Prada's boss believes fashion lacks genuine entrepreneurs

Prada's boss Patrizio Bertelli suggested on Tuesday that "fashion's real problem is that it lacks genuine entrepreneurs." He stated this at a meeting of industry professionals at the end of the Milan Fashion Week.

"Fashion's real problem is that it lacks genuine entrepreneurs, people who have the willingness, the imagination and the courage to set up a business," he stated, according to a report by Italian business news agency Radiocor.

"I am 70, Renzo Rosso [the boss of OTB] is nearly so [he is 60]. Without entrepreneurs, talking about policies in fashion is pointless. If entrepreneurs will emerge, solutions will be found," said Patrizio Bertelli, the husband of Miuccia Prada.

"For twenty years, beginning with the 1990s, the message that circulated was 'small is beautiful'." On the contrary, being small is disastrous, small [businesses] are isolated in a globalised world," he added.

About the fashion show calendar, he reiterated his idea of bringing forward the presentation of Milan's womenswear collections from September to July. "I made this proposal in 2010, but the French fashion chamber and [the editor-in-chief of Vogue USA] Anna Wintour said they were against it. However, we Italians must stop being passive and start taking matters in our own hands."

The fashion world is in a state of upheaval, as it reconsiders the show calendar. Some brands have decided to combine their menswear and womenswear shows, or to change the presentation venue.

Milan Fashion Week, which began last Friday night and ended on Tuesday late morning, was hit by 11 defections, including those of Roberto Cavalli, Bottega Veneta, Ermenegildo Zegna, Brioni and Antonio Marras.

In parallel to the calendar issue, some fashion labels have launched a 'see now, buy now' approach, allowing the collection to go on sale right after the show, while others, like Salvatore Ferragamo, reckon this is impossible for luxury brands.