\n<\/p>\n
\n\tIs compromise underrated in the fashion business?<\/p>\n
\n\tAndrea Guerra, chief executive officer of Prada Group, certainly thinks so, even if he works in an environment of frequent confrontation, not the least with Patrizio Bertelli and Miuccia Prada, the famously strong-willed husband-and-wife leaders of the Italian fashion company.<\/p>\n
\n\t\u201cCompromise to me is one of the most neglected words of the cultural vocabulary,\u201d Guerra related during a fireside chat with James Fallon, chief content officer at Fairchild Media Group, parent of WWD. \u201cCompromise is generosity. Compromise allows everyone to have a positive contribution to something, and at the end, you are able to find a common ground. It\u2019s a positive word. It\u2019s not a negative word.\u201d<\/p>\n
\n\tGuerra, who worked at LVMH Mo\u00ebt Hennessy Louis Vuitton, Eataly, Luxottica Group, Marriott International and Merloni Elettrodomestici before joining Prada in 2023, said he thrives on working with first-generation founders.<\/p>\n
\n\t\u201cI love the idea to have this personal commitment by people who have the courage, the ideas, the fantasy to create it,\u201d he said, speaking at the WWD x SKP Global Fashion & Beauty Summit in Wuhan, China. \u201cAnd then on the other side, the question of moving on, and it\u2019s never revolution. Don\u2019t think that there can be revolutions in this kind of organization, but it\u2019s a constant evolution.\u201d<\/p>\n
\n\tIndeed, he stressed that brand DNA evolves slowly, and \u201cif you punch it,\u201d results are unlikely to be lasting.<\/p>\n
\n\tThe executive said he feels at home in China, and is sanguine about its long-term prospects.<\/p>\n
\n\tHe related that he came to Beijing for a summer at age 16, since his best friend\u2019s father was opening a branch of an Italian bank there. And he marveled at nearly two decades of uninterrupted growth for European luxury firms who had the foresight to arrive early.<\/p>\n
\n\t\u201cNow there\u2019s a little bit of a consolidation, a little bit of a digestion, but the clients are still always there,\u201d he said. \u201cSo it\u2019s a question of linking to clients properly, to younger, to older, to more affluent, to less affluent.\u2026Change is normal.\u201d<\/p>\n
\n\tEchoing other speakers at the one-day forum, Guerra called for a reset in the sector.<\/p>\n
\n\t\u201cWe have to go back to what old luxury was. You need to be authentic. You need to be credible. You need to tell a story that allows people to dream. If we\u2019re not able to do this, let\u2019s go do something else,\u201d he said. \u201cAnd if you don\u2019t have a background, if you don\u2019t have a skill, if you don\u2019t have roots, there is nothing you can tell to your clients.\u201d<\/p>\n
\n\tHe noted that some objects created by Miuccia Prada\u2019s grandfather Mario Prada, who founded his company in 2013 specializing in travel bags and trunks, oozed what is today characterized as Prada-ness.<\/p>\n
\n\t\u201cFrom Day One you understand that there is a constant debate, that there is a constant conversation. Sometimes in the same object you could feel that there is a kind of contrast,\u201d Guerra said.<\/p>\n
\n\tHe predicted that the luxury goods market, aided by technology and especially AI, will become hyper-personalized, allowing brands to conduct one-to-one conversations with clients rather than targeting a category, a cluster or everybody.<\/p>\n
\n\tFor example, if Prada knows a specific client is an \u201cunbelievable lover\u201d of a specific kind of shoes, it can reach out when a style in a similar vein comes on the market.<\/p>\n
\n\tBut keeping a brand vibrant and relevant, IRL storytelling and experiences have become more and more elaborate, reaching a zenith with the Prada Galleria complex the brand unveiled during Milan Fashion Week last September. It fuses retail, hospitality, art, heritage and innovation across eight floors set in the historic shopping arcade Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II.<\/p>\n
\n\t\u201cNormally, I\u2019m a very humble guy, but I\u2019m so proud of this project. This project represents our skill, our heart, our roots. This project is allowing Prada lovers, and Prada newcomers, to understand who we are. We\u2019re not a logo. We\u2019re not a sign. We are a DNA. We are a living DNA that has grown from day number one in culture, art, architecture,\u201d he said. \u201cI would love all of you to go because I think it\u2019s a cultural journey in fashion.\u201d<\/p>\n
\n\tHe also trumpeted the Prada Rong Zhai epicenter in Shanghai set within a restored 17th-century palace that contains a restaurant created by Miuccia Prada and filmmaker Wong Kar Wei, gallery spaces, a garden, and private salons where VICs can hang out, and buy \u201cexceptional and unique things.\u201d<\/p>\n
\n\t\u201cIf you ask me, \u2018Andrea, do you prefer to sell or so you prefer people to come back?\u2019 I prefer people to come back,\u201d he said. \u201cThese are places where you can spend your time. These are places where you really understand, and we will have 10 or 15 of these places around the world, while Milan will always remain the epicenter of the epicenters.\u201d<\/p>\n
\n\tGuerra noted that Prada\u2019s vast cultural tentacles are never achieved via sponsorship.<\/p>\n
\n\t\u201cEither we do things or we don\u2019t do things. So if you think of Linea Rossa in the America\u2019s Cup (sailing race), that\u2019s not sponsorship. It\u2019s part of our group, so that is a huge connection through sports,\u201d he said. \u201cOn the other side, [there is] the fact that we created 26 years ago an art foundation where we are doing our own exhibitions with artists.\u201d<\/p>\n
\n\tPrada Group\u2019s latest big move was acquiring Versace and poaching Ala\u00efa\u2019s star designer Pieter Mulier as chief creative officer, setting the stage for one of the hottest debuts in early 2027.<\/p>\n
\n\t\u201cVersace is one of the greatest brands. If we think about fashion as it is today, Versace was at the base of the glamour, the music, the supermodels,\u201d he said. \u201cHow to make it sexy in 2027? This is the challenge we have, and it\u2019s hard. It\u2019s in a different world from us.\u201d<\/p>\n
\n\tThat being said, \u201cwe don\u2019t want to become a group of brands. We were not looking for a Versace.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
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