Loro Piana's bright future
The strategy of Loro Piana has always been quite clear and defined, and I think that [new owner] LVMH Group wants to continue to respect that, so I don't see many changes. They say the strategy of change is not to change. [However], that's too restrictive. We are definitely ready to help them to understand more about Loro Piana. Once they do, there will be some changes for sure. The first mission is to manage the change.
We offered the company to them. It was [in the] best interests of the company, thinking to the future. We wanted a company that could help continue and develop Loro Piana, and LVMH was the group that had more vision and capacity to develop Loro Piana for the future. What's important is to take the decisions that create conditions in which the company has the best future. So, we'll put the company first and the family second. What's best for the family may not necessarily be what's best for the company.
Luxury for me is to have the opportunity and possibility to sell or buy something of the highest level of quality. The nature of natural raw materials like wool, cashmere, nylon, cotton, silk represent quality - not by definition but by tradition, by heritage. Our natural qualities are used in small quantities, so I don't see a problem with sustainability. The opposite is true: sometimes you can re-stimulate interest and demand for products. For example, the lotus flower was basically going to disappear, the vicuña were going to disappear, and if a special-quality cashmere from China starts producing low-quality cashmere, sooner or later the demand for cashmere would drop, and then it will disappear.
My father was very much attracted by beauty and quality. There was an economic boom in the 1960s in Italy, and he was part of it. So he already started to supply customers top-quality fabric. We inherited that. Then we started to produce some accessories in order to let people know that the best fabric in the world was Loro Piana. In order to be in touch with final consumers, we put our label there. Little by little, we built a full, nice collection of accessories and vintage products, then we started with the pilot store in New York in 1994, then our first flagship store in Milan in 1999.
Yes. We used the heritage that we got in textiles and aimed the control to the final product. We didn't have to deal with other people in the middle. This is a great product from beginning to end, but then you need the distribution channel. With a few stores, we can show our ideas to the consumers, and this is a great point.
If you tell the truth, you can always manage it; if you tell lies, it builds up. So stay true and get through it when you have problems and difficulties. Go try to find different ways in thinking, then you can get solutions in the same way.
Pier Luigi Loro Piana is preparing for an era of change at his Italian clothing company