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- Elsa Schiaparelli Part One: Location Creates Legacy
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Elsa Schiaparelli is NOT rolling over in her grave.
When people think of Schiaparelli, they think fashion, artistic expression, and design. Her brand is consumed for its quality, creativity, and cool factor. Elsa built a fashion house that achieved longevity; her legacy has stood the test of time.
Unfortunately, the same can not be said for her friends, colleagues, and competitors.
At best, their names stir up conversations around a lack of innovation, the inability to make customers happy, and a severe drop in quality control. At worst, their houses have become synonymous with sweatshop scandals, alleged blackmail, and wildly inappropriate advertising.
By all measures of success, Elsa won.
Here’s how.
TODAY’S LESSON
Have the guts to recognize when your current environment isn’t working for you.
And do something about it.
1920s New York City was filled with failure for Elsa Schiaparelli.
Her husband, who cheated on her throughout their entire marriage, disappeared after Elsa gave birth to their daughter. Elsa didn’t have a thriving career; she worked a bunch of odd jobs while her daughter lived with other people. She tried selling french underwear to American women. She had no control over the style or quality of the product, so she lost money on every deal. She tried working for a guy on Wall Street, but that failed, too. And her failure affected the entire stock market. Elsa said,
“I got a small job with a Wall Street man which consisted of watching a ticker. It did not last long because my reports of stocks and shares gave a most unexpected and dangerous shock to the market.
Many other things I tried with no success”
Elsa was already in her 30s, but she wasn’t thinking big about her career; she was in survival mode.
This is the exact opposite of how Cristobal Balenciaga’s career played out; as a kid he landed an unofficial apprenticeship with his mother, a talented dressmaker with a roster of high-profile clients. One of those clients was from one of the oldest aristocratic houses in Spain; when he was twelve, the lady of the house arranged an apprenticeship between Cristobal and a tailor in San Sebastian.
Cristobal landed a third apprenticeship at a more stylish, more fashionable shop called New England. Then came a position at a department store where Queen Maria Christina often shopped. In 1913, he was sent to Paris as a buyer; someone who was responsible for picking out the clothing that stores import and sell.
In 1918, at 23, Cristobal learned enough from all these experiences to open his first shop.
And this is why he was wildly successful early on - he took every advantage he had and worked incredibly hard. He was born to the right family, in the right place, at the right time - his luck was rare, but so was his work ethic.
Luck is nothing without work ethic, and work ethic beats luck every time.
Elsa didn’t have the head start Balenciaga had. But even if she did, she was in the wrong place, with the wrong people, doing the wrong things.
Nothing was working out for her, so she did the smart thing.
She left New York for Paris.
Til next,
LaToya
References and Further Reading
What You’ve Missed
Your favorite artist’s artist has a lot to teach you.
Frida paints Diego on My Mind while Diego Watches, 1940, by Bernard Silberstein, American, (1905-1999)
A deep dive into solving problems while building businesses that scale
Why did Julius Caesar decide to side with Cleopatra instead of her brother? And what did she do to win his favor? How can we use her strategies to win?
Nobu Hospitality, LLC owns and operates 36 hotels and 56 restaurants across four continents. They haven't closed a single hotel or restaurant in over three decades. The CEO plans to expand the number of hotels from 36 to 80. This is exactly the kind of business you and I should be studying so we can stay motivated, steal their strategies, and accomplish our goals.
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