January 22, 2025 • 31 mins
In this Future of Luxury podcast, Niccolò Ricci, CEO of Stefano Ricci, discusses the brand's evolution from ties to a diverse range of luxury products, emphasizing quality and design. He highlights the importance of experiences in remote locations, like Cambodia, as part of the brand's vision, encouraging clients to connect with nature. The podcast also touches on the significance of sustainability in luxury fashion, with initiatives to train young artisans and minimize environmental impact. Ricci notes a shift in customer demographics, particularly with Generation Z, who value authenticity and the stories behind brands. The brand is expanding into new areas like interior design, reflecting the changing desires of its clientele.
https://www.instagram.com/stefanoricciofficial
https://www.instagram.com/niccolo_ricci
Founded in 1972 by Stefano Ricci, the eponymous luxury lifestyle company, STEFANO RICCI S.p.A., embodies Italian craftsmanship and tradition. With a strong family history at its core, the company has consistently maintained a "100% Made in Italy" ethos, delivering quality, sophistication, and elegance: from made to measure tailoring to premium leather goods, from a luxury home line to bespoke high end interiors and traditional goldsmith jewelry. Encompassing a global team of over 800 employees engaged in Italian production and retail, the brand's headquarters sprawl over 9,000 square meters in the scenic hills of Fiesole. With 80 boutiques worldwide, including flagship stores in major capital cities and 21 shop-in-shops, STEFANO RICCI continues to redefine luxury living with its diverse range of products.
Niccolò Ricci, Born in Florence in 1977 - Graduated in Business Administration in 2001. He then did a long internship in the United States, working closely with the C.E.O. of a department store in the luxury sector.
In 2003, he became Head of the Corporate Plan for the development of new markets and the control of retail operations in STEFANO RICCI S.p.A.. Since 2007, he has been C.E.O. of STEFANO RICCI S.p.A., from 2010 to 2023 he has been also appointed co-administrator of the Antico Setificio Fiorentino, a historical silk manufacturer operating continuously since 1786, acquired the year before by the STEFANO RICCI S.p.A. From 2011 to 2015, he was a Confindustria Firenze Council member with an internationalisation mandate.
From 2016 to 2020, he was a member of the Board of Directors of ICE Italy. Since 2020, he has been Consigliere of Pitti Immagine S.r.l., and since 2022 he has held the same position at Polimoda S.r.l.
Connect with him on daniellanger.digital and Instagram @drdaniellanger. If interested in luxury training opportunities please visit:
www.equiteintelligence.com
Équité Brands: https://equitebrands.com/
Instagram: @drdaniellanger
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:07):
So welcome to another editionof the Future of Luxury podcast.
And today, it's my greatpleasure to introduce Niccolo
Ritchie, to us.
And as you can see, we arenot in the studio today,
but we are in awonderful location.
It's the Ta Prohm Templein Cabondia, where,
(00:30):
the Stefano Ricciteam is producing,
the campaign and the kind oflook for the latest collection.
So, Niccolo, welcometo Thank you.
It's great to have you withus on this amazing trip. Yeah.
Thank you.
Thank you.
And Nikola, tell us a littlebit about about yourself.
So I am, based in Florence.
(00:50):
I'm forty seven yearsold, and I'm the CEO of,
Stefano Ricci company,which is my family brand.
It was started by my parentsin nineteen seventy two.
They were very young.
My mom, she was eighteen, myfather was nineteen, and they,
you know, they camealong, through the world,
opening storesthrough the years,
presenting their collection,
(01:10):
which just started with simpleties and then they'll be adding
categories like silk shirts,cotton shirts, leather goods.
And it's been a journey.
Me and my brother,we are very proud to,
still with thembecause I'm present,
to like to continuewith our mission.
Let's say this isour mission today.
Yeah. Wonderful.
So and then tell us,a little bit about,
(01:31):
the Stefano Ricci brand.
So what is thephilosophy of the brand,
and how would youdescribe the brand?
The philosophy I think my fatherhad the vision in the seventies,
trying to provide to theconsumer the best quality of
raw materials combinedwith the best design.
And I think he has been loyalto that for all his career,
in a sense that every timewe added the category,
(01:53):
we put the same attention todetails like we did with our
core business, which were Ties.
So, we did not just add categoriesto just increase volume,
but we add categories inorder to provide something
special to our final consumer.
Mhmm.
And this has been veryrewarding because our clientele
has been very loyalfor many years,
and they always give us the chanceto provide them with something new.
(02:17):
And, so here weare in in Cambodia,
and it is part of the ExploraProject of Stefano Ricci,
and I'm I'm reallyfascinated by that.
So tell tell us a littlebit about the, you know,
how how the Exploraproject came to life.
Well, this is is thefifth chapter Mhmm.
Of a journey that brought usfrom Luxor in Egypt to the
(02:37):
north land of Iceland,down to Galapagos,
back north to Mongolia, andnow here finally in Cambodia.
We believe that today the mostprecious things and valuable
things that we have is time Andtime to explore the world is
what is really we aresuggesting and we are sharing
most of our friends and clients.
(02:59):
Being able to visit thesesites with a different eye,
So the eyes of exploring, yeah,
I think most of our clientele canafford any kind of accommodation,
but the fact that you go tothe remote places of the world
where you can really enjoynature combining with beautiful
time for yourself,
(03:19):
I think today is the bestachievement you can have.
Of course, during these journeyswe are showing through models our
collection, which are notprimary in the communication.
It goes beyond whatis the message of
supporting wildlife like we aredoing here in Galapagos with
Charles Darwin Foundation,protecting the giant turtles,
(03:40):
or the Royal Eagles in Mongolia.
Yeah.
So wherever we go, we tryto give our leaders support on,
you know, when we talk aboutsustainability, of course,
it becomes primary inevery single company.
Yeah.
And I I remember yesterdaywhen I was talking,
with your brother alittle bit, he said,
that also your clients areexplorers, and therefore,
(04:02):
this idea of of the explorerreally is like a connection
between the clientsand the brand.
It's really bondingbecause as we of course,
it has been our vision,it's their vision as well.
So you can alsosee today's luxury.
Lots of people are moving theirbudgets into traveling and
winning the experiencein remote places.
(04:24):
And I think it's a greattrend because it's support.
It's helping ourclients, their families,
their kids to move abroad andtry to leave these places which
are not the usual subject.
As you say, it's not thefamous capital of the world,
but remote areas where you canreally enjoy your time with nature.
And I have to say now,this is the, for me today,
(04:46):
the third day here in,
in Cambodia, and, you know,
the the temples that we haveseen and the places that we
have seen and the connectionwith, you know, history,
but also with with natureleft a deep impression on me.
So, maybe tell us a little bit howhow did you find this place and
what were, like, criteriato to decide that
(05:10):
Cambogia is the place toshow you a new collection?
I think,
you know, coming in placeslike this are breathtaking.
Taking a look at these,
temples is the firsttime for me as well.
You know, we're exploringthrough the web,
we're exploring throughour connection with the
photographer that we're using,
National Geographicphotographer.
(05:31):
We exchange ideas Yeah.
And also through thefriend Terry Garcia.
We try to do to go in those placesthat can really leave an impact to you.
Mhmm.
And honestly, whatI saw in Galapagos,
the experience we did withthe eagle hunters Mhmm.
And in Mongolia,the Altai, the Gobi,
and especially being there thefirst light in the morning and
(05:53):
the last light at night,
while mainly most of thetourists are not even out,
waking up fouro'clock, three thirty,
four o'clock and try tobe inside at the first light,
it's also magical because it letsyou have the place all for yourself.
So this is always whatI enjoy, for example,
living in Florence,
I've been blessed because Igrew up in one of the most
beautiful cities in the world,but still what I really enjoy,
(06:15):
if I really one day by chance haveto really wake up very, very early,
walking in the squares ofFlorence and being the first
one of being alone in asquare, that's a real luxury.
All you can enjoy is a specialplace just with one side.
Wonderful.
This brings me to to anotherquestion, because, for example,
for me also, you know,advising a lot of brands,
travel is super criticaland super important.
(06:36):
And, you know, every time Itravel, even if it's just,
you know, sometimes beingin a city for a day,
you always observe things, you seehow people are dressed, and so on.
How important is travelfor you and for the brand,
and also maybe forthe creative role?
Fundamental.
I
really highly recommend also tothe creative team that helps my
father and my brother to travel,
(06:58):
so I support some of the tripsto the capital of Asia and the
capital of States or MiddleEast just to understand.
You have to leave a little bit.
Go to those shopping malls,go to those restaurants,
go to those museums, andtry to understand how
fashion is changing.
Of course, we always have to putour DNA in everything we design,
(07:20):
but trends, you catchthem when you leave them.
So it's always very important to traveland try to catch them ahead of time.
Wonderful. And this bringsme to to another question.
You know, when we when we werediscussing a little bit earlier this
morning, you mentionedthat also, you know,
for your collections thereis different tastes in different
places in in the world.
(07:41):
So maybe tell us a littlebit about about that and how this
impacts the bill of prices.
Today, we have eighty, monobrand stiffer rigid boutiques.
Mhmm.
And they spread from thestates to Middle East, Europe,
Southeast Asia, of courseYeah. And to China.
Every country,
of course, theythey follow trends,
(08:02):
but they also have their DNA.
Yeah.
And we need to be in the middlebecause in some countries,
people love silkshirts with big prints.
Other countries they don't.
So, of course,according to the store,
we have to make a selection.
One, of course, that istechnically present in
every stores,
but then we let the managersof every every country
(08:25):
try to have their specific selectionin order to meet the local taste.
Yeah. Super.
And
maybe let's let's it's notthat switching the the topic,
but something that I wouldbe curious to understand is,
and it's a question that I askeveryone that comes on this podcast.
What what doesluxury mean for you?
What how would youdefine the term?
(08:47):
Because, you know, thisis a term that many people
The term has been abused.
Yeah.
So we try to orsometimes, let's say,
we try to step out ofthe world of luxury.
Yeah. And for us, we've beenusing for years the excellency.
Excellency, which isa step further because
(09:07):
I think whenwe talk aspirational luxury,
then you get the concept of qualitywith the branding, gets confused.
I would say, first of all,
luxury or excellency
is quality.
So let's start from there.
You position quality as themost important things in your
collection and then youcreate everything around it.
I would say also that theplaces where you can buy
(09:29):
quality is extremely important.
Yeah.
If you see some of ourboutiques in the world,
they're done with thefinest briar wood,
we have beautiful eithertravertine or limestone floor,
so also the environment whereyou want to do the shopping
experience should meetthe quality standards.
Mhmm.
And, of course, a super serviceon behalf of our team. Mhmm.
(09:50):
That is for our forour excellency concept,
the luxury that we weretalking is like as an amazing
environment with a greatservice and, of course,
unique beautiful products that aremade of the finest fabrics
or materials in the world.
Yeah.
I love the word, excellence,because to me it really,
you know, means that,
(10:10):
you have to go completely outof the ordinary and and aim for
aim for the extraordinaryin everything that you do.
You know, our our father me me andmy brother have been the the main
lesson that our fathertaught us is that, guys,
start whereeverybody else stops.
So you get what is the bestin the market at the moment,
(10:32):
and from there you find a wayto provide something better
because at the end, our clients,
they do have everything.
They don't needanother blazer. Yeah.
They don't need anothershirt, but they need emotions.
So you get to find thosefibers, those designs,
those materials that maybehave not been presented yet.
And that thoseclients, those people,
(10:53):
they're extremelysuccessful people.
They really need to
have once they seeit, you price them,
give them an emotion, so thisis the basic of our business.
Yeah.
I love also this idea,
and I just want to reemphasizethis of a surprise.
I remember, you know,many years ago when,
when I for for my first bookwhen I tried to define luxury,
(11:15):
I one of the terms that came tomy mind was luxury is almost a
business of permanent surprise.
You have to always kind ofreinvent things and surprise
the customers again.
This is why
fashion industry, especiallyat our level, is extremely,
first of all, thecompetition is super high,
but then it's extremelydifficult because you have to
(11:35):
reinvent yourselfevery six months.
And being a family owned business bymy parents, myself, and my brother,
we have to compete with the strongestbrands that today are on the market.
Of course, I refer to thebig French conglomerates
or old companies thatmake over a billion.
And of course tocompete against these
(11:57):
huge houses is extremelychallenging for us,
but this also gives us theenergy to come up also with
something more and moreexclusive and something more
and more appealingto our customers.
Yeah, And I also assume thatthis allows you also, you know,
being a smallerbrand in in a way.
To me, also one of the strengthsis probably the the strong
connections that you have with yourclients and with your top clients.
(12:19):
We I have to be honest.
I call them clients.
Many of them I'm proud to saythat are friends today because
we had the chance to spend timewith them and it's always very
inspiring because I would say themajority of them are all self made,
today millionaire orsay multimillionaires or
billionaires, that
(12:40):
there is always somethingto learn about these people.
Yeah.
Because honestly most of themstart from nothing and today
they create an empire.
It's always inspiringto hear their story
and share a vision, a widevision and our vision with them
because they always tell youand give you those hints,
those tips that can help youto improve in your collection,
(13:00):
sometimes even in life becausethey can give you lots of
financial advice.
You never know because thoseour clients being self made
people are always very
successful, and it's, I liketo spend time with them,
and I can say I'm proud to befriends with good numbers of them.
Yeah, oh, wonderful,
and so we discussednow about luxury being,
(13:22):
let's say about the theextraordinary, about surprises,
and maybe even about, you know,
when I think about youjust used the name, France,
it's it's basically also thishuman connection at the human,
the human interface thatthat is that is there.
So, if you thinkabout, for example,
(13:42):
the emotions that youwant your clients to feel,
so when they wear StefanoRicci suits or a tie or shirts,
what are kind of emotionsthat that you want them to,
to to experience?
The most important thingwhen when they wear things,
they must feel good.
I can imagine them in the morningwearing one of our shirts.
(14:03):
Yeah. Wearing one of our suits.
It feels so good. Yeah.
This is our our missionis to make them happy,
at least, on the way they look,but also on the way they feel.
Yeah.
Because when you touch someof our suit with our exclusive
fabric, it makes youfeel really special.
Yeah.
(14:23):
This is why you say, it's likenot that I made it, but, like,
I can afford and I can have inmy closet something so unique.
Mhmm.
And, of course, if it's a made to measuresuit to make them feel hundred percent Yeah.
Proud of what they bought andwhat and the choice that they
had in words of the collection.
Yeah. Yeah.
And for example, I yesterdayevening when, you know,
(14:46):
one of the models was wearingthis unbelievably beautiful
blue, name Name it.
Yes.
I said, oh, shit. This is thisis a suit. I need to have that.
So and it's it's I thoughtI was so, impressed because,
you know, even from a distance,the the way how the cut was,
the way how the cut even thethe the hue of of blue that was
(15:07):
there, and, you know, I if youlook at my suit collection,
it's seventy percent navy blues,
but I've never seenany collection.
Taylor blue is theStefano Richel blue,
as we as we like to to call it.
For us, tailoring is
a very importantpart of the business.
We do have one hundredand forty tailors Yeah.
(15:29):
Working for us.
And the combinationof their art and this
uniqueness of our excludedfabrics that are made
on our design and thequality that we request
makes them really,really special.
The tailoring, I think,is the most difficult,
one of the most difficultart in clothing,
(15:52):
in dressing in men's wardrobe.
And we are very proud that wehave some of the most talented
tailors in the world.
Some of them have been workingfor us for over twenty years
and know, that is, it's an art.
It can be geometry,you need to not just,
but you need tounderstand the client,
(16:12):
how they want to look.
Because everybody wants,who's want to be a little bit,
you know, they're alittle bit tighter,
who wants a little bit loose.
So, you have to read whenyou measure them also the
psychology of the personthat you have in front,
they want something special.
And honestly, once you findthe key of what they want,
you have them for life.
(16:34):
And this is our mission todayto get more and more clients
that are willing to buyscrews of fabrics and to
refrack their wardrobewith the Stefano tree.
Yeah. Yeah.
Or the one that we have,
they constantly repeat everyseason ordering made to measure
suits or jacket andpants, including shirts.
Yeah.
(16:55):
Then, sustainability, I think,
is also from from our conversationsone of the things that are very,
very close to to your heart andalso to have been always with
with your family.
So, tell me about a little bitsustainability and, you know,
some some things thatyou're doing on You know,
sustainability issomething been very
it is one of the,
it's extremely crucial in theluxury industry and the fashion
(17:18):
business, as far aswe could do in our
production site,where we keep all our,
where we produce our shirts,our suits, our leather goods,
because as an energyimpact, we put solar panels,
we remove all theplastic bottles,
we change all thelights with LED.
So, we try in whatever is likeour ten thousand square meter
(17:40):
to being able to have theminimum energy impact.
And the most importantis our supply chain.
So, from who'sdyeing the leathers,
from who's dyeing
the fabrics and finishingthe fabric for us,
we request a certified
supply chain from everybodyto be one of our supplier.
(18:01):
We have inspectors that check
who's providing uswith the raw materials.
And as much as we can,we try to support,
to give you supportto the industry.
But from my perspective,
what is one of themost important parts of
(18:21):
sustainability is to
create and
provide to the future generationthe heritage of our know how.
So, we do an internal schools.
They're either tailors,shirt makers, either jewelry
maker like diamond setters.
We do have a lot of young peopleentering within the company.
(18:45):
And of course, it takes,let's say, one and a half,
two years before they'reready to create what we need.
So, it's an investment from ourside because I think we have a
responsibility towardsthe future Mhmm.
To continue the Florentineheritage of tailoring,
of shirt making, tie making,leather goods, of course,
is very important.
Yeah.
(19:05):
And we also have in housea silverware production on
Chiselle and engravings that,
we are now about to lookfor another trainee Yeah.
Because, have this gentlemanbeen doing this for forty years,
and it's time to provide to thenew generation how to continue
this business because otherwisewithin ten, fifteen years,
(19:27):
all this know howwill disappear.
Yeah. That's wonderful.
And this brings me to almost connectedto this as you just say, you know,
it's very important also tokeep the heritage and take it
to the next generation.
And also in termsof your clients,
if we think about, you know,the your youngest clients,
Generation Z, we have also newgeneration, coming coming in.
(19:49):
So are there, let's say or wheredo you perceive the differences
between the previous generationsand the new generations?
Are they different interms of the expectations?
Are they different interms of their taste?
So we see the future go.
When I entered the business
in two thousand and onefor the family, of course,
(20:09):
we have a current customerbase, which was older,
I would say fifty,fifty five up.
Today, it's changed a lot.
We have a lot of peoplebetween thirty and forty,
especially in countries likeSoutheast Asia, in China, in India.
Yeah.
And it's nice to see how manyof them are the sons Mhmm.
(20:31):
Of our clients Yeah.
Which were looking at thefather's wardrobe trying to
steal now and then ashirt or a tie or a suit,
and the father said, no.
This is the Faricci.
You can't touch it.This is my collection.
And now they canafford it. Yeah.
And, and there isalso a big, I think,
change in the world.
(20:52):
While in the, when Istarted in the beginning
of two thousand, a
lot of CEOs, normally peopleover sixty, sixty five,
today the world has changed.
In the new economy,
you can see a lot ofCEOs being in their thirty fives, forties,
and that's also helped them to havea higher budget to afford the most,
(21:14):
unique product, and this is how I think todaywe do have more people in a younger age.
Yeah. Wonderful.
And if maybe in this kind ofnew world where you have maybe
younger customers,what what does,
kind of success look like,
or what are success factors now
for a brand that that has a moreand more young young, clientele?
(21:37):
Did you observe anychanges from, let's say,
twenty years ago to to now?
From our side, we decided
well, first of all,luxury changed a lot.
So the high end productionand high end collection,
they changed a lot.
While twenty years ago, logos
and a little more flashywere supposed to be the collection
(22:00):
the last seven, eight years.
We've seen a lot oftrend changes into,
everybody's talkingabout this quiet luxury.
I would say it's luxurywith the basic colors,
with a very small logo becausepeople still would like to show
what is the brandthey're wearing.
Yeah. And this isgetting into the mind.
(22:21):
I think it's like phases, maybewhere you want to show. Yeah.
Phases where you wantto show less. Yeah.
I think one daywe're gonna get back.
Like, you know, it's likedouble breasted, two bottoms,
three bottoms, that are weights.
Yeah.
And for example, now we are livingin a moment where people want to wear
suits, made to wear suits, and
very comfortable,maybe deconstructed,
the shoulders should notbe as strong as Yeah.
(22:42):
Obstructed as before,
but being able to gooutside in an elegant way
with super materials thatyou know because you touch,
but people can tell, but theycannot tell if they don't touch.
And this I think is the key nowto show yourself out wearing
exclusive garmentsbut not showing off.
(23:02):
This is what changed in the lasttwenty years, I would say, today.
So we can say maybe even the would itbe right to say that in this aspect,
probably customer expectations areincreasing and going going
up with the newer generation?
Customers today, theyalso want to hear a story.
Yeah.
It's not just aboutthe it is, of course,
the main driveris the collection,
(23:23):
but they want to know thestory about your brand.
Yeah.
They love and we experiencedthis in the last,
I would say, six, seven yearsbecause we show the beauty of
Italy.
Yeah.
Our campaign was shotthroughout Italy,
like this timeless journeyaround secret places
of Italy and with Explorer.
(23:44):
So, I think with ourcommunication through the
world, to what we're doingabout the natural environment,
lots of younger peoplehave been approaching us because
they got the message.
Yeah.
So, there should be a message,an experience, and the product.
Yeah.
If you combine these things,
I think today you canbe successful. Yeah.
Of course, it took us alsofifty years to be where we are.
(24:04):
Yeah.
So to start today abrand and entering
in the mind of these people,which are very demanding, Yeah.
Is not easy.
Yeah. Is it is it a field path?
Yeah.
I really love what you justsaid because I see, you know,
when I'm advisingbrands in all different
categories, typically I, sometimesI have to convince, you know,
(24:27):
the leadership team about theimportance of the storytelling,
and I love that, youknow, for Stefano Ricci,
this is already something that youhave for many years deeply ingrained,
and I also believe that this issomething that is getting more
and more important in in ourworld that is more and more
connected, maybealso more digital,
and because it's more digital,
I think we crave for forreally knowing, you know,
(24:48):
what what is realand what is not real,
and what is authentic andwhat is what is not authentic.
So I think also authenticity isis super important for for You
know, for us, we weput our face Yeah.
On a front row.
So either me and my brother,we meet people, we go inside,
and we do the shooting.
Yeah.
We are in place,I'm in production,
(25:09):
we are visiting thestores, we meet client.
Yeah.
We show that this is notjust a brand name invented,
it's just a family brand,
with the family that continuesto commit that we have a team
that has been with us.
Some of the guys you seethere are today fifty,
but have been with usalready fifty years.
So they enter
in the sales team or theyenter in the marketing team,
(25:31):
but like whatever youlook around, people, like,
been many, many years,
so the commitment of the familyand the commitment on the field
is of the the commitmentof the team is real.
Yeah. You can really feel it.
Yeah. No.
And I can also even say, youknow, in this in this last,
three days when I met your team,
they're all like itfeels like family,
and also it feels very welcomingto be to me bang all of you.
(25:53):
So thank you also for So,you know, beside that,
I would say that,
we are a normal family.
We like normal things,you know, on the weekends,
in the countryside,we like good food,
we like to sit at the tablewith the family and friends,
we like a nice glass of wine,
we like to spend timewalking in the countryside,
(26:15):
So there is no superstars. Mhmm.
There is no,
let's say, prima donna that musthave all the glory around it.
It's like a family and a team.They like to do what they do.
We like to spend timewith our clients, friends,
have great exchange of ideas,
and try always to comeup with new ideas,
(26:35):
trying to be exciting forwhoever reads about us.
Yeah.
Then, coming a bitto the end of our
of our podcast today, is thereanything you want to also share
still that I didn'task about the brand?
Maybe something that thatwe have not touched on,
about maybe the customerexperience or so?
So anything that thatyou feel is important?
(26:57):
We've been challenged by ourclients to always do something
new and different.
And for the last ten years, weentered the world of, interiors.
Yeah.
And, recently, we've donea beautiful apartment in,
Florence.
We've done a beautiful suite,
The Depenation of VivoMont Hotel in Guerrero.
We are about to unveil anotherbeautiful suite in Tuscany again.
(27:21):
We are about to make anotherbig project in Middle East.
I'm still under NDA, so Icannot communicate yet. Yeah.
But we are reallyentering the world of
interiors, real estate,
creating project for ourclients because, as I say,
they always give us thechance to provide them with something
unique and being able today to
(27:45):
have one of theirhomes designed by us
with our furniture,with our accessories,
I think is really, reallyunique. We've done few.
They were very successful.
So we have now a numberof requests by your by our
clients, and oneafter the other,
we are entered into this world.
Oh, wonderful.
So it's it means also that thebrand is and and you said this
(28:09):
in the beginning that itstarted with ties and then
basically gradually went toto more things in the body.
Oh, really.
So now it becomes reallylike an essential lifestyle.
It's a lifestyle.
We produce, we do have,
our wine, over ten years,our champagne, and, you know,
then we enter the jewelrybusiness and we do it in house.
(28:30):
Yeah.
Our watches, and we've beenproducing for the last two
years, which was verysuccessful, super high end.
So, I think there is a worldof opportunities for us because
our client, they liketo give us the chance.
Yeah.
Because they believe in whatwe do, how committed we are,
and they're always ready to hearand to have something new from us.
Yeah. Wonderful.
(28:51):
So my very last question is,
where do you see inthe next ten years,
fifteen years, twenty years,
maybe the the kind ofthe future of luxury,
the future of lifestyle,the future of fashion going?
When you see, like,you know, we have,
new technologies coming,
everyone now speaks aboutartificial intelligence,
(29:11):
and and so on.
So where do you what where doyou see kind of the industry
heading in in the future?
So, of course, technologytoday is giving you some
really serious advantages.
I would say AI ina matter of, like,
special marketing,
trying to help us to proposethrough pictures with our CRM,
(29:34):
trying to get to the client andproviding what looking at his
history, what iswilling to buy next.
At the moment,every manager knows,
so we do more manually becausewe handpicked our selection,
we send pictures to them.
AI, I'm sure will helpus to better improve.
AI is also can help youto predict the buying.
(29:55):
So also make forecast forthe fabrics you will need.
So, of course, it's very importantto always be aware of time and not
close within your world and not beopen to understand what there is.
Some things I hadbeen approached,
but it could work if you haveover five hundred stores.
Yeah. And the numbersshould be much bigger.
Still we haveeighty stores. Yeah.
(30:17):
The company it's amid size company and,
we are looking at it.
For sure they're gonnahelp us to improve,
but what I'm the most concernedtoday and where we are focusing
this year and I'm surenext year, it's acquiring,
minorities or majorities of oursupply chain because I think in
(30:40):
the future, it'sgonna be a lack.
Yeah.
As we said before,
when we talk aboutsustainability is to keep on
continuing the heritage of thework or the workforce and the
craftsmanship that we have.
So priority it is to secure the
supply chain, have itwithin your world Mhmm.
And be sure that these peopleare gonna be loyal to you and
(31:02):
can help you to deliver to themarket those amazing product
that they are able to do.
Yeah. Wonderful. Super.
And, Nicolo, thank youso much for having me.
Thank you. Great.
Great to spend this hourthis this time with you.
Yeah. Wonderful.Thank you. Thank you.
So welcome to another editionof the Future of Luxury podcast.
And today, it's my greatpleasure to introduce Niccolo
Ritchie, to us.
And as you can see, we arenot in the studio today,
but we are in awonderful location.
It's the Ta Prohm Templein Cabondia, where,
(00:30):
the Stefano Ricciteam is producing,
the campaign and the kind oflook for the latest collection.
So, Niccolo, welcometo Thank you.
It's great to have you withus on this amazing trip. Yeah.
Thank you.
Thank you.
And Nikola, tell us a littlebit about about yourself.
So I am, based in Florence.
(00:50):
I'm forty seven yearsold, and I'm the CEO of,
Stefano Ricci company,which is my family brand.
It was started by my parentsin nineteen seventy two.
They were very young.
My mom, she was eighteen, myfather was nineteen, and they,
you know, they camealong, through the world,
opening storesthrough the years,
presenting their collection,
(01:10):
which just started with simpleties and then they'll be adding
categories like silk shirts,cotton shirts, leather goods.
And it's been a journey.
Me and my brother,we are very proud to,
still with thembecause I'm present,
to like to continuewith our mission.
Let's say this isour mission today.
Yeah. Wonderful.
So and then tell us,a little bit about,
(01:31):
the Stefano Ricci brand.
So what is thephilosophy of the brand,
and how would youdescribe the brand?
The philosophy I think my fatherhad the vision in the seventies,
trying to provide to theconsumer the best quality of
raw materials combinedwith the best design.
And I think he has been loyalto that for all his career,
in a sense that every timewe added the category,
(01:53):
we put the same attention todetails like we did with our
core business, which were Ties.
So, we did not just add categoriesto just increase volume,
but we add categories inorder to provide something
special to our final consumer.
Mhmm.
And this has been veryrewarding because our clientele
has been very loyalfor many years,
and they always give us the chanceto provide them with something new.
(02:17):
And, so here weare in in Cambodia,
and it is part of the ExploraProject of Stefano Ricci,
and I'm I'm reallyfascinated by that.
So tell tell us a littlebit about the, you know,
how how the Exploraproject came to life.
Well, this is is thefifth chapter Mhmm.
Of a journey that brought usfrom Luxor in Egypt to the
(02:37):
north land of Iceland,down to Galapagos,
back north to Mongolia, andnow here finally in Cambodia.
We believe that today the mostprecious things and valuable
things that we have is time Andtime to explore the world is
what is really we aresuggesting and we are sharing
most of our friends and clients.
(02:59):
Being able to visit thesesites with a different eye,
So the eyes of exploring, yeah,
I think most of our clientele canafford any kind of accommodation,
but the fact that you go tothe remote places of the world
where you can really enjoynature combining with beautiful
time for yourself,
(03:19):
I think today is the bestachievement you can have.
Of course, during these journeyswe are showing through models our
collection, which are notprimary in the communication.
It goes beyond whatis the message of
supporting wildlife like we aredoing here in Galapagos with
Charles Darwin Foundation,protecting the giant turtles,
(03:40):
or the Royal Eagles in Mongolia.
Yeah.
So wherever we go, we tryto give our leaders support on,
you know, when we talk aboutsustainability, of course,
it becomes primary inevery single company.
Yeah.
And I I remember yesterdaywhen I was talking,
with your brother alittle bit, he said,
that also your clients areexplorers, and therefore,
(04:02):
this idea of of the explorerreally is like a connection
between the clientsand the brand.
It's really bondingbecause as we of course,
it has been our vision,it's their vision as well.
So you can alsosee today's luxury.
Lots of people are moving theirbudgets into traveling and
winning the experiencein remote places.
(04:24):
And I think it's a greattrend because it's support.
It's helping ourclients, their families,
their kids to move abroad andtry to leave these places which
are not the usual subject.
As you say, it's not thefamous capital of the world,
but remote areas where you canreally enjoy your time with nature.
And I have to say now,this is the, for me today,
(04:46):
the third day here in,
in Cambodia, and, you know,
the the temples that we haveseen and the places that we
have seen and the connectionwith, you know, history,
but also with with natureleft a deep impression on me.
So, maybe tell us a little bit howhow did you find this place and
what were, like, criteriato to decide that
(05:10):
Cambogia is the place toshow you a new collection?
I think,
you know, coming in placeslike this are breathtaking.
Taking a look at these,
temples is the firsttime for me as well.
You know, we're exploringthrough the web,
we're exploring throughour connection with the
photographer that we're using,
National Geographicphotographer.
(05:31):
We exchange ideas Yeah.
And also through thefriend Terry Garcia.
We try to do to go in those placesthat can really leave an impact to you.
Mhmm.
And honestly, whatI saw in Galapagos,
the experience we did withthe eagle hunters Mhmm.
And in Mongolia,the Altai, the Gobi,
and especially being there thefirst light in the morning and
(05:53):
the last light at night,
while mainly most of thetourists are not even out,
waking up fouro'clock, three thirty,
four o'clock and try tobe inside at the first light,
it's also magical because it letsyou have the place all for yourself.
So this is always whatI enjoy, for example,
living in Florence,
I've been blessed because Igrew up in one of the most
beautiful cities in the world,but still what I really enjoy,
(06:15):
if I really one day by chance haveto really wake up very, very early,
walking in the squares ofFlorence and being the first
one of being alone in asquare, that's a real luxury.
All you can enjoy is a specialplace just with one side.
Wonderful.
This brings me to to anotherquestion, because, for example,
for me also, you know,advising a lot of brands,
travel is super criticaland super important.
(06:36):
And, you know, every time Itravel, even if it's just,
you know, sometimes beingin a city for a day,
you always observe things, you seehow people are dressed, and so on.
How important is travelfor you and for the brand,
and also maybe forthe creative role?
Fundamental.
I
really highly recommend also tothe creative team that helps my
father and my brother to travel,
(06:58):
so I support some of the tripsto the capital of Asia and the
capital of States or MiddleEast just to understand.
You have to leave a little bit.
Go to those shopping malls,go to those restaurants,
go to those museums, andtry to understand how
fashion is changing.
Of course, we always have to putour DNA in everything we design,
(07:20):
but trends, you catchthem when you leave them.
So it's always very important to traveland try to catch them ahead of time.
Wonderful. And this bringsme to to another question.
You know, when we when we werediscussing a little bit earlier this
morning, you mentionedthat also, you know,
for your collections thereis different tastes in different
places in in the world.
(07:41):
So maybe tell us a littlebit about about that and how this
impacts the bill of prices.
Today, we have eighty, monobrand stiffer rigid boutiques.
Mhmm.
And they spread from thestates to Middle East, Europe,
Southeast Asia, of courseYeah. And to China.
Every country,
of course, theythey follow trends,
(08:02):
but they also have their DNA.
Yeah.
And we need to be in the middlebecause in some countries,
people love silkshirts with big prints.
Other countries they don't.
So, of course,according to the store,
we have to make a selection.
One, of course, that istechnically present in
every stores,
but then we let the managersof every every country
(08:25):
try to have their specific selectionin order to meet the local taste.
Yeah. Super.
And
maybe let's let's it's notthat switching the the topic,
but something that I wouldbe curious to understand is,
and it's a question that I askeveryone that comes on this podcast.
What what doesluxury mean for you?
What how would youdefine the term?
(08:47):
Because, you know, thisis a term that many people
The term has been abused.
Yeah.
So we try to orsometimes, let's say,
we try to step out ofthe world of luxury.
Yeah. And for us, we've beenusing for years the excellency.
Excellency, which isa step further because
(09:07):
I think whenwe talk aspirational luxury,
then you get the concept of qualitywith the branding, gets confused.
I would say, first of all,
luxury or excellency
is quality.
So let's start from there.
You position quality as themost important things in your
collection and then youcreate everything around it.
I would say also that theplaces where you can buy
(09:29):
quality is extremely important.
Yeah.
If you see some of ourboutiques in the world,
they're done with thefinest briar wood,
we have beautiful eithertravertine or limestone floor,
so also the environment whereyou want to do the shopping
experience should meetthe quality standards.
Mhmm.
And, of course, a super serviceon behalf of our team. Mhmm.
(09:50):
That is for our forour excellency concept,
the luxury that we weretalking is like as an amazing
environment with a greatservice and, of course,
unique beautiful products that aremade of the finest fabrics
or materials in the world.
Yeah.
I love the word, excellence,because to me it really,
you know, means that,
(10:10):
you have to go completely outof the ordinary and and aim for
aim for the extraordinaryin everything that you do.
You know, our our father me me andmy brother have been the the main
lesson that our fathertaught us is that, guys,
start whereeverybody else stops.
So you get what is the bestin the market at the moment,
(10:32):
and from there you find a wayto provide something better
because at the end, our clients,
they do have everything.
They don't needanother blazer. Yeah.
They don't need anothershirt, but they need emotions.
So you get to find thosefibers, those designs,
those materials that maybehave not been presented yet.
And that thoseclients, those people,
(10:53):
they're extremelysuccessful people.
They really need to
have once they seeit, you price them,
give them an emotion, so thisis the basic of our business.
Yeah.
I love also this idea,
and I just want to reemphasizethis of a surprise.
I remember, you know,many years ago when,
when I for for my first bookwhen I tried to define luxury,
(11:15):
I one of the terms that came tomy mind was luxury is almost a
business of permanent surprise.
You have to always kind ofreinvent things and surprise
the customers again.
This is why
fashion industry, especiallyat our level, is extremely,
first of all, thecompetition is super high,
but then it's extremelydifficult because you have to
(11:35):
reinvent yourselfevery six months.
And being a family owned business bymy parents, myself, and my brother,
we have to compete with the strongestbrands that today are on the market.
Of course, I refer to thebig French conglomerates
or old companies thatmake over a billion.
And of course tocompete against these
(11:57):
huge houses is extremelychallenging for us,
but this also gives us theenergy to come up also with
something more and moreexclusive and something more
and more appealingto our customers.
Yeah, And I also assume thatthis allows you also, you know,
being a smallerbrand in in a way.
To me, also one of the strengthsis probably the the strong
connections that you have with yourclients and with your top clients.
(12:19):
We I have to be honest.
I call them clients.
Many of them I'm proud to saythat are friends today because
we had the chance to spend timewith them and it's always very
inspiring because I would say themajority of them are all self made,
today millionaire orsay multimillionaires or
billionaires, that
(12:40):
there is always somethingto learn about these people.
Yeah.
Because honestly most of themstart from nothing and today
they create an empire.
It's always inspiringto hear their story
and share a vision, a widevision and our vision with them
because they always tell youand give you those hints,
those tips that can help youto improve in your collection,
(13:00):
sometimes even in life becausethey can give you lots of
financial advice.
You never know because thoseour clients being self made
people are always very
successful, and it's, I liketo spend time with them,
and I can say I'm proud to befriends with good numbers of them.
Yeah, oh, wonderful,
and so we discussednow about luxury being,
(13:22):
let's say about the theextraordinary, about surprises,
and maybe even about, you know,
when I think about youjust used the name, France,
it's it's basically also thishuman connection at the human,
the human interface thatthat is that is there.
So, if you thinkabout, for example,
(13:42):
the emotions that youwant your clients to feel,
so when they wear StefanoRicci suits or a tie or shirts,
what are kind of emotionsthat that you want them to,
to to experience?
The most important thingwhen when they wear things,
they must feel good.
I can imagine them in the morningwearing one of our shirts.
(14:03):
Yeah. Wearing one of our suits.
It feels so good. Yeah.
This is our our missionis to make them happy,
at least, on the way they look,but also on the way they feel.
Yeah.
Because when you touch someof our suit with our exclusive
fabric, it makes youfeel really special.
Yeah.
(14:23):
This is why you say, it's likenot that I made it, but, like,
I can afford and I can have inmy closet something so unique.
Mhmm.
And, of course, if it's a made to measuresuit to make them feel hundred percent Yeah.
Proud of what they bought andwhat and the choice that they
had in words of the collection.
Yeah. Yeah.
And for example, I yesterdayevening when, you know,
(14:46):
one of the models was wearingthis unbelievably beautiful
blue, name Name it.
Yes.
I said, oh, shit. This is thisis a suit. I need to have that.
So and it's it's I thoughtI was so, impressed because,
you know, even from a distance,the the way how the cut was,
the way how the cut even thethe the hue of of blue that was
(15:07):
there, and, you know, I if youlook at my suit collection,
it's seventy percent navy blues,
but I've never seenany collection.
Taylor blue is theStefano Richel blue,
as we as we like to to call it.
For us, tailoring is
a very importantpart of the business.
We do have one hundredand forty tailors Yeah.
(15:29):
Working for us.
And the combinationof their art and this
uniqueness of our excludedfabrics that are made
on our design and thequality that we request
makes them really,really special.
The tailoring, I think,is the most difficult,
one of the most difficultart in clothing,
(15:52):
in dressing in men's wardrobe.
And we are very proud that wehave some of the most talented
tailors in the world.
Some of them have been workingfor us for over twenty years
and know, that is, it's an art.
It can be geometry,you need to not just,
but you need tounderstand the client,
(16:12):
how they want to look.
Because everybody wants,who's want to be a little bit,
you know, they're alittle bit tighter,
who wants a little bit loose.
So, you have to read whenyou measure them also the
psychology of the personthat you have in front,
they want something special.
And honestly, once you findthe key of what they want,
you have them for life.
(16:34):
And this is our mission todayto get more and more clients
that are willing to buyscrews of fabrics and to
refrack their wardrobewith the Stefano tree.
Yeah. Yeah.
Or the one that we have,
they constantly repeat everyseason ordering made to measure
suits or jacket andpants, including shirts.
Yeah.
(16:55):
Then, sustainability, I think,
is also from from our conversationsone of the things that are very,
very close to to your heart andalso to have been always with
with your family.
So, tell me about a little bitsustainability and, you know,
some some things thatyou're doing on You know,
sustainability issomething been very
it is one of the,
it's extremely crucial in theluxury industry and the fashion
(17:18):
business, as far aswe could do in our
production site,where we keep all our,
where we produce our shirts,our suits, our leather goods,
because as an energyimpact, we put solar panels,
we remove all theplastic bottles,
we change all thelights with LED.
So, we try in whatever is likeour ten thousand square meter
(17:40):
to being able to have theminimum energy impact.
And the most importantis our supply chain.
So, from who'sdyeing the leathers,
from who's dyeing
the fabrics and finishingthe fabric for us,
we request a certified
supply chain from everybodyto be one of our supplier.
(18:01):
We have inspectors that check
who's providing uswith the raw materials.
And as much as we can,we try to support,
to give you supportto the industry.
But from my perspective,
what is one of themost important parts of
(18:21):
sustainability is to
create and
provide to the future generationthe heritage of our know how.
So, we do an internal schools.
They're either tailors,shirt makers, either jewelry
maker like diamond setters.
We do have a lot of young peopleentering within the company.
(18:45):
And of course, it takes,let's say, one and a half,
two years before they'reready to create what we need.
So, it's an investment from ourside because I think we have a
responsibility towardsthe future Mhmm.
To continue the Florentineheritage of tailoring,
of shirt making, tie making,leather goods, of course,
is very important.
Yeah.
(19:05):
And we also have in housea silverware production on
Chiselle and engravings that,
we are now about to lookfor another trainee Yeah.
Because, have this gentlemanbeen doing this for forty years,
and it's time to provide to thenew generation how to continue
this business because otherwisewithin ten, fifteen years,
(19:27):
all this know howwill disappear.
Yeah. That's wonderful.
And this brings me to almost connectedto this as you just say, you know,
it's very important also tokeep the heritage and take it
to the next generation.
And also in termsof your clients,
if we think about, you know,the your youngest clients,
Generation Z, we have also newgeneration, coming coming in.
(19:49):
So are there, let's say or wheredo you perceive the differences
between the previous generationsand the new generations?
Are they different interms of the expectations?
Are they different interms of their taste?
So we see the future go.
When I entered the business
in two thousand and onefor the family, of course,
(20:09):
we have a current customerbase, which was older,
I would say fifty,fifty five up.
Today, it's changed a lot.
We have a lot of peoplebetween thirty and forty,
especially in countries likeSoutheast Asia, in China, in India.
Yeah.
And it's nice to see how manyof them are the sons Mhmm.
(20:31):
Of our clients Yeah.
Which were looking at thefather's wardrobe trying to
steal now and then ashirt or a tie or a suit,
and the father said, no.
This is the Faricci.
You can't touch it.This is my collection.
And now they canafford it. Yeah.
And, and there isalso a big, I think,
change in the world.
(20:52):
While in the, when Istarted in the beginning
of two thousand, a
lot of CEOs, normally peopleover sixty, sixty five,
today the world has changed.
In the new economy,
you can see a lot ofCEOs being in their thirty fives, forties,
and that's also helped them to havea higher budget to afford the most,
(21:14):
unique product, and this is how I think todaywe do have more people in a younger age.
Yeah. Wonderful.
And if maybe in this kind ofnew world where you have maybe
younger customers,what what does,
kind of success look like,
or what are success factors now
for a brand that that has a moreand more young young, clientele?
(21:37):
Did you observe anychanges from, let's say,
twenty years ago to to now?
From our side, we decided
well, first of all,luxury changed a lot.
So the high end productionand high end collection,
they changed a lot.
While twenty years ago, logos
and a little more flashywere supposed to be the collection
(22:00):
the last seven, eight years.
We've seen a lot oftrend changes into,
everybody's talkingabout this quiet luxury.
I would say it's luxurywith the basic colors,
with a very small logo becausepeople still would like to show
what is the brandthey're wearing.
Yeah. And this isgetting into the mind.
(22:21):
I think it's like phases, maybewhere you want to show. Yeah.
Phases where you wantto show less. Yeah.
I think one daywe're gonna get back.
Like, you know, it's likedouble breasted, two bottoms,
three bottoms, that are weights.
Yeah.
And for example, now we are livingin a moment where people want to wear
suits, made to wear suits, and
very comfortable,maybe deconstructed,
the shoulders should notbe as strong as Yeah.
(22:42):
Obstructed as before,
but being able to gooutside in an elegant way
with super materials thatyou know because you touch,
but people can tell, but theycannot tell if they don't touch.
And this I think is the key nowto show yourself out wearing
exclusive garmentsbut not showing off.
(23:02):
This is what changed in the lasttwenty years, I would say, today.
So we can say maybe even the would itbe right to say that in this aspect,
probably customer expectations areincreasing and going going
up with the newer generation?
Customers today, theyalso want to hear a story.
Yeah.
It's not just aboutthe it is, of course,
the main driveris the collection,
(23:23):
but they want to know thestory about your brand.
Yeah.
They love and we experiencedthis in the last,
I would say, six, seven yearsbecause we show the beauty of
Italy.
Yeah.
Our campaign was shotthroughout Italy,
like this timeless journeyaround secret places
of Italy and with Explorer.
(23:44):
So, I think with ourcommunication through the
world, to what we're doingabout the natural environment,
lots of younger peoplehave been approaching us because
they got the message.
Yeah.
So, there should be a message,an experience, and the product.
Yeah.
If you combine these things,
I think today you canbe successful. Yeah.
Of course, it took us alsofifty years to be where we are.
(24:04):
Yeah.
So to start today abrand and entering
in the mind of these people,which are very demanding, Yeah.
Is not easy.
Yeah. Is it is it a field path?
Yeah.
I really love what you justsaid because I see, you know,
when I'm advisingbrands in all different
categories, typically I, sometimesI have to convince, you know,
(24:27):
the leadership team about theimportance of the storytelling,
and I love that, youknow, for Stefano Ricci,
this is already something that youhave for many years deeply ingrained,
and I also believe that this issomething that is getting more
and more important in in ourworld that is more and more
connected, maybealso more digital,
and because it's more digital,
I think we crave for forreally knowing, you know,
(24:48):
what what is realand what is not real,
and what is authentic andwhat is what is not authentic.
So I think also authenticity isis super important for for You
know, for us, we weput our face Yeah.
On a front row.
So either me and my brother,we meet people, we go inside,
and we do the shooting.
Yeah.
We are in place,I'm in production,
(25:09):
we are visiting thestores, we meet client.
Yeah.
We show that this is notjust a brand name invented,
it's just a family brand,
with the family that continuesto commit that we have a team
that has been with us.
Some of the guys you seethere are today fifty,
but have been with usalready fifty years.
So they enter
in the sales team or theyenter in the marketing team,
(25:31):
but like whatever youlook around, people, like,
been many, many years,
so the commitment of the familyand the commitment on the field
is of the the commitmentof the team is real.
Yeah. You can really feel it.
Yeah. No.
And I can also even say, youknow, in this in this last,
three days when I met your team,
they're all like itfeels like family,
and also it feels very welcomingto be to me bang all of you.
(25:53):
So thank you also for So,you know, beside that,
I would say that,
we are a normal family.
We like normal things,you know, on the weekends,
in the countryside,we like good food,
we like to sit at the tablewith the family and friends,
we like a nice glass of wine,
we like to spend timewalking in the countryside,
(26:15):
So there is no superstars. Mhmm.
There is no,
let's say, prima donna that musthave all the glory around it.
It's like a family and a team.They like to do what they do.
We like to spend timewith our clients, friends,
have great exchange of ideas,
and try always to comeup with new ideas,
(26:35):
trying to be exciting forwhoever reads about us.
Yeah.
Then, coming a bitto the end of our
of our podcast today, is thereanything you want to also share
still that I didn'task about the brand?
Maybe something that thatwe have not touched on,
about maybe the customerexperience or so?
So anything that thatyou feel is important?
(26:57):
We've been challenged by ourclients to always do something
new and different.
And for the last ten years, weentered the world of, interiors.
Yeah.
And, recently, we've donea beautiful apartment in,
Florence.
We've done a beautiful suite,
The Depenation of VivoMont Hotel in Guerrero.
We are about to unveil anotherbeautiful suite in Tuscany again.
(27:21):
We are about to make anotherbig project in Middle East.
I'm still under NDA, so Icannot communicate yet. Yeah.
But we are reallyentering the world of
interiors, real estate,
creating project for ourclients because, as I say,
they always give us thechance to provide them with something
unique and being able today to
(27:45):
have one of theirhomes designed by us
with our furniture,with our accessories,
I think is really, reallyunique. We've done few.
They were very successful.
So we have now a numberof requests by your by our
clients, and oneafter the other,
we are entered into this world.
Oh, wonderful.
So it's it means also that thebrand is and and you said this
(28:09):
in the beginning that itstarted with ties and then
basically gradually went toto more things in the body.
Oh, really.
So now it becomes reallylike an essential lifestyle.
It's a lifestyle.
We produce, we do have,
our wine, over ten years,our champagne, and, you know,
then we enter the jewelrybusiness and we do it in house.
(28:30):
Yeah.
Our watches, and we've beenproducing for the last two
years, which was verysuccessful, super high end.
So, I think there is a worldof opportunities for us because
our client, they liketo give us the chance.
Yeah.
Because they believe in whatwe do, how committed we are,
and they're always ready to hearand to have something new from us.
Yeah. Wonderful.
(28:51):
So my very last question is,
where do you see inthe next ten years,
fifteen years, twenty years,
maybe the the kind ofthe future of luxury,
the future of lifestyle,the future of fashion going?
When you see, like,you know, we have,
new technologies coming,
everyone now speaks aboutartificial intelligence,
(29:11):
and and so on.
So where do you what where doyou see kind of the industry
heading in in the future?
So, of course, technologytoday is giving you some
really serious advantages.
I would say AI ina matter of, like,
special marketing,
trying to help us to proposethrough pictures with our CRM,
(29:34):
trying to get to the client andproviding what looking at his
history, what iswilling to buy next.
At the moment,every manager knows,
so we do more manually becausewe handpicked our selection,
we send pictures to them.
AI, I'm sure will helpus to better improve.
AI is also can help youto predict the buying.
(29:55):
So also make forecast forthe fabrics you will need.
So, of course, it's very importantto always be aware of time and not
close within your world and not beopen to understand what there is.
Some things I hadbeen approached,
but it could work if you haveover five hundred stores.
Yeah. And the numbersshould be much bigger.
Still we haveeighty stores. Yeah.
(30:17):
The company it's amid size company and,
we are looking at it.
For sure they're gonnahelp us to improve,
but what I'm the most concernedtoday and where we are focusing
this year and I'm surenext year, it's acquiring,
minorities or majorities of oursupply chain because I think in
(30:40):
the future, it'sgonna be a lack.
Yeah.
As we said before,
when we talk aboutsustainability is to keep on
continuing the heritage of thework or the workforce and the
craftsmanship that we have.
So priority it is to secure the
supply chain, have itwithin your world Mhmm.
And be sure that these peopleare gonna be loyal to you and
(31:02):
can help you to deliver to themarket those amazing product
that they are able to do.
Yeah. Wonderful. Super.
And, Nicolo, thank youso much for having me.
Thank you. Great.
Great to spend this hourthis this time with you.
Yeah. Wonderful.Thank you. Thank you.
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