Stella Mc Cartney is a fashion brand, created in 2001 by the homonym designer and the Gucci group. In few years Stella proved to be a rising star in the international fashion arena and today her collections are distributed in over 50 countries.

Moreover, several awards have recognized Stella McCartney’s achievement in fashion and social awareness.

But this is not the only reason why we are interested in Stella!

Our interest in this Company is due to the high percentage of women and, moreover, the high number of pre-scolar age kids that Stella female employees have experienced during these years of Company’s growth.

How is it possible to combine competitiveness in a hectic market such as fashion with all these maternities?

We ask it to Carolina Brodasca, Collection Director at Stella Mc Cartney.

  1. Can you tell us about your job?
    As Collection Director my job is to manage the whole design team and product team in the design/development process from inspiration to production for all products created by the Stella McCartney brand.
  2. In your department, what is the percentage of women? And mums?
    My team in London is 18 people, of which 17 are women and 7 are mums.
    And we have 16 babies in total, including Stella!
  3. How is your working day organized?
    We work in a very efficient way and our days and weeks are planned months in advance, the aim is to have a normal life outside work, but to still be one the most innovative and modern designer brand in the world.
    We rarely take a lunch break and often our lunches become inspiration meetings.
    We start the day at 9.30 allowing all the mum’s to drop off their kids to school at 8.45. We aim at leaving at 6.30 in the evening. I believe in recharging the creative batteries and want my team to come into work full of energy and new ideas, and I believe that after 10 hours we all need a break.
  4. What are the key factors that make this organizational model a success?
    I think we all believe that only a healthy approach to work-life balance gives us the edge to be successful. We have a long serving team and this is the result of a good management and job satisfaction.
  5. What are the benefits that the Company Stella McCartney has found against such organization?
    The major benefit is that both my London and my Italian team are enthusiastic to be part of our organization and are always willing to give their maximum. This for me is essential in an industry that does not know the word ‘unachievable’. I totally believe in long term relationships and always prefer to keep my team members and support them in their personal life. In this way they all feel part of a supportive group and are happy to be loyal to the company.
    In addition, it is much more efficient for the company resources to keep their loyal and knowledgeable staff rather than hiring new people.
  6. A provocative question: couldn’t be preferable, especially in a creative business such as fashion, to replace experienced employees with new people to inject new blood and ideas?
    Yes, it is essential for a company like ours to add constantly to our creative resources, but it is also extremely important to have leaders that are constant pillars in our structure to whom people trust themselves.
    If the business is good, there is always room for expansion.