My Interview with Francesco della Barba, the Author of Benetton: A True Story

 Francesco Della Barba, the author of Benetton: A True Story, which is full of fascinating tales and anecdotes about the fashion world, very kindly agreed to do an interview with me by email:

1. You had a very hard time with your father and showed much 
resilience in dealing with this. How did you get the strength to 
do this? It might have beaten many people.

 As I said in my book, I didn?t have much time to grow up, life called me to cope with events bigger than me quite early. I believe you have to have the strength to deal with them inside you, it’s only a matter of finding out the way.

The strength to do it came primarily from the love for my mother and the sight of her beaten and bleeding: it didn’t depress or scare me, it just infuriated me and I would have done anything to save her against anybody

2) Do you know what Luciano thinks of your book?

No, I do not know if he has seen or read my book. The way I know him,I think he would smile at it.

3) Did you intend your book to help young people who want to work in 
the fashion industry, as well as being entertaining and full of 
anecdotes? What advice would you give them?

 It wasn’t my prime objective, but I would be very happy if somehow it helped some youngsters to better approach the complicated world of fashion. I would advise them to never give up their dreams, fashion is a stage where you need to sell dreams more than products. However, you must be also able to keep your feet on the ground and give your efforts a concrete identity because even the strongest dreamers, when they eventually pay the dream they buy, they expect a good quality and justifiable price. Nothing comes for free, hard work always pays off, at the end.  

4) What effect do you think the Internet and social media have had on 
the fashion industry? The rise of Instagram and ‘fashion’ shows, 
such as ‘Emily in Paris’ have had a huge influence?

) I don’t exactly know which are the limits of technology and the changes that will apply to the fashion industry, particularly with all we hear about AI and its impact on our life. It’s quite some time, however, that I convinced myself that retail the way it is (shops, malls, high streets etc) will simply disappear. The trends will not be decided by fashion shows where the designer guides the audience towards a certain image using his/her models and clothing. Social media will play a role ever more important to make peole buy an image of themselves, as promoted by influencers andactors/celebrities. If all this is true, the impact on the commercial real estate market will be devastating and will force the main players to re-invent themselves and their strategies.

5) The state of the world with the threat of wars, terrorism and 
economic uncertainty must make the fashion business extremely 
difficult these days. You seem a very bubbly person but how do you 
keep your spirits up when the news depresses you?

The uncertainy surrounding us could easily be overwhelming and so the capability of seeing the glass half-full, not half empty, is vital. So, to keep you up, you need this vision and, most important, the bottle of wine from which the half full comes

6) My father had Parkinson’s Disease a long time ago so I was 
interested to read about your battle with it. How are you coping 
with Parkinson’s Disease now? First of all, I am lucky. I have had a mild progression of my Parkinson, many others are not so lucky. Having said this, I use the same attitude against the demons of Parkinson. I see it not as a diseasethat will kill me, but an enemy I’m able to defeat if I fight at my best. And even if I didn’t succeed in this ultimately, and he won, the mete satisfaction of having made his job so difficult, and my loved ones smile, would fill my soul.

Thank you very much for agreeing to this interview, Mr della 
Barba.