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3 min. read | Business
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In Part 4 of Vogue's Global Discussions, Vogue Italia Editor-in-Chief Emanuele Farneti leads a panel on the future of brick-and-mortar fashion retail with industry leaders Vittorio Radice, Pierre-Yves Roussel, and Pete Nordstrom in another open and wide-ranging discussion addressing critical issues of fashion calendars, markdowns, waste, omni-channel consumer outreach, and 20-year leases in the United States.
Anna Wintour, opened the panel:
"Personally, I have been so inspired by what I have heard, and energized by the ideas of necessary and radical change that our speakers have talked so passionately about. We all want to rebuild this industry that we love so much and leave behind the old habits that are out of date or, indeed, unsustainable. Nobody is in denial that we face very real and very tough challenges. But I think that we have been reminded that we must face all of these challenges together."
Emanuele followed with timely and relevant inquiries, and panel members replied with a refreshing transparency and optimism.
"Retail is a crucial link in the chain connecting together employees, brands, production, but also landlords, logistic companies, and magazines."
— Emanuele Farneti
"I think what is important for me to point out is that every individual, every company, every entity, is in a different stage of development, and the problems are different for everyone—a young designer that just started to a company that's been around since 1865. We are all in the same boat. And our priorities are all different because we have to cover different areas all the time. It just reminds me, to illustrate this, in Grand Prix when the safety car comes out after an accident. The cars are lining up behind the safety car. And you can see that there's a young driver, there's an established driver, there's a new car, there's a winning car. They're all lined up behind the safety car. And that's what the situation is today. We're all lined up and waiting for something to happen and for instruction to be given. The question is: What is the track ahead? Is it going to be the same smooth tarmac ahead? Or is it going to be a bumpy road? And so we're left to adjust immediately after the safety car disappears. What are we going to do? . . . At the moment, we anticipate being able to open in some shape or form between the end of April and the first two weeks in May. By end of May, all our stores should be open. At least I hope."
— Vittorio Radice
"It was apparent early March that not only were we facing a global health crisis, but it was becoming a major economic crisis moving from China to Europe and the US. A lot of talk in the US was around the airline industry, and the cruise line industry, that were shut down because of the travel ban. But there were not many talks about the retail industry at large, and within the retail industry, the fashion industry. And Tory has been actively driving a CFDA effort to really urge the President and the Congress that fashion and retail should be part of any stimulus package. The retail industry employs 1 out of 4 people in America. It's the largest privater sector in the US. And that's just broadly speaking. But just the fashion industry is 5 million people in the US. And Peter was a part of that group of CEOs that joined us in really listing the things that we're asking the government to help. And one of those ways was taking care of our employees, especially in the case of unemployment. That base coverage in Europe was pretty well structured, but that was not the case in the US. . . The second ask was to work around rent and rent relief. When you have a store that's closed, and you have to pay not only your employees, but also the rent, it becomes a quite complex equation."
— Pierre-Yves Roussel
"There's this great opportunity for us to get a reset and act in the best interest of the customers. And Pierre-Yves is exactly right. There's a common sense approach. If you started this business from scratch today, you would probably do it differently than some of these legacy practices [and] where it's brought us. And that opportunity is upon us. I can tell you that what's been inspiring to me—and I'm sure for the others—is that we all find ourselves in a situation where we have mutual problems to solve. We're aligned around these things. And being able to have a great and interesting discourse with the manufacturers, the designers, the producers, the retailers—and everyone talking about how we can get aligned. There's a lot of those kind of conversations. I applaud Tory for getting started early on bringing these people together. I've been encouraged by that. I think retailers want to be part of the solution here, and I think if we can lead in being the advocate and the voice of what's in the interest of the customers, then I think that's a great role for us to play."
— Pete Nordstrom
Watch the entire video, and all videos from this series, presented below while they remain available from the publisher.
Part 6: Reinvention During The Crisis
Featuring Christiane Arp, Emmanuelle Alt, Pierpaolo Piccioli, Karla Martinez, Simon Porte Jacquemus, Kerby Jean-Raymond, Francesco Risso
Part 5: Creativity During The Crisis
Featuring Edwina McCann, Ana Wintour, John Galiano, Leslie Sun, Marine Serre, Simone Rocha, Wen Zhou
Part 4: The Future of Brick And Mortar
Featuring Emanuele Farneti, Vittorio Radice, Pierre-Yves Roussel, Pete Nordstrom
Part 3: The Future of E-Commerce
Featuring Virgil Abloh, Remo Ruffini, Stephanie Phair, Angelica Cheung
Part 2: The Future of Fashion Shows
Featuring Nicole Phelps, Natacha Ramsay-Levi, Olivier Rousteing, Cédric Charbit
Part 1: The Future of Creativity And Sustainability
Featuring Marc Jacobs, Kenneth Ize, Stella McCartney, Gabriela Hearst
Editor’s Note: This Article will be updated as new conversations become available by their publishers.
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