If you had to recommend a reading to your team members, what would it be? This is the question to which executives of the Spanish fashion industry answer for fashion on the occasion of International Book day. Novels, essays and biographies fill the elections of managers of companies such as Tous, Mango, Desigual, Tendam or AWWG, with works that even some companies include in their welcome pack For new additions, as is the case of Blue Banana with You never stopthe biography of the founder of Nike.
If one of his companions asked him what a book to read, Carlos Soler-Dufffo, CEO of Tous, one of the main groups in the jewelry sector, would say The gratitude (Delphine de Vigan). “It is a work that invites you to reflect on the value of gratitude: how to be grateful in life makes oneself and others feel better,” he says. In a song to thanks, The gratitude He tells that there are “thousands of moments to feel grateful, as many as opportunities to express it.”
Alberto Ojinaga, CEO of Desigual, recommends reading Creativity, SA (Ed Catmull)a work that some years ago bought the members of his team. The book is about “a scientist, specialized in computer, who speaks of creativity and the conditions for it to work.” In Creativity, The author “speaks from his successful experience in Pixar and Disney, when both were acquired, and he became president of Walt Disney Studio.”
Carlos Soler-Dufffo, CEO of Tous, chooses The gratitudewhile Alberto Ojinaga, first unequal executive, opts for Creativity
For Eva Romeo, the general director of women’Secret, Spanish intimate chain of the tendam group, Discontent (Beatriz Serrano) It is the ideal recommendation for Book Day. “It is a sharp dart loaded with caustic humor that hooked me from the cover, and that talks about loneliness, the need to feel connected and create links and relationships,” he explains. “A story that outlines with sagacity the new work environment and the disabilities to get out of routine spirals and lack of enthusiasm; a novel that unintentionally makes us think and reflect on the post pandemic world,” says Romero.
Elena Carasso, director of online and mango client, the second largest Spanish fashion distribution group, would recommend Nexus (Yuval Noah Harari)which leads to its field of the impact of technology in the business world and society. “It is a book that makes you a reflection on the change we are facing with AI and does so through history and evolution,” says the executive.
“With the explosion of the AI we are living, many changes are coming that will affect us in our way of living and thinking,” he says. “Reading the book makes you reflect on the good and the bad that can lead to,” he says, to add that, for her, it is “a good reflection” that recommends “to enthusiasts as the detractors of AI.”
Still in the technological field, Veepee’s first executive in Spain, also pulls Harari. Essentialism – the disciplined pursuit of less (Greg McKeown) y Sapiens (Yuval Noah Harari)the brief history of humanity They would be two books that Anja Brehm would recommend to those with whom he shares team. McKeoen’s because “it helps you prioritize what really matters, eliminating distractions and focusing your energy essentially,” and Harari’s, because, according to Brehm, it should be “a mandatory reading in all schools to really understand our species and to promote to reflect on the future.”
Elena Carasso, head of Mango online, bets on Nexus To reflect on the impact of AI, while Eva Romeo, from Women’sCret, recommends the caustic humor of Discontent
Business classics and fashion lessons
The art of war (Sun Tzu). This is the book that comes to mind to Juanjo Sotomayor, commercial director of the International Fashion Group All We Wear Group (AWWG) for a day like today. “This is a book that, although many years have passed since its publication, has many strategic teachings that remain very useful for current businesses,” he says.
Domingo Barrachina, Expansion Director of Flabelus, Madrid footwear company, would recommend several readings for this occasion. Titles like The seven habits of highly affective people (Stephen Covey), The Tao of the leaders (John Heider) y The 5 in the morning club: controls your mornings, drives your life (Robin S.Sharma) They would be their favorites.
Álvaro Cebrián, co -founder of the male fashion company El Goso, opts for the already classic business literature You never stop: Nike founder autobiography (Phil Knight) For your recommendation. “I have seen that it is a book that many managers recommend, but I can presume to be the first to recommend it eight years ago, and I have read it twice.” Cebrián would also recommend reading Steve Jobs (Walter Isaac). “What I like about this book is Jobs’s personality in many facets, but what captivates me most is his personality and tenacity when I saw things clear,” says Cebrián. “I think that is something we must learn in companies,” he reiterates.
If Alejandro Porras, CEO of Alohas, a Catalan company specialized in footwear, had to give a reason to read Purple Cow (Seth Godin)it would be the following: “In a world saturated with options and competitions, Purple Cow It reminds us of the importance of highlighting and creating something truly unique. ”
For Porras, the fashion industry “is increasingly comfortable”, and this book “is crucial to understand how a brand or product must be differentiated and truly exceptional to be relevant.” The author of the book argues that “it is not enough to be good to excel”, you have to be “extraordinary and unique.” The CEO of Secunda that this philosophy “can help teams think in creative ways to differentiate brands, products and business models.”
-The founder of Alohas chooses Purple Cow To learn the importance of highlighting and Paco Sánchez, from Lola Casademunt, opts for Leaders always eat at the end
Paco Sánchez resorts to his values for his literary choice. “If I had to recommend a book, for several reasons it would be that of Los leaders always eat at the end (Simon Fly)”, Says the general director of the Catalan Women’s Fashion Company Lola Casademunt. The Executive says that his recommendation is not based” so much on the narrative “, but in the background, a background that” agrees a lot “with its values.
“One of my favorite books is The Future We Choose (Tom Rivett-Carnac, Christian Figueres)because it made me reflect on the role that we all play in the construction of a better future, ”says Pim Espealba, CEO of Bobo Choses, Catalan children’s fashion company.“ The book not only presents the challenges we face, but also offers a hopeful vision and practice of the decisions we can make today to change the course, he says.
“I liked it a lot because it combines realism with action, and inspires me to think about how my decisions, however small, can contribute to a positive impact,” replies what would be the reason to recommend it.
The founders of Blue Banana, Nude Project and the goose opt for the biography of Phil Knight
Nike to get up at five in the morning
The youngest, the founders of Nude Project and Blue Banana, resort, like Álvaro Cebrián, to the biography of the founder of Nike. Because? “Because it tells the real story of how Nike was born, with all its falls, risks and follies, and reflects just the mentality we want in nude: to dream big, break all the barriers and never give up, despite the fact that things do not always leave as one expects,” says Alex Benlloch, co -founder of Nude Project.
“It is not that we recommend it to the team, whether there is a indirect of office, within the welcome pack We put it, ”says Nacho Rivera, co -founder of Blue Banana, a company of Madrid specialized in fashion outdoor. “Perhaps it is very typical, but it is a book that inspired us a lot to Juan Estrada and me at the beginning of Blue Banana, and the beginnings of Nike share many values with Blue Banana today, so it seems to us a fundamental tool to align the team and build a strong company culture,” he says.
Rafael Pérez, CEO of Selmark, Galician company of intimate, would recommend the trilogy Africanus (Santiago Posteteuillo)because, for him, “he portrays with mastery how leadership, strategic vision and perseverance can change the course of history”, values that are “present in Selmark’s day to day.”
Rafael Pérez, CEO of Selmark, Galician company of intimate, would recommend the trilogy Africanus and Albassari Caro, director of Barcelona Bridal Fashion Week, eligible Letting go
Albasarí Caro, general director of Barcelona Bridal Fashion Week, chooses Letting go (David Hawkins) Like his book. In the words of the board, the author wrote this book on how to manage your own ego at the time you manage teams, or your life in general. ”
“It has a very deep approach about how we are scheduled to follow certain patterns in society and how we can break them to have a higher quality life, a more observant mind and realize what we repeat and it is not necessarily the healthiest, with diseases, relationships that do not work or jobs that make no sense and follow by inertia,” he adds. Caro acknowledges that this reading, which he resorts has often “helped him find balance” in his day to day, and “to see everything with more empathy”, because every time he reads it, “there are learning” that make him “return to him” and continue “learning.”
The book that Carlota Furtest, co -founder of Beatriz Furtest, Barcelona company specialized in accessories and female fashion, comes to the head to recommend is The power of now (Eckhart great). In the words of the directive, the book that “most interests” is always the one who is reading at that time. “This book came to my hands a few weeks ago, and I’m enjoying it in slow chamber,” he says. “I think it is a very powerful reading and that it enhances each one in all areas of life,” admits after you point out that The power of now It is also “a business book”, although “it is not the intention of the author.”
Eye women large (Angels Mastretta)is the book that Julia González, director of Momad, fashion hall, footwear and accessories, would recommend. “These are several stories about women who seek to enlarge their own universe seeking emancipation and wisdom,” he says. And if I had to give a reason to read it, González would recommend it “for the intelligence and empathy with which the stories are narrated,” since the directive believes that through it “they” manage to show that you can get what you propose.
Marta Coca, director of the Catalan platform 080 Barcelona Fashion, chooses Wild swan (Jung Chang), A historical novel about China, narrated from the perspective of three generations of women from a family, as reading to recommend.
