Hi, this is Imran Ahmed, founder and CEO of the Business of Fashion and welcome to the

Bof podcast. This week, we're back at Voices 2018, where I had a very interesting conversation

with Francesca Bellatini, chief executive officer of Eve San Laurent. Francesca first entered the

fashion industry after working

in finance and investment banking, and over the years, she has developed a very keen merchandising

mindset working at Prada, Gucci, Botega Veneta, and now, of course, at San LaRom. One of the absolute

pleasures of having this job is sitting down with behind-the-scenes people like Francesca who make

the fashion industry tick. My last lunch with Francesca came at a very interesting time indeed.

Just a few days after, former YSL designer Hedysliman, with whom Francesca had worked for several

years, showed his first highly anticipated collection for Celine,

which, like his YSL collections, had a distinctly head-eously man look about it,

the same look that drove the San Loren business into a billion-euro business.

On social media, fans were already pitting the two houses against each other,

in a battle royale for the hearts and minds of

those seeking a Parisian chic rock and roll aesthetic. But when I asked Francesca for her thoughts on

this brewing battle, she was as cool as a cucumber, laying out a pragmatic and thoughtful strategy

in response. So I asked her if she would come to Voices 2018 and share her thoughts on the

question on everyone's minds about the future of Eve Saint Laurent. Here's Francesca Bellatini

at Voices 2018. Just start with the question that everyone's been talking about. Sure. Let's just get it out of the way, because there's a lot of other things, obviously, to discuss.

But what was your reaction to Hedy Slimand's Celine show?

I looked at the show, of course.

Yeah.

...