10 Business Visionaries
It takes a leader with vision to create a business success story and this group have certainly proved themselves as industry leaders. Whether they got their start with a family firm or a bank loan, they reshaped the business world and affected our consumer lives in the process.
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Renzo Rosso: building a new type of fashion empireRenzo Rosso: Diesel and Only The Brave founder, Italy
Maverick entrepreneur Rosso shook up the denim market and is now building a modern luxury group with a difference. Through holding company Only The Brave or OTB (his personal motto), he's invested in luxury labels more offbeat than their high-end peers, including DSquared (2001), Maison Martin Margiela (2002), and Sophia Kokosalaki (2007). His latest coup is to acquire a majority stake in Dutch art-fashion label Viktor & Rolf.
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Tom Ford and Domenico De Sole: ex-Gucci heads, now at Tom Ford
Gucci's dynamic duo rescued the moribund label and turned it into a luxury powerhouse. Ford's creative impulse and De Sole's business acumen made Gucci a must-have and set a template that other luxury brands have since followed. They are now the driving forces behind Ford's own ultra-luxe fashion label, building into an international success.
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Mohammed Al Shaya: chairman of MH Alshaya Co, Kuwait
Decisive action, a long-term plan and hard work are three key ingredients for success says Al Shaya, who has spearheaded Alshaya's rapid retail expansion since the mid-90s. The company is a franchise power player in the Gulf, owning more than 1,400 franchise stores and representing over 40 international brands, including Topshop, H&M and Debenhams, in markets across the Middle East, North Africa and Eastern Europe.
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Rei Kawakubo: designer and founder, Comme des Garçons, Japan
She shook up fashion in the 80s, but within the past 10 years Kawakubo has become a retail innovator as well. Her quirky guerrilla stores in locations such as Berlin and Los Angeles - along with her Dover Street Market in London - have been ultra-hip, must-see retail locations. Her much-anticipated commercial tie-in with H&M launches this autumn.
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Bernard Arnault: chairman, LVMH Group, France
Arguably the inventor of the modern luxury segment, this master of brand management and manoeuvring created the world's biggest and most successful luxury conglomerate by acquiring only the best brands. He reined in licenses when others were still license-focused and employed the industry's most creative names to inimitable effect.
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Sean "P Diddy" Combs: rapper, record producer, actor, designer and entrepreneur, USA
If anyone epitomises a new kind of business visionary, it's rapper-turned-mogul Combs, who added fashion to his business empire with the launch of Sean John in 1998. Combs has focused on what he does best – creation and marketing – and turned his clothing line into an international brand name with successful men's and women's fragrance launches also under his belt.
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Jochen Zeitz: CEO and chairman, Puma AG, Germany
He restructured the ailing German sports brand and led it back to profit with a new fashion-forward image. As Germany's youngest-ever CEO of a publicly quoted company, Zeitz turned his hand to global branding. Investment in R&D and innovative restructuring initiatives have helped the Puma brand reposition itself as the world's leader in "sports lifestyle".
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Face to face: ImagineX and Walton Brown Group's Balbina WongBalbina Wong: deputy chairman and CEO, ImagineX and Walton Brown Group, Hong Kong
Singaporean Balbina Wong is a consummate businesswoman and long-time champion of luxury. The former president of Lane Crawford has paved the way for international luxury brands entering the Asian - and specifically Chinese - markets. Without Wong's determination, influence and her renowned guanxi skills, the likes of Ferragamo, Coach and Marc Jacobs would not be so established in the region.
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Fast Retailing's global bidTadashi Yanai: chairman and CEO of Fast Retailing, Japan
Japan's greatest retail success, Fast Retailing's Uniqlo chain is the country's largest casualwear retailer with 2007 sales of ¥424.7bn. Since 1984 Yanai has understood the challenges raised by an ageing population and low birth rate, as well as the importance of outsourcing and value pricing. Unlike his Japanese peers, he has forged ahead with overseas expansion. Equally impressive is the company's ability to learn quickly from mistakes and think outside the box.
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Retail leadership: World Retail CongressMillard "Mickey" S Drexler: J.Crew chief, ex-Gap Inc CEO, USA
The dynamo behind Gap's ascendancy in the 1990s has updated and revitalised iconic American brand J.Crew in the past five years, launching two new divisions - children's line Crewcuts (2005) and women's casualwear chain Madewell (2006). At the end of Drexler's 18 years at the helm of Gap, the company's store count grew from 550 to 4,200 and its turnover rose from $400m to $14bn.
