it, does the brand still contain it?

[B]

I think that Donatella Versace is not out. It's part of our team in giving an image and networking which we love. This is the first second. I think that Versace has incredible long roots that you need to respect, that you need to keep, as I said, with that kind of tension and being proper in 2026.

[A]

I just read an African proverb this morning that if you got long routes, you can take more wind, you know? I agree. Now, what did you see in Versace that other people didn't see?

[B]

I think that many people have seen what we have seen. But we are ready to take the tackle, we're ready to Take the challenge. It's not an easy job, has been a little bit mismanaged as a brand, not as a business. And we're ready to go and we feel that we know how to do a brand business. We are patient. We don't think that we have to be successful tomorrow morning. But we need to plant seeds, we need to nurture, we need to have the right people in place and the team is ready to go. So that is something that we have done pretty quickly.

[A]

And you have a new creative officer, Diesel Mulier.

[B]

Yeah. And this is a game. This has to be a really long term relationship.

[A]

How do you think he will change the expression of the brand? We will see.

[B]

We will see around creativity. There is never anything that is already designed or written down.

[A]

Is there like a uniform creative process across the brands? How does a creative process work?

[B]

No, I think that there is people who are working and taking a lot of times to prepare. There are people who are impetus last minute. There is people who are doing things and crashing them, then redoing things and then crashing them and redoing things and crashing them. And finally the last day they have what they want.

[A]

So are Italians more creative than other people?

[B]

I wouldn't say so. But if we go statistically for sure, since since 1500, I think we have been pretty creative. Yeah.

[A]

Both in art and music. You mentioned 10 billion. Why is it important for you to grow the size of the total group?

[B]

You know, we have.

[A]

You had a stint at the LVMH group. Are you trying to recreate a big conglomerate?

[B]

Absolutely no. And the way we work, the way we are organized, it's pretty different. But we're not in a niche business.

[A]

So we need some scale.

[B]

And we think that on one side, being very distinctive with our brands and having a certain kind of scale allows us to protect ourselves. This is what we think.

[A]

How do you think about, you know, pricing when something is hot and you know it's tempting to price it up, just how do you think about it? Because I'm seeing some brands and I'm just, I'm just amazed by the price points.

[B]

My first answer would be, I don't care. Yeah, that is, am I able to get you your heart, your passion, your dreams, your emotions somewhere? If I'm able to do that full stop. Each one of us is spending. I don't want to say money could be money could be time in so many different things we love. On a bottle of wine. I mean, let's discuss it. Or on a incredible room in front of the ocean. There are many different ways we can spend our money. And if I. The issue is once you talk about price, it's evident I made a mistake in whatever I'm doing in luxury.

[A]

What do you mean?

[B]

I mean that you should never talk about pricing because you should be be so happy that you give me your credit card without even asking what is the price? This is what we have to do.

[A]

Yeah, it happens with some people, but it doesn't happen with everybody.

[B]

Right, sure. And maybe, maybe this is why I'm saying all normal. Maybe this industry has gone a little bit too far out. This industry has lost one consumer out of five in the last four years, three years. It's a lot, eh?

[A]

How, how is the dynamics, I mean how are the dynamics in China changing?

[B]

I don't know if they are changing for sure. We have gone through this unbelievable evolution. Then North America stopped, consumer digested and then we have seen a kind of new dynamics, new positive dynamics. Same thing is happening in China today. So maybe we have gone a little bit too far out. Two years of digestions and now we are seeing a kind of plateau and slightly positive dynamic. And I would say that even because of the wars, Europe today is the animal or is the region that is digesting the great growth hat. Europe is by definition a touristic market. And today, I mean Americans are not coming because they think the war is in Europe. Asians cannot come because I mean it's so difficult today to fly over East West. So Europe I think will have a little bit of normalization.

[A]

Any reflections on the future of Europe?

[B]

Complicated. I mean today, today Europe is in the middle of. It's in the middle of. It's the week in between big powers. I mean it's unbelievable to see that our economics, our macros, it's probably the slowest, but we have the heaviest currency today. I mean it's complicated. I don't think I am the person that can tell you what will happen macro to Europe. But for sure, what I can tell you from our point of view that I hope that we are still able to demonstrate to the world that coming to Europe makes sense in a touristic manner. But today Asians are really, I mean Compared to 2019, probably we're at 50% of what it was compared to 2022, 23Americans are probably minus 20, minus 25 compared to that. So I think that we need to rethink,

[A]

Move on to leadership. How would people define your leadership style?

[B]

Mine? Yeah. Ah, you know, one day I write a book, I don't usually read. I don't usually read business books at all. But there was a lady that was giving us a kind of session in the United States and I read her book and she was talking about resonant leadership, which I love.

[A]

What is it?

[B]

Which is convincing your mind and convincing your heart that we are all in a journey with the very clear mission and allowing everyone to express to their best. This is what I think I'm doing every day.

[A]

Are you as immersed in Prada as you were in Luxottica in Italy?

[B]

No, I think more IBM.

[A]

H. Why?

[B]

Because we are in a long day generation evolution phase. So we have a very solid founders mindset, very strong. And on the other side, we also need to prepare the company for the long term. And what is fantastic by this Italian founders and family in Italy that they have said this is the root never seen in Italy. This is the root. It's very clear Lorenzo will be the leader in the long term. Andrea is helping this journey and everyone knows it. And this is what we're trying to do.

[A]

And how is it to be a leader than when people know that you are kind of the bridge between generations?

[B]

I don't care either you are or you're not. And I don't think I have any issues with that.

[A]

Why were you so keen to take this job?

[B]

You know, I know the family sins. 20 plus years we have built the Branda brand in eyewear from scratch to over a billion. It's a big number for eyewear and I love the way Mr. Bertelli was working on the products and collections. I love the way the spin on certain image events and coming into these places and looking on how Mrs. Mua was working. So I always love them. And so you got to know them through the eyewear. Yeah.

[A]

At Lexotica.

[B]

Yeah, yeah. And we know knew each other very well and we had other opportunities to come to work together earlier. But somehow I always said that I was not ready for that kind of cultural landscape that Prada group was. Then Lorenzo joined in 201718 and we had this conversation again in 2022 and a lot of things started to change, such as the way the brands were much more clearly positioned. A completely new mission on sustainability, a completely new mission on the consumer and cultural behaviors in the group. So we were really evolving in that way of working and way of relationship between people in the company. Now I have seen it and I said I'm ready to help when cultural relationships.

[A]

What was changing there?

[B]

Prada group as you know and it's very well Known in the industry has been quite a hard group, which is fine, which I like. But then I love to allow people to express themselves. And I didn't think that at time that was feasible. When I joined, I thought it was feasible and I was right.

[A]

So how are decisions made?

[B]

It's fun. If you participate to certain meetings, you say, these guys are crazy. The debate is strong, but I love it. It's real expression and can even last 10 days of. You need to be strong in this, in this. In this group. And once you understand the logics, it's really nothing personal. Not, as the Americans say frequently nothing personal, then they kill you. But it's more a. It's really a kind of opinion debate.

[A]

Does that kind of decision making lead to better results, you think? I think so. Why?

[B]

Because takes the best. It's not a lower compromise, it's an upper compromise. Compromise is one of the most fantastic behaviors of human beings. But it has to be in the upper side.

[A]

How are you a different leader now compared to when you were younger? How old are you now?

[B]

You are 60.

[A]

You're in your prime.

[B]

You know, I've been lucky. It's 25 years I've been SEO of public companies and today I'm quicker. Unfortunately, in so many meetings I already know what people are going to tell me. But this is part of the age.

[A]

Do you still listen to them?

[B]

I think I'm very good in listening to what they're not telling me. The other day I finished up a conversation with one person and we stayed together for half an hour. And I was saying, I see you strange these days. And he started talking at the end of the meeting. I say thank you especially for the things you have not told me.

[A]

Now, what are the kind of things that people don't tell you?

[B]

You know, sometimes people are not always ready to confront on tensions, on problems, on issues. While it's so easy to say, okay, we have a problem, I don't care where it comes from, but we have a problem. Let's face it, let's understand and let's be quick. Let's debate as much as we want, but then let's be quick. I hate that formal slide management. I cannot stand it anymore. So I introduced certain in this last year, certain rules. So you cannot come with a budget with more than 10 pages. And I love the guy. Very funny. He came with 10 A3 pages so he could light more things in. But this is what I love now.

[A]

Do you not have overhead slides like presentations?

[B]

We have but short piece. We can cut at least the first 15 minutes. I don't need to go to Adam and Eve again every time.

[A]

In what other ways have you developed as a leader, you think?

[B]

You know, I think that I still think that energy beats experience. And I, I want to prove it every day. So these things that if you don't have an experience, you cannot hold that position. I don't believe it. But on the other side, I have that experience today. I mean being 25 years as a CEO where every bloody day you're seeing your result of the day before. You learn so many things and I try to use it as much as I can.

[A]

Where does energy come from, you think?

[B]

I think I'm pretty masochistic. So you know, we're having a great sale yesterday and I say, oh shit, how do we comp next year? So I'm a little bit masochistic. But I do my best to celebrate. That's one of my issues.

[A]

Somebody introduced me to the concept of high agency people. So people who figure out where they go and they are forceful and they use technology to get there. And it's just struck me lately how big difference there is between people who actually do things and the rest.

[B]

You know, I think that technology is there. I think that there is more technology than what we are able to use today. So my constant mission is to make the culture of the company evolve. The more we are able to evolve, the more we become executors and able to use all the technology available.

[A]

How are you changing the corporate culture?

[B]

You know, my desire is that one day I ask to people what has changed and I say everything. And then I say when? I don't know. So it's what I was saying before. It's self expression. This is what I'm trying to do every day.

[A]

What is need to be done.

[B]

Allow people to have real power on things. Allow people to do things, Allow people to make some mistakes, Allow people to give their opinions. I love when people debate. Then I say let's take a decision. If you're not able to take a decision, I will take a decision. This is what I love.

[A]

What should we wear this summer?

[B]

Prada or Mugo?

[A]

But what kind of style?

[B]

You know, again, Prada is one thing and Miu Miu is a different thing. With Prada we have decided to go. We have taken a decision to go with the color. So we have decided that for us this summer is white and we have gone all in and this will be very visible.

[A]

And why is this summer white?

[B]

You can ask this question to Mrs. Buchanan, not to me.

[A]

And how risky is it for a firm to be all white? I don't care.

[B]

It's not risky. This is our life. We got. I mean, we have a point of view. It's never risky. It's risky to follow the trends. That's risky.

[A]

I guess it's less risky to be white than pink.

[B]

You know, I think it's. You need to always in your brand, in your positioning, in your identity. I need to surprise you, I need to comfort you. And we need to do something new together.

[A]

Well, you're not very white yet, so I will see this summer. What do you.

[B]

What do you read? I read basically novels. And I go back rereading things. Frequently.

[A]

Such as?

[B]

I am rereading the Metamorphosis of Kafka today, and I have just finished to reread the Castle. I think that these guys had understood our contemporary world very well, and it's fantastic to read them again.

[A]

I mean, waking up as a cockroach in the bed.

[B]

Yeah, but I mean, this is what. What is happening to the society. Yeah.

[A]

How do you relax so easy?

[B]

This is my very real talent. As soon as I'm out of here, I'm out of this black and white.

[A]

And what do you do then?

[B]

I swim, I eat, I travel. And I used to spend a lot of time with my family, but my three kids are grown, so I try to organize things so that they accept to do that with us in my next life. Right. I will be a great chef.

[A]

And what are the other things you will do in your next life?

[B]

You know, I think that. I think that life has become much longer than before. So I think that my next life is behind the corner. So I would love to continue to work heavily, fewer days. And my dream would love to be to mentor young, fantastic CEOs.

[A]

And what would be your advice to these young people?

[B]

Be patient. Be patient. This generation is not patient. I love them, but they're not patient. Well, thank you.

[A]

Thank you.