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Fashion’s Forward Thinker
Can the fashion industry model a better way of doing business? Manny Chirico thinks so.
Fashion’s Forward Thinker
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MANNY CHIRICO
CHAIRMAN AND
CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER
PVH CORP.
You’ve been very open about your COVID-19 diagnosis, but we’re curious how your personal experience with the virus has given you a unique POV on how your associates and customers are being impacted by the pandemic.
As someone who values accountability and transparency, I felt it was important to share with our associates and announce publicly that I tested positive for COVID-19. Thankfully, my family and I are doing well. I had very few symptoms and was able to continue managing our business while working from home.
Experiencing the virus firsthand definitely put things in perspective and emphasized for me that this really is a human crisis at its core. Reflecting on my own experience with the diagnosis, I have a better understanding of the concerns around the virus and the risks that each of us is taking. It is making me a better leader for our PVH associates and our consumers. As people start visiting our stores again, we’re putting appropriate precautions in place to ensure the health and safety of all.
Photo credit: Ken Gabrielsen/Getty Images for PVH
As chairman and CEO of PVH Corp., the parent company of many American fashion brands, including Calvin Klein and Tommy Hilfiger, Manny Chirico has made it his mission to create a better customer experience with more sustainable, agile business practices. This mission has become increasingly important as retail is being reshaped in real time by COVID-19—a disease the fashion executive himself battled.
During a moment when companies across the country are grappling with what business will look like in a post-COVID-19 world, we spoke with the charismatic leader to understand how he’s evolving PVH with every stakeholder in mind.
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How has your philanthropic fund, The PVH Foundation, embodied “driving fashion forward for good” during this time?
While we are experiencing uncharted territory, supporting our communities—during both good and challenging times—has always been grounded in our values and engrained in PVH’s culture.
The PVH Foundation has donated more than $2 million toward COVID-19 relief efforts. Our donations are supporting frontline medical workers, the fight against food insecurity, supply chain and industry relief, and community resiliency. We have also dedicated donations to the COVID-19 Solidarity Response Fund, Chinese Society of the Red Cross and A Common Thread, the CFDA/Vogue Fashion Fund initiative to provide support and raise awareness for those in the American fashion community who have been impacted by the pandemic. Our associates in locations around the world also selected additional partner organizations that will receive contributions from The PVH Foundation.
Our brands are also supporting our communities. Tommy Hilfiger initiated a specific community-building program by donating classic Tommy Hilfiger white T-shirts to frontline medical staff across Europe and the U.S. They launched a limited-edition capsule collection of Tommy Hilfiger T-shirts and sweatshirts designed and voted on by consumers. The winning designs will be available for purchase in select European markets in May, and all proceeds will go to global COVID-19 relief efforts. Calvin Klein Europe has also supplied 1,000 T-shirts to Amsterdam UMC hospitals with more initiatives to be launched in the near future.
Discover How PVH is Driving Fashion Forward—for Good
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Photo credit: Daniele Mattioli/Getty Images for PVH
Can you walk us through PVH’s overall “Forward Fashion” corporate responsibility strategy—and how it connects to consumer interest in sustainable and ethical businesses?
I think fundamentally it’s important to have targets. When it comes to ESG, we have three broad groups that we’re focusing on. First, we’re working on reducing the negative impacts we’re having—by generating zero waste, zero carbon emissions, zero hazardous waste and also looking to innovate for circularity. These are long-term goals anywhere from three to 10 years that we've laid out.
Another area we’re tracking is increasing the positive impacts we’re having by 100%. That means working toward 100% of our products and packaging are ethically and sustainably sourced and 100% of our suppliers respect our human rights policies and are in compliance with them. Everywhere we operate and produce goods must have a safe environment for the workers. And we are working to define and deliver a living wage for all of the associates within our supply chain and around the world.
And finally, we’re trying to improve 1 million lives in our value chain. So we’re focused on getting back into communities and focusing on education and opportunities for women and children in communities where we operate. That also means continuing to champion inclusion and diversity within the entire value chain, especially with our own talent at PVH.
Do you think implementing these types of practices will actually make for a better product, and in terms of the bottom line, a healthier profit?
Oh, absolutely. First of all, everything we’re doing should also drive tremendous efficiencies. It should allow us to produce quicker, faster and cheaper. There may be some short-term pain that has to be experienced to move things forward. But if you look at it from a long-term perspective, the overall improvements to the whole value chain that would go into the development of products is a major benefit.
I think where the industry, and industry in general, has gotten into trouble is where people have jumped into a process, a supply chain, a country or a region without thinking about what the implications are. So instead we try to be proactive and troubleshoot potential roadblocks across the board. We ask ourselves, “What do we want this to look like three years from now?”
And I think, by being proactive upfront, we’ve been able to avoid a lot of the pitfalls that come on the back end when trying to correct things after the fact. So as an industry, I would say there are certain things we can do together to level the playing field, make it better for everyone, and make it better for the communities and the environment we’re working within.
Prior to the pandemic, the transformation of the global retail landscape had forced PVH to prioritize investments in the tools and technologies that will make us smarter, faster and better equipped to enhance the consumer experience.
We had been making significant progress in the omnichannel experience, deepening our connection with the consumer and increasing our sustainable product offerings. Due to the crisis, we have accelerated the adoption of several technologies and processes to improve efficiency, products and our environmental footprint. We knew these evolutions were necessary—we just didn’t appreciate how quickly they’d need to be adapted and implemented.
We are embracing 3D design now more than ever, with an increase in digital samples and as a tool to support the assets for product detail pages on our brand websites. Design edits and approvals are also being done digitally, requiring less physical materials and less shipping in the product design process. To connect with our consumers in their homes, we will experiment with Tommy Hilfiger live-streamed selling sessions featuring stylists showcasing our latest products available for purchase, with influencers virtually dialing in to share their inspirations. And to get products to our consumers, we are experimenting with same-day delivery in Amsterdam, and some of our stores now serve as fulfillment centers for both tommy.com and Zalando in Germany, building upon the successful test that was done pre-COVID-19 crisis.
As we move forward, it will be a rocky time for retailers as the virus has put pressure on our entire industry. None of us knows exactly what the “new normal” will look like, so it will be all about flexibility, agility and continuing to adapt our mindset. We understand there will be steps forward—and then steps back—and that’s all part of the recovery. For PVH, our people and our iconic brands will be the key to our long-term success.
What steps had PVH taken prior to the pandemic that allowed it to remain agile during this challenging time, and how do you see PVH moving forward into the “new normal” over the next 12-24 months?
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