Marcolin Talk, a platform that brings together global opinion leaders in dialogue on a range of important topics, came to New York last week. Previously held in Milan and Shanghai, this marked its U.S. debut, and the event was held at Marcolin’s New York City showroom centering around the concept of “Boundless Visions.”
Moderated by WWD’s executive editor of strategic content development Arthur Zaczkiewicz, the panel included Alberto Acito, director of Innovit, the new Italian innovation and culture hub in San Francisco; Gabriele Chiave, vice president of the global creative direction — design and innovation for The Estée Lauder Cos. Inc., and Chrissa Pagitsas, chief executive officer of Pagitsas Advisors, a strategic adviser, a board member, and an expert in ESG, sustainability, climate risk and green and social bonds.
The conversation kicked off with each defining innovation as they see it, beginning with Acito explaining how Innovit, an Italian government initiative promoting Italian technologies and start-ups in Silicon Valley and elsewhere in the U.S., works. “Typically when talking about innovation, it’s about technology, it’s about software or AI,“ Acito said. “But what I’ve learned being in Silicon Valley is that it is a way to think of building new growth solutions. We also need to talk about the pivot, meaning don’t fall in love with your idea, because it will change many times. You will fail.
“To fail is a badge of honor; this is the mindset of our entrepreneurs,” he said, moving onto the importance of venture capital in fueling innovation. Next he touched on sustainability, the other key topic of the talk, calling innovation “the tool” to evolving sustainability. “There is no sustainability without technology.”
Chiave then discussed the creative side of innovation: “When I see innovation in our group, it is essential, because otherwise there’s no future. What we do is we upstream disruptive innovation that creates a platform for the group that will change the game for all our brands,” he said, listing the types of innovation he works on including scientific, technical, social, cultural and sustainability.
“The last one which in the creative world we are connected to, is the emotional innovation, we forget about. We speak about user experience, but we tend to forget that we also have a soul, a heart, and not just a mind. So how can we innovate emotionally, to connect our consumers and to create things which are more for the new generation on an emotional level,” he said.
Pagitsas added: “I want to touch on two comments. One is start-ups and innovation and capital. And I think that we need start-ups, small companies, smart people. But we also need large institutions to innovate from within. We need organizations that are looking for those partnerships, that are looking for those start-ups and wanting to bring them in in order to create something new. I think when we think about innovation, technology, beauty, fashion, it really is a very challenging field, because we need to be at the forefront of new technologies. I do think we are at a very challenging time as business innovators, and we need to navigate in a way that’s sustainable.”
The topic of where it begins was posed next, with Zaczkiewicz pointing to the C-suite. “I do believe in employee-led initiatives, but at the end of the day, it’s the CEO and the board that says yes, and then it’s the conversations with the investors,” Pagitsas explained.
Marcolin CEO Fabrizio Curci speaks to guests at Marcolin Talk.
Courtesy Marcolin
“Innovation needs large corporations,” Acito said, adding that in his work with start-ups he also gets large Italian corporation chief executive officers reaching out with their concerns. “They are scared, and I will say, rightly so,” he said point blank. “There are entire teams that are scared about what’s going on with AI now. C-levels, they don’t know how to tell them what’s going on.”
“Are they afraid to take risks?“ Zaczkiewicz asked. “If you’re afraid of taking a risk, you’re without a vision,” Chiave answered. “Innovation is meant to be risky, because it’s meant to fail most of the time.”
“I’ve thought about this topic a lot because sustainability, building a sustainable product is new for many leaders,” Pagitsas added. “I’ve had to do a lot of thinking about different stakeholders that I work with, and that my clients work with, and really get into their psychology. The CEO is afraid, because there’s an organization, 2,500 people, 10,000 employees, that if this new sustainable product doesn’t work, there’s a 10 percent layoff. That’s scary. So it’s not that CEOs are scaredy cats or not risk takers, but there’s a bandwidth of risk comfort that most leaders are comfortable with.”
Marcolin CEO Fabrizio Curci rounded out the discussion talking about the importance of hearing and learning from thought leaders from various sectors, sparking a debate that is capable of inspiring change beyond the boundaries of the eyewear industry. He shared his plans of continuing to expand the format of Marcolin Talk to new continents. “There is not one way to think about it,“ he said of innovation. “It’s changing things, aiming to give something better than before, to give something better to the people. I want to leave to the next CEO, a better company.”
