First of all, corporate social responsibility is now a form of sustainability. Sustainability is fundamental today because the new generations, Gen Z, are very aware of current problems: global warming, pollution, the fact that the world has been somewhat destroyed. My generation, it's ugly to say, but we have somewhat destroyed the world, we took advantage, we did many things, and now we are running to repair and build a better world for our children. Think about the chemicals in what you eat every day – it's staggering. New diseases are born every day. We are forced to go to clinics to get back in shape, taking more medicines. Food produced more naturally is also produced much less. Despite world hunger, 28% of the food we produce is thrown away. Yes.
And so you have implemented in the company a form of sustainability from the point of view of nutrition?
We developed a project for employees: there is a part that can take only organic food, and another part: when we filter the food in the evening, it is blast-chilled and given to nearby communities. We also have centers where we distribute food to poor families. So we do a lot on that side. But back to your initial question: sustainability. Sustainability is fundamental. We must take care of everything: the environment, the planet, life, who we are and how we want to live our future. So sustainability must be introduced heavily in all companies. Many of my colleagues say in interviews, 'Now I have a recycled fabric.' That's bullshit, recycled fabric does nothing. We talk about sustainability when you talk globally about how you build collections. Consider that now we have reached about 50% in all my brands. Diesel is ahead. In denim we are at 90%. I'm proud, because denim has always been accused of being the biggest producer – 70 liters of water per jeans. And what practices do we have? First, water consumption: with lasers, it's incredible. I've always been passionate about making treated, lived-in denim, which required many chemical operations and washes. Today those are eliminated. We work only with laser systems and technology. You avoid all those steps and make a product that looks like the one from 10 years ago, with the same feel and beauty, but much more sustainable.
You were the man who put stones in the washing machine.
No, let me tell you more. I made my first pair of jeans when I was 15.
Oh, then you all talk a bit. No, I was saying it's very easy to have a conversation with Renzo, he always talks so much. I was saying that you talk, no, now I'll pass to you.
Give me a minute, we're getting there. I'll tell you this story. I was 15, I made my first jeans with my mother's sewing machine. They were American jeans because I was a fanatic. Then I went to a concrete threshing floor, took the pants, and started rubbing them on the concrete. I made the first stone wash. To tell the truth, we all did it in the 70s, rubbing them on the square of Santa Maria delle Grazie.
Okay, I'll paraphrase that.
When you run a business, the first thing is the product. Start with the product. If you have a great product, you can build everything else. If not, change profession. Today we talk about sustainable products: sustainable materials, production cycles, chemicals. That's the first part of sustainability. But there's another part rarely discussed: the social part. No one talks about how people work, the conditions of artisans and service providers. We did audits of our micro-suppliers. Even with legal contracts, when you audit, you find things aren't as they should be. Brands are responsible for everything that happens. After building a sustainable product, you must worry about social conditions. The fantastic thing is that now, also thanks to Covid, companies are starting to associate, share, merge. That's fundamental. Mergers at all levels, down to the supply chain. I told Minister Urso: it's stupid to give money to the supply chain because they eat it up. Better to give money to medium companies that contract with the supply chain and require accountability. If they don't deliver, the money comes back. If you give to small supply chain, 95% gets eaten. In the South, they form associations just to eat the money.
The question is to all three of you: what is innovation for you?
We talked about sustainability, now let's talk about innovation. For me, innovation is technology. We apply it in every area. All our managers use AI. We can do things we couldn't before. For example, making placement patterns for cutting garments used to take an hour, now a minute. 3D and AI are incredibly useful. I almost don't write emails anymore, I use ChatGPT. It's the most beautiful machine because it gives suggestions, it contains everything happening in the world. It's used in investment banks. In medicine, you input all global research and it's incredible. Recently, there's something that in two days changes cells and removes cancer cells in Korea. It's amazing. Innovation is fantastic. My life has been innovation. When I was young it was different, but now I'm fascinated by how much more you can do. I was saying earlier, Leonardo, talk about these glasses you are making, they will change the world. It's really something...
