The understanding of material aspiration and, as he puts it, people’s “dreams” to be associated with high-quality products is central to Della Valle’s marketing vision. I ask him how and why certain products – the gommini, the D-bag – become fashion icons. “Because they are perfect: in aesthetic terms, their proportions, their quality.” Does he instantly recognise when a new product is destined for such status? “Yes, immediately. They are like thoroughbreds. You know they will last. And then it becomes a matter of maintaining coherence, with the re-editions, to make sure the DNA of the product is consistent.”
With all this talk of Asian resurgence, does he consider that the “Made in Italy” label will retain its lustre? “Yes,” he replies unhesitatingly. “Because it is still the maximum guarantee of high quality for products such as ours. It's like the Swiss for watches.” READ: Diego Della Valle Pt. 1
I ask how he divides his time, and he says that his decision to bring up his son Filippo in the same village, indeed in the same school that he himself attended, forces him to travel. There is a summer house in Capri, another house in Milan, another in Paris, another in New York, another in Miami. A boat to cruise the Mediterranean. Another boat that used to belong to John F Kennedy, moored in Capri. He recounts the list unostentatiously, professes his love of the simple life, and manages not to sound disingenuous.
We talk some more about the great Italian brands, and I mention Ferrari. “I just got one today,” he says with no ceremony whatsoever. In fact, he explains, he ordered it some time ago but has just received the phone call saying it was ready. Luca di Montezemolo, Ferrari’s chairman, is a close friend and Della Valle picked out the car with Filippo, customising it with his trademark colours
He tells me about the initials, DDD, that are written on his private jet, which stand for Dignità, Dovere, Divertimento – Dignity, Duty, Fun. Picking out a Ferrari, he says, belongs in the last category, “but it is important to respect the mixture of those three qualities.”
--Financial Times
With all this talk of Asian resurgence, does he consider that the “Made in Italy” label will retain its lustre? “Yes,” he replies unhesitatingly. “Because it is still the maximum guarantee of high quality for products such as ours. It's like the Swiss for watches.” READ: Diego Della Valle Pt. 1
I ask how he divides his time, and he says that his decision to bring up his son Filippo in the same village, indeed in the same school that he himself attended, forces him to travel. There is a summer house in Capri, another house in Milan, another in Paris, another in New York, another in Miami. A boat to cruise the Mediterranean. Another boat that used to belong to John F Kennedy, moored in Capri. He recounts the list unostentatiously, professes his love of the simple life, and manages not to sound disingenuous.
We talk some more about the great Italian brands, and I mention Ferrari. “I just got one today,” he says with no ceremony whatsoever. In fact, he explains, he ordered it some time ago but has just received the phone call saying it was ready. Luca di Montezemolo, Ferrari’s chairman, is a close friend and Della Valle picked out the car with Filippo, customising it with his trademark colours
He tells me about the initials, DDD, that are written on his private jet, which stand for Dignità, Dovere, Divertimento – Dignity, Duty, Fun. Picking out a Ferrari, he says, belongs in the last category, “but it is important to respect the mixture of those three qualities.”
--Financial Times
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