Robert Polet on Managing Creative Minds

In the recent Fortune magazine, Gucci Group CEO Robert Polet shares his ideas for tips for managing fashion brands, where art and commerce collide:

MAKE THE BRAND, NOT THE TALENT, THE STAR. In the late 1990s, Gucci’s lead designer, Tom Ford, engineered a legendary turnaround of the label–and became an A-list celebrity in the process. But now Polet says it’s crucial to promote the product, not the personality behind it, since the brand can outlive a designer or a manager. So he picks creative directors with strong opinions but with a clear focus on making great goods. “The designer works in the service of the brand,” he says.

ASSIGN A BUSINESS (AND A CREATIVE) MANAGER TO EACH BRAND. The Gucci Group has ten brands under its umbrella, including Yves Saint Laurent and Boucheron. Previously, creative control of individual brands was concentrated at the top of the Gucci Group, but when Polet took over, he installed a two-person team to run the labels: a creative director to lead the vision and a CEO who works as the “business partner in the marriage.” That way, he says, the products achieve the right look but also have the right merchandising strategy. “It’s not creativity for creativity’s sake,” he says.

DON’T MICROMANAGE. Unlike his predecessors, Polet leaves virtually all design decisions to the designers. Where he exerts control is in selecting the right leaders, setting three-year business plans for each division, and creating what he calls the “rules of the game,” a two-page description of what’s allowed and what’s not. “Then we actually say to the teams, ‘Go for it.’” says Polet. “It’s about the art of letting go.”

Fortune