Newport International Runway Group Tokyo Fashion: Zen-Loving CEO Rewrites the Rules of Retail - 2 views
started by dorothy moore on 09 Oct 14
started by dorothy moore on 09 Oct 14
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On a gray spring morning in Paris, behind the facade of an 18th century building on the Place Vendome, a flying insect has somehow made its way through an arched doorway, past a limestone courtyard and into the headquarters of Comme des Garcons International, where it is now buzzing around the head of Chief Executive Officer Adrian Joffe.
Not for long.
As Joffe sits at a glass table in his office, calmly discussing the relationship between artistic integrity and profit, he suddenly raises his right arm and executes a rapid swatting motion reminiscent of an Andy Roddick first serve. In a split second, the fly is gone and Joffe continues speaking, making no acknowledgment of the interruption aside from a barely perceptible grin.
To those who aren't familiar with Joffe -- a seemingly mild-mannered executive with a background in Zen Buddhism and linguistics -- this matter-of-fact extermination of another living being might seem surprising. But as Bloomberg Pursuits magazine reports in its Autumn 2014 issue, those who know him well would recognize one of his most-marked qualities: not a killer instinct exactly but, rather, a clean efficiency, a knack for swiftly removing distractions so as to focus on what's important.
Innovative Brand
Comme des Garcons, founded in Tokyo 45 years ago by the reclusive designer Rei Kawakubo -- Joffe's wife since 1992 -- is perhaps the most enduringly innovative fashion brand of modern times. From the start, Kawakubo's goal has been to rise above market forces to freely create new things, be they jackets with three sleeves or androgynous, abstract garments that upend standard notions of clothing, gender and beauty.
Despite its renegade bona fides, Comme, as its devotees call it, is also a business, and it's up to Joffe to help keep it profitable. At a time when the art-commerce balancing act is a daunting challenge for many creative companies, Joffe, who has no formal training in either art or commerce, has become an unlikely master of juggling both. His ideas often seem uncopyable -- until they're widely copied. Such was the case with Comme's guerrilla stores, one-off, limited-run boutiques that served as the prototypes for today's ubiquitous pop-up shops.
Creativity
Pharrell Williams -- whose new unisex scent with Comme puts him in an esteemed club of fragrance collaborators that includes the design firm Artek and London's Serpentine Gallery -- says that creativity remains Joffe's top priority, with commerce running a very close second.
"Money doesn't make ideas; ideas make money," Williams observes. He describes Comme des Garcons as a kind of brilliant biosphere, with Joffe as the curator who gives Kawakubo's creations their essential context. "If Comme is like a snow globe, Adrian is the water," Williams says.
Joffe certainly doesn't fit the standard profile of a 61-year-old CEO -- and not just because he dresses in head-to-toe black, often with a pair of graffitied Doc Martens on his feet. The shoes are a limited-edition Comme collaboration adorned with slogans by his wife, including, significantly, "My energy comes from my freedom."
One of Joffe's many tasks at the company is to act as interpreter and gatekeeper for the resolutely private Kawakubo, who speaks little English and shows no interest in making herself understood to the outside world.
"That's the worst part of my job," Joffe says. "It's hard to explain her, and I don't really want to. But I am somewhat of a realist, and for business, you have to try." Continue reading...