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We Are in the Want Business

When I joined DKI and LVMH, I entered a new world that was global in scope: fashion, women’s designer fashion—all bigger than life. Sometimes you have to put business in perspective. Pretty much anyone I am addressing in this book needs nothing. If each and every one of you lives to be 100 years old, you already have all the clothes, shoes, or handbags you will ever need. Yet our industry sells billions of dollars per year of ideas because people want something new. It’s our job to create that want! To achieve this, we develop new fashions. Every year we are charged with creating something new: we develop new products in new silhouettes, new colors, and new styles.

We create things that you don’t need but really, really want. Dresses in every fabric, color, and style you can think of and in every fit, from loose-fitting to skintight. In men’s suits, there are now three fits available: classic fit, (democratic fit, which is suitable for many people), slim fit, and superslim. Yesterday, a guy was happy in his classic-fit suit; today, most men are putting their classic suits aside and retrofitting a new wardrobe to slim fit.

Women’s shoes are my favorite, and women spend a lot of time and (thankfully) disposable income on flats, sneakers, wedge sneakers, two-inch heels, and spiked four-inch heels. And they are all “in style.” We have trained the consumer to have wardrobes for every occasion. Ka-ching! That’s the fashion business, creating the want. We create your need to look good, to feel good, to fit in or stand out, to blend in or make a statement—a fashion statement. It’s all about the product.

The difference between need and want is fascinating to me. In our business, I think you have to recognize that no one needs what you’re offering, but they do want it. How do we make them want it? Our whole industry—including fashion, retail, and luxury goods—is predicated on persuading you to change your mind: we make whatever you thought you were comfortable in less relevant, and then we influence you to put it aside and go buy something else, something new. The entire world of advertising and marketing is also a coconspirator in persuading you to buy things you don’t need but want and convincing you that one company’s products are better than those of its competitors.

Since we’re selling something that no one needs, we have to make people want our products. That entails a tremendous responsibility and burden to create things that are different, new, and fresh through color, style, fit, or even technology.

Developing new ideas is what drives our business. If you are in this business, you need to recognize that your company or products need to always strive to be something different. That’s the essence of the fashion business. Don’t kid yourself: it’s all about creating things people don’t need. If you understand that, you can be very successful in this business.