{"id":10615,"date":"2022-03-17T14:32:45","date_gmt":"2022-03-17T14:32:45","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/TheNextWeb=1382682"},"modified":"2022-03-17T14:32:45","modified_gmt":"2022-03-17T14:32:45","slug":"high-fashion-to-high-tech-what-startups-can-learn-from-industry-icon-francois-kress","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.londonchiropracter.com\/?p=10615","title":{"rendered":"High fashion to high tech: What startups can learn from industry icon Fran\u00e7ois Kress"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Did you know Fran\u00e7ois Kress is speaking at <\/span><\/span>TNW Conference<\/span><\/a> <\/span>this summer? Check out the full list of speakers <\/span>here<\/span><\/a>.<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

Louis Vuitton, Fendi, Bulgari, Prada, Carolina Herrera, Miu Miu. This might sound like a bar from a standard rap song, but it\u2019s actually a list of companies where Fran\u00e7ois Kress has held leadership positions in his long career in the luxury industry. Then, an unexpected but welcome opportunity presented itself.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was really suffering from luxury fashion fatigue, and decided to move on and start this project,\u201d he tells TNW over Zoom.<\/p>\n

At the invitation of a friendly venture capitalist, Kress joined Feelmore labs as co-founder and  CEO, to develop a unique, category-defining type of wearable: Cove. It\u2019s a wearable device that relies on the science of neurostimulation, sending specific vibrations to specific sensors behind your ears to \u201chelp you feel calm and emotionally balanced,\u201d according to the website<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Curious about his switch from high fashion (\u201cThere was a time I had two secretaries and obviously a driver and everything\u201d) to high tech (\u201cNow I have to change the toilet paper at the office myself\u201d), and what experience he took along with him, we spoke to Kress from his apartment in New York about the lessons tech can learn from the most luxurious of luxury brands on the planet.<\/p>\n

Dressed in a casual navy blue long-sleeve with perfectly coiffed silver-gray hair and thick-rimmed glasses, it\u2019s easier to see Kress managing Fendi than a high-tech wearable company. But looks, in this case, are deceiving.<\/p>\n

Kress\u2019 background, before being recruited by Bernard Arnault of LVMH (Louis Vuitton Moet Hennessy), was in theoretical physics, with a special interest in topology \u2014 hardcore math describing complex dynamic geometric problems.<\/p>\n

\u201cFor me, it was like going back, because after high school I studied intense theoretical stuff for 8 years.\u201d<\/p>\n

Move slow, do things well<\/strong><\/h2>\n

During his career in luxury, Kress was sucked into tech when he was offered a board position at a biopharmaceutical company, and was surprised by the fast pace of tech companies.<\/p>\n

\u201cComing from big luxury groups, which have hundreds of years of history and where everything is very slow and very careful, to this fast-paced biotech world and startups<\/a> and VC money was a shock.\u201d<\/p>\n

After meeting some VCs through his board position, he agreed to co-found Feelmore Labs, where he could finally bring together his experience in rigorous science from his science degrees, and dedication to craftsmanship from his career in luxury. This also allowed him to bypass some long-held beliefs about the pace of business that many founders<\/a> face<\/p>\n

\u201cJust put an MVP on the market. Even if it\u2019s crappy, you know, you will learn as you iterate,\u201d he says was something he\u2019d hear often. \u201cBut I was very determined not to get rushed, or half-bake the technology for the sake of this kind of iterative process.\u201d<\/p>\n

Listen to your customers less<\/strong><\/h2>\n

The iterative process couldn\u2019t be more removed from the process in high-end fashion and luxury, Kress tells us.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s the opposite of what you hear in luxury and fashion, at least at the top end of those products. There, it\u2019s \u2018don\u2019t listen to your customers, they don\u2019t know what they want.\u2019 If you ask customers what they want to see on the runway, you will always see the same black dress coming out of every workshop. So for me, that was a complete shift.\u201d<\/p>\n

<\/i><\/a>Haute couture by fashion designer Iris van Herpen<\/figcaption>