Chiara Ferragni of The Blonde Salad collaborates with Tod’s on capsule collection
At the 2018 edition of the FT Business of Luxury Summit in Venice, CEO Mr. Diego Della Valle said that Tod’s has focused on traditional craftsmanship, which has not gone out of style.
“We don’t need to defend craftsmanship; the people love it,” Mr. Della Valle said. “It’s important for two reasons. Firstly, it’s our soul and it’s what we do,” he said. Secondly, the market loves it.”
But this does not mean that brands must eschew anything modern and new. Instead, brands need to synthesise the old and the new. Mr. Della Valle uses as an example that Tod’s has not replaced handcrafting goods with machine manufacturing.
“Robots are good sometimes because they are more precise and more uniform, but precise is not always ideal,” Mr. Della Valle said. “The quality is always equal, but it’s okay if each product is not 100 percent identical.”
“Some brands that had an incredible reputation made in fashion for the last 50 years transformed their business too much and now they’re only known for making rubber shoes,” Mr. Della Valle said. “The question is: is it right? The numbers may be good but I think for me it’s a mistake because you forget the story,” he said. “You don’t have the power to say how you are different than other brands on the market. It’s very dangerous, maybe impossible to go back from that.”
Mr. Della Valle has a unique view of how Tod’s works to balance innovation and tradition. He envisions the brand as a highway. The whole thing is heading in one direction that does not change, representing the overall brand direction that has roots in the past and stretches on into the future.
Yet at the same time, customers need options. For that, Tod’s collaborates with artists and designers for limited-edition collections or capsules. For example, social influencer and blogger Chiara Ferragni of The Blonde Salad showed how much she loves Italian leather goods brand Tod’s through a collaboration and a capsule collection. Mr Della Valle insisted the company will continue to focus on such creative collaborations in the future.
Learn more at: #CHIARALOVESTODS