Minna Carlberg ima bogato iskustvo iz oblasti ritejla, a novom pozicijom biće zadužena za sedam zemalja koji su deo prodajnog tržišta Grčke, sa sedištem u Atini, među kojima je i Srbija. U intervjuu za Harper’s BAZAAR Srbija, razgovarali smo o zelenijoj budućnosti, jesenjim trendovima i novim inicijativama H&M grupe.
Recite nam malo o sebi, kako ste sebe pronašli u modnoj industriji?
Sve je počelo mojim radom sa H&M-om pre dvanaest godina. Oduvek sam volela modu, ipak, otkad sam se zaposlila u kompaniji i dobila svoj prvi posao u prodavnici u Stokholmu, istog trena sam se zaljubila i u užurban tempo rada, u vrednosti i naravno, ljude, moje kolege. Drago mi je što naš brend ne donosi samo modu, već i inspiraciju, priliku za svakog našeg kupca da izrazi svoj lični stil i naravno, zabavi se. Posle nekog vremena, počela sam da radim u odeljenju za globalnu prodaju kao poslovni analitičar i od tad pa do danas, radila sam u četiri zemlje na različitim pozicijama u firmi, dok na kraju nisam došla do “Sales Market” u Grčkoj, avgusta ove godine.
Kakvo je vaše mišljenje o stanju mode danas?
Moda i modna industrija se menjaju, ne samo zbog globalne pandemije, već zato što se ceo svet ubrzano menja, a sa njim i potrebe kupaca. Jedna od važnih lekcija za sve nas u modnoj industriji jeste fleksibilnost i spremnost na promenu. U jednom trenutku prošle godine, ceo svet je stao, ali moda je ipak pronašla način da se vrati u svakodnevni život. Ljudi su pokazali snagu svoje kreativnosti, prebacujući se na online, a komunikacija i događaji prešli su na digitalnu platformu. Takođe bih rekla da je moda danas lepša nego ikad pre, u pogledu isticanja različitosti; smelija, u smislu ličnog stila i kreativnosti ljudi; inovativnija, po pitanju novih tehnologija i obnovljivih materijala danas dostupnih u proizvodnji, čime se nastavlja put ka idealu kružne proizvodnje u modnoj industriji.
Verujete li da etička modna industrija uspeva radikalno da izmeni modni svet, ili je i dalje u pitanju niša?
U H&M-u, naša je vizija da firma bude pionir u promeni ka kružnoj i klimatski pozitivnoj modi, ostajući pritom fer prema svim kupcima. Imajući u vidu izazove po pitanju okruženja, kako prirodnog, tako i društvenog, sa kojima se suočavamo na planetarnom nivou, ne bih rekla da se i dalje radi o niši. Voditi se etikom u modi jeste način da se obezbedi održiva budućnost, kako za ljude, tako i za biznis. U našoj firmi, svesni smo da sa veličinom dolazi i velika odgovornost, zbog čega sebi stalno postavljamo nove izazove. Naša je želja da inovaciju unesemo ne samo u proizvodnju materijala i odevnih predmeta, već i u celokupne poslovne modele i tako ljudima pružimo nove načine da iskuse modu. Želimo da naši kupci budu svesni da su i sami deo rešenja, kako bi, vođeni idejom održivosti mogli doneti najbolje i najpoželjnije odluke. Zato, u svemu što radimo, u srži i jesu ljudi prema kojima postupamo pošteno, podržavajući njihova prava i slaveći njihove različitosti. Upravo to očekujemo i od naših partnera i svih onih koji dele naš put.
Koja su tri trenda jesenje sezone?
Tri najbolja trenda za bilo koje godišnje doba su “Nosi, neguj, recikliraj”. To se podrazumeva! Moda je danas toliko raznolika i više nisu u pitanju samo nekoliko trendova – sve zavisi od toga šta vi volite.
Ipak, ono što vidimo kao vodeće trendove u H&M jeste da će trikotaža biti obavezan komad, što veći, to bolji. Midi suknje se vraćaju, one nabrane su posebno u trendu, šljokice će se nositi preko dana, logomanija se takođe vraća. Zbog celokupne situacije u vezi sa pandemijom, funkcionalna ali moderna odeća biće i dalje prisutna. Upravo je lansirana naša jesenja kolekcija, gde možete videti kako komfort i funkcionalnost idu ruku pod ruku sa revolucionarnim modnim dizajnom, smelim bojama, a tu je i naravno mnogo obnovljivih materijala.
Na koji način je po vašem mišljenju tehnološki napredak, zajedno sa društvenim mrežama i medijima, uticao na razvitak brendova i načina na koji danas kupujemo?
Svedoci smo velikog napretka u oblasti društvenih medija i tehnologije, naročito kada govorimo o poslednjoj deceniji. Tehnologija i mediji su uticali međusobno jedno na drugo. Ljudi danas komuniciraju više nego ikad, koristeći se različitim platformama i aplikacijama. Gotovo svako danas poseduje pametan telefon ili tablet. Šta sve to znači za našu firmu? To znači da su ljudi povezaniji, a pristup sadržajima je lakši, čemu doprinose različite društvene mreže i influenseri. To znači da naši kupci imaju visoka očekivanja od brenda – moda im je potrebna sada i ovde. Kupovina je zato na samo jedan klik od vas, a konkurencija je velika. No, za nas, kupac je u srcu svega što radimo, i zato smo odlučni da približimo H&M svim ljubiteljima mode u Srbiji, kroz jedno besprekorno, omni iskustvo.
Na koje pojedinačne održive inicijative ste se usredsredili?
Već godinama je održivost zastupljena u svemu što radimo. Postavili smo jasne ideje i smele ciljeve, kojima se vodimo svake godine i o kojima otvoreno razgovaramo u okviru našeg Godišnjeg izveštaja o održivosti. Fokusirali smo se konkretno na tri primarna cilja:
- 100% biti pionir u promenama,
- 100% preći na cirkularnu ekonomiju i održivost,
- i 100% svemu pristupati pošteno i ravnopravno.
U svakom od ovim smerova delovanja postoje kratkoročni i dugoročni ciljevi i načini na koji se oni mogu dostići. Na primer, jedan od tih ciljeva, u pogledu cirkularnosti – da do 2030. godine upotrebljavamo isključivo reciklirane i etički proizvedene materijale u svojoj proizvodnji. Jedan od načina da ovo postignemo je naša inicijativa za prikupljanje garderobe u radnjama, koju smo odskora ponovno pokrenuli i u Srbiji. Stoga sam srećna što će naši kupci ponovo imati priliku da u H&M prodavnice donesu svoju garderobu kako bi je reciklirali.
Da li H&M deli obnovljive tehnologije i inovacije sa celokupnom industrijom?
Svake godine organizujemo inicijativu “Global Change Award” uz pomoć koje se trudimo da pronađemo i podržimo revolucionarne inovacije koje će promeniti linearni tok modne industrije i mode u celosti. Tragamo za onim inovacijama koje prate Ciljeve za održivi razvoj koje propisuju Ujedinjene Nacije, a koje se tiču pet ključnih tačaka – biodiverzitet, klimatske promene, voda, kopneni i morski svet. Svake godine, inicijativa je otvorena za sve inovatore i preduzetnike kako bi se povećao stepen održivosti u modnoj industriji. Za onih šest najboljih inovacija se dodeljuje milion dolara za razvoj, kao i prilika za učešće u jednogodišnjem Programu za ubrzanu inovaciju, što obezbeđuje H&M fondacija u partnerstvu sa “Accenture and KTH Royal Institute of Technology”. H&M Fondacija kao ni H&M Grupa ne zadržavaju prava na deonice niti intelektualnu svojinu. Pobednici mogu sarađivati sa kim god žele jer je cilj pronaći inovacije koje će doprineti celokupnoj industriji.
Koja je to najveća prepreka za žensko liderstvo?
Lično ne vidim ni jednu prepreku. Uverenja sam da liderstvo nije pitanje roda ili pola, već da ono zavisi od stepena veštine, kompetencije i načina razmišljanja. U H&M volimo da kažemo da je svaki pojedinac lider.
Ovakav stav ide u korak sa našim stavovima i činjenicom da negujemo proaktivnost kod naših ljudi, koje podstičemo da delaju, uče i adaptiraju se. To je ono što razvija talente i gradi lidere. Trenutno, u regiji kojoj i Srbija pripada, zaposleno je preko 14.000 individualaca, među kojima je mnogo žena sa svojim timova.
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Tell us a little bit about yourself – how did you find your passion in the fashion industry?
It all started with my journey in H&M 12 years ago. I have always liked fashion, but since I joined the company and had my first job in a store in Stockholm, I immediately fell in love with the high pace, the values, and the people in the company. I love that our brand is not only providing fashion, but inspiration, opportunity to all kind of customers to express their personal style and have fun. After a while I started to work in our global sales department as business analyst and from that point on it’s been 4 countries and several different positions, until I came to Sales Market Greece, in August this year.
What do you think about the state of fashion today?
Fashion and fashion industry are transforming, not only because of the pandemic, but because the world is changing rapidly and together with that – the needs of customers become different.
An important learning for all of us in the fashion business is that we must be flexible and ready for change. At one-point last year, the world just “stopped”, but fashion has quickly found its way back to everyday life. People were creative, they switched to online, communication and events transferred into digital formats.
I would also say that fashion today is more beautiful than ever, in terms of emphasizing diversity; bolder in terms of inspiring personal style and creativity of people; more innovative – in terms of all new technologies and sustainable materials that have been introduced to the production in order to lead the change for a circular fashion.
Do you believe the ethical fashion industry is succeeding at present to radically change the fashion world or is it still a luxury niche?
Our vision in H&M is to lead the change towards circular and climate positive fashion while being a fair and equal company. Given the environmental and social pressures faced by our planet, we must change how we do fashion and I believe this is no longer a niche approach. Being ethical in fashion is the way to secure sustainable future both for people, but also for the business.
In our company we know that with big scale comes also big responsibility, that is why we challenge ourselves. We want to innovate not only materials and processes, but also business models and new ways for people to experience fashion and design. We want to enable our customers to understand and be part of the solution, so they can make informed choices and ultimately see more sustainable choices as the most desirable and attractive ones. And in everything we do, we keep people at the heart of our business by treating them fairly, supporting their rights, and celebrating their diverse talents and perspectives. We expect this also from our partners and everyone who is part of our journey.
What are the top 3 trends for the fall season?
The top 3 trends for all seasons are: re-wear, reuse, and recycle, that goes without saying!
Fashion has become so diverse, there is no longer just few trends – it all depends on what you like. But what we see as leading trends in H&M this fall is that knitwear will be a must-have piece – the bigger the better. Midi skirts will return, pleated ones will be especially trendy, sequins will be worn during the day, logomania is on its way back. Due to the situation with the pandemic, functional, but fashionable clothes will still be relevant. Our Fall fashion collection has been just released, so you see that functionality goes together with fashion-forward designs, bold colors, and most of all a lot sustainable material.
How did you think technological advances coupled with the influence of social media, impact the way trends evolve and the way we shop?
We are witnessing an incredible development of social media and technologies, especially in the past decade. Technology has influenced the development of social media and vice versa. People communicate more than ever before and use various applications, almost everyone has a smartphone or tablet. What does this mean for our business? People are more connected, use more devices, and more content can reach them via various channels, and included in those are also influencers and new social media platforms. That means customers have higher expectations from brands – they want to have fashion where and when they need it. Shopping is now one click away from everyone, and the competition is huge. But for us customer is in the center of everything we do, that is why we are more than determined to bring H&M closer to all fashion lovers in Serbia and do it through a seamless omni experience.
What are the specific sustainability initiatives you have focused on?
Sustainability is part of everything we do since many years. We set clear ambitions and bold goals, which we follow up each year and transparently communicate through our Annual Sustainability Report. We focus our efforts in 3 main directions – 100% leading the change, 100% being circular and climate positive, and 100% being fair and equal. In each direction we have both short-term and long-term goals and a set of actions to achieve those. For example, when it comes to being circular, one of our goals is by 2030 to we want to only use 100% recycled or other sustainably sourced materials. And one of the ways to achieve that is through our garment collecting initiative, which we reactivated recently again in Serbia. So I am very happy we can give the opportunity again to our customers to come to us and return their old garments, so that they could be recycled.
Does H&M Group share sustainability technologies and innovations with the industry-at-large?
Every year we organize an initiative called the Global Chandge Award, through which we want to find and support game-changing innovations that can break the linear traditions of fashion. We look for innovations which are aligned with the UN Sustainable Development Goals and address the five global commons: biodiversity, climate, land, ocean, and water.
Every year the initiative is open for innovators and entrepreneurs from all over the world to submit their early-stage ideas on how to improve the sustainable footprint of the fashion industry. The six most promising innovations share a grant of 1 million euros and participate in a one-year tailor-made Innovation Accelerator Program, provided by the H&M Foundation in partnership with Accenture and KTH Royal Institute of Technology.
Neither H&M Foundation or H&M Group is taking any shareholder equity or intellectual property rights in the innovations. The winners can collaborate with whomever they want, the aim is to find innovations that allow major change for the entire industry.
What do you think is the most significant barrier to female leadership?
Personally, I do not see a barrier. I believe leadership is not a matter of gender, but a matter of skills, competencies, and mindset. We like to say in H&M that everyone is a leader. This resembles our way of working and the fact that we nurture ownership and pro-active approach in our people, who are empowered to act, learn, and adapt. This is what develops talents and makes strong leaders. Currently in our region, to which Serbia belongs, we have around 14.000 employees, among whom we have many ladies leading big teams and functions.
Priredila: Mila Đenić
