The latest instalment in STYLE’s On Work series with luxury CEOs. This month: Renzo Rosso, founder and president of OTB Group which owns brands such as Maison Margiela, Viktor&Rolf, Just Cavalli, Marni and Diesel. Work experience: 1978: Founder of Diesel 1985-present: Owner of Diesel 2002-present: Founder and president, OTB Group You appointed John Galliano at Maison Margiela and Francesco Risso at Marni, as well as Nicola Formichetti as the creative director for Diesel – how do you pick creative talents? A great talent can interpret a brand’s heritage in a modern and relevant way, with a 360-degree vision that ranges from product design to retail, from marketing to interior design, and all the different expressions of the brand. Get structured with Kylie Jenner: 5 handbags that prove soft bags are out What are your focuses when you choose to invest in a brand? I like brands with a fascinating and rich heritage to bring into the future and those with which to write an important chapter in the history of fashion. I like brands that have an interesting story to tell. Owning brands with different identities, how do you balance creative expression and the need to be profitable? Every brand has its creative director who needs to remain independent and uncontaminated from the others, with dedicated teams. Diesel is the only one where I often get involved personally – but it’s only because it is my creature, my baby. As for balancing creativity and business, I honestly don’t see them as contradictory aspects of what we do: a creative product is at the base of every successful business and nobody wants to create for the sake of it, every creative person I know wants to see their creativity out there, in the market, on the street. How coronavirus has changed luxury watchmaking for Vacheron Constantin How has coronavirus affected your business? Having to close stores for weeks all over the world, all brands will bear negative results. But I always like to have a positive outlook and I think that the alternative ways of working we experienced in this period will carry on also in the future and some of them are very positive also for our environment. Think of smart working, of the digital showrooms for sell-in campaigns: there will be a lot less unnecessary travelling, for instance, or a smaller multiplication of sample collections. What this event has taught us is that we cannot neglect the environmental impact of our actions and our industry. Could you tell us about your retail strategies before and after the coronavirus outbreak? Our retail strategy before the virus was more or less a classic one – each brand and company with their own angle. After the virus, I believe we will go towards fewer physical points of sale, in key cities, where brands will be able to generate authentic brand experiences, while for the rest of each country, online commerce will be the way. Are you building an Italian luxury fashion conglomerate modelled on the likes of LVMH or Kering? I am building a modern fashion group of brands which can be a point of reference for different lifestyles. A group of alternative luxury that people aspire to join, and whose key words are dream, desire, love. How ‘Made in China’ designers are winning the hearts of Chinese millennials Naming your company Only the Brave – do you think the fashion world is brave enough? It will have to be if it wants to survive. We will have to work in a different, alternative, more modern way and those who don’t, won’t live through it. Are there ways you think the fashion industry should evolve? I think we should all do less products and ensure they last longer in time. And I think we should eliminate these insanely wild discount wars that in the long run devalue products and brands. What is brand-breaking blogger Mr Bags’s favourite bag of all time? What’s your strategy for China? Our brands have many different, interesting and fascinating stories to tell. China is the most important market in the world for luxury products, and we are ensuring we have the necessary organisations and investments in the region which is our top priority. Want more stories like this? Sign up here . Follow STYLE on Facebook , Instagram , YouTube and Twitter .