Domenico De Sole is the chairman of Tom Ford International, the famous menswear brand. But De Sole is most well known as former CEO of Gucci. He led the turnaround of Gucci, which was struggling under the pressure of poor management and a failing brand. In an interview for Knowledge@Wharton, De Sole discusses how the economy is affecting luxury retail, leadership strategy, and the importance of the store to the brand.
Here’s an excerpt:
“I spend an enormous amount of time visiting stores. Because if you really want to know what is going on in a retail business, you should go and talk to the sales people. At the end of the day, the store is the soul of the brand. A brand is your store. For example, if you mention Chanel to people, they think immediately about the Chanel store. So traveling to stores, being in them, understanding the store, making sure the brand is properly presented — I think this is very important.”
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[...] importance of infusing the brand into the store experience. Earlier on Inside the Aisle we noted Domenico De Sole’s belief that the store is the brand and the importance of that experience to the shopper’s [...]