LUNCH WITH BS: Luciano Benetton

The amiable colours of Mr Benetton

Luciano Benetton

Luciano Benetton, the controversial advertisements of whose eponymous firm have probably travelled further than its stylish garments, looks and has a demeanour that will scarcely raise a ripple.

His attire "" blue jacket, dark trousers and plain white shirt, sans tie "" is as low key as you can get. He speaks softly and evenly, the steel-rimmed glasses adding a keenness to the quiet presence.

Perhaps the only clue to his foot in the world of fashion is the way he wears his silvery hair (he is pushing 70), slightly long at the neck, much like elderly performing artistes in India who were trendy in their time.

As he approached the Indian restaurant of Bangalore's Leela Palace, the ornate palace look plus a profusion of greenery prompts him to spontaneously utter "beautiful", and in his opening remarks he pays the customary tribute to India's cultural riches.

"India is a beautiful country," and what makes it important coming from him, "a very colourful country. I am very impressed by the combination, the way the colours are mixed."

He finds the Indian woman in her saree very elegant and colourful, irrespective of her social status: "Even a woman on the street can be very elegant most of the time in her colourful saree. It is a very beautiful picture. The Indian woman gives value to the garment. You can see there is a lot of taste in Indian fabrics. They are very interesting, inspiring."

This is by no means his first visit to India; he came as far back as a decade ago on a holiday to Rajasthan to see the camel fair at Pushkar and recalls it as a unique show "" colourful, romantic, without parallel.

He remembers "people coming from different places without any calendar, agenda, time planner, because the appointment was with the first moon of November. They cannot miss it; it has always been there since the beginning of the universe.

No Internet, no technology, they still gather together following the rules of nature." What amazed him was that there was also so much entrepreneurship at play, selling camels and counting money into the night.

For lunch, Benetton probably plays safe and sticks to Italian food on a hectic business trip "" rissotto primevera, a rice preparation with tomato sauce, assorted vegetables, thyme and wine.

His Asia Pacific head, who helps out as interpreter, orders a pizza, much to the amusement of the other Italians at the table who moan light-heartedly about these incorrigible Italians.

Benetton takes the initiative and chooses a margherita for him, and I also stick to my roots and order grilled fish and steamed rice. The food takes long to come but when it does, Benetton likes his rissotto, although it has a somewhat different colour from the yellow he is used to.

It is challenging to try to fathom the genius of one of the most maverick entrepreneurs of the past four decades in the course of a lunch, despite the subject being so amiable and almost modest.

We began by surveying the coffee shop and its environs with his entourage to find a quite corner where the tape recorder would pick up no unwanted background. Then when we exchanged cards, he apologised for his bearing just name and address ("I am not being snobbish, I've run out of the other cards").

And finally, when the bill, which Business Standard traditionally picks up, took long to come and stretched our lunch to well over an hour, he showed no impatience to get on with his next appointment.

Benetton came through as an entrepreneur first, firmly rooted in Europe, originator of a business model that combined creativity with the latest technology. He had also clearly decided on living down past controversies (he described Benetton ads as merely ahead of their time) and some of the known attributes of his persona.

I came prepared for mercurial unpredictability, but met the opposite. In answer to the question as to whether he considered himself a creative person or a businessman first, he firmly described himself as an entrepreneur, adding that an entrepreneur has also to be creative.

One reason why being creative and running a business the hard-headed way blends so well in Benetton is that his business has primarily to do with fashion.

"Fashion is a wonderful business. When I look at myself in the mirror I repeat the same story, that I have been lucky and enjoyed all my life." One reason why this is so is that the pursuit of fashion is an unending journey and quest.

"You never arrive at the ultimate goal. You can do a wonderful collection in one season, but it is just the beginning for the following one. It is a never-ending job, always challenging and creative."

To my question, as to whether he would do it all over again if he had a chance to choose, he replies with a classical expressive gesture of affirmation.

This is because "I do not know anybody who is as happy after 40 years doing the job I have been doing." It is not just "the success and the money" that has made it all worthwhile but also the "passion and effort you dedicate to the business". The travel, meeting different cultures and people "" " it is a gift."

Explaining how Italy was able to emerge as an industrial power from the ravages of war and he could grow his business so successfully, Benetton recalled that in a way it was important to be in Europe. "Despite the effect of the war, there were many competitive countries around us."

So this competition created a stimulus to both the infrastructure and entrepreneurial skills to become more competitive, despite the surrounding problems.

"Maybe because of the Italian DNA "" it is an individualistic country with a lot of creative attitudes "" many new companies are formed every year. By individualism I mean the desire of the Italian entrepreneur to have his own company."

Being in Europe offered enormous scope for exchange of both goods and ideas. He recalled that "in the beginning fashion was a typical element of Paris. It was born there immediately after the war.

Because of this influence and vicinity, many talented entrepreneurs decided to invest in this field, setting up new companies, modern factories and new products and initially using French stylists who moved to Italy to work for these new companies that were aggressive and modern."

Benetton is keenly aware of the emerging importance of India and China, which between themselves account for 2.5 billion people, way ahead the less than a billion of even the enlarged Europe. "Globalisation is making the world smaller and we have to look for the best opportunities, wherever they are."

The way things are going, "India can be the future head office of Benetton," he jokes but makes clear that in spirit and flesh it remains a very European company.

Its products are driven by quality and fashion. Outsourcing to cut costs, to take advantage of the end of quotas in textiles from next year, is not such a priority.

"We have never thought of becoming cheap or looking for something that is competitive only on price. Our strategy is to focus on quality, while, of course, paying attention to price."

Producing over 110 million pieces of garments a year enables the company to achieve economies of scale that takes care of costs. Fashion is more and more based today on speed, time to market. So you have to use your logistics to be in the market at the right time, with the right product, at the right price.

"Putting together all these elements, we still find it convenient to produce in Europe. It is very easy to find a country where to produce, but more difficult to distribute in 120 countries as we are doing. The characteristics of our products are still 'Made in Europe' and we want to keep it that way for the time being."

As we wrap up the light lunch, I ask what is the core philosophy of Benetton. It is, he says, "to serve the mass market of people who pay attention to fashion, who are interested in fashion but are not fashion addicts. They look for value for money."

He believes that people like to wear clothes that are comfortable and easy to manage and wash. "Our ambition is to be a reference point, lighthouse for the young crowd, both men and women, who want to dress in a happy, fresh, original way."