1. Stefano Barni on The Window is the First Experience

What makes someone stop in front of a luxury store?
“If I can get you to take a picture of the window I created, I’ve already done half my job.” – Stefano Barni

In this episode of Luxe Visionaries, Stefano Barni, creative director behind some of the most iconic luxury storefronts, reveals how visual merchandising is far more than decoration. It’s storytelling, strategy, and sales, all seen before the customer even walks in.

Whether you're a brand strategist, designer, or retail professional, this episode offers unforgettable insights on how the first impression becomes the lasting one.

Watch the full episode now and follow along as we redefine what modern luxury truly means. Like, subscribe, and don’t miss a single episode of Luxe Visionaries. 
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Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:00

Welcome to Lux Visionaries, the talk show where the most influential minds in Ultra High and Living share what truly drives their success. In every episode, we sit down with the trailblazers redefining what bespoke personal and purposeful luxury truly means. Nothing here is cryptic or stage. It's unfiltered, unwarning, and unlike anything you'll find elsewhere in the world of luxury. How many times have you stepped into a luxury boutique just because the window stopped you in your tracks? And we didn't really need anything, but you thought it was beautiful and emotionally appealing. Well, this fleeting moment is the power of a very well-crafted shop window in luxury. And no visionary knows this better than our guest of today, Stefan O'Vagne. We cannot wait to bring you to the behind the scenes of visual merchandising. So let's get started with our exit. My name is Rebecca Gabby, and I'm vice president at Lex and Lux, and I will be your moderator today. So let me now introduce you to my co-host, Professor Dr. Phil Klaus. He's co-founder of Lex and Lux and a founder of Luxury CX strategist. So, Professor, we're all yours.

SPEAKER_02 1:13

Good afternoon, everybody, and thank you for joining us for Lux Visionaries. We'll present courtesy of Lex and Lux, visionaries in luxury. So no pressure added, Senior Barney, nothing there, you know. It's just you have to be visionary, which for you comes kind of an until I say literally in two ways. Because what you do is all about vision. You call yourself a visual merchandiser. So while people know visuals and they know merchandising, they're like, what the God's name is a visual merchandiser? What do you do? You know, or is it just like doing the Windows, or what is it? And I believe what you do is a little bit more sophisticated than this. So without any further ado, could you please elaborate what it is actually you're doing? Introduce yourself to our audience. And I have an additional question. Tell them something that they wouldn't get from your LinkedIn profile, something that they wouldn't normally know, but you can share with us.

SPEAKER_01 2:16

So, yes, it's like visual merchandise. Like what it's uh it has a lot about uh vision, definitely. Uh it's um it's one of those jobs where you literally can have a lot of fun, but you have to know how to live under pressure because you are a tool for business, and uh it's not all let's say a creative world, as a lot of people might might think. When I I meet um people that want to join and start the journey in visual merchandising, the first thing I hear is like it's all about creativity. I want I'm a creative, I want to be yes, okay, but you gotta have the skills of analytics because the merchandising part is very, very important to be successful. Like when uh when we're speaking about um a job that is front face uh of of the customer, so it's like your your your um uh how do you say it? Uh uh bigto da visita, you know what I mean, right? It's like when you're introducing your brand through the face of your store, exactly. Um and when you walk through the store, you are presenting what you would like to see uh your customer to see. That's when it happens that you have to know exactly what is the business part of it, it's not only about creativity. So it's all uh there is an image that is very important which attracts you, but it's a part that you have to always keep in mind that ultimately uh all this creativity is has a goal and a scope, which is to give the best experience to the customer and to sell them what they want, but that you really want to them to know that they want.

SPEAKER_02 4:09

Okay, that's that's a very interesting uh differentiation that you put in there because most people would have thought, oh, it's very creative, you know, you're designing these things, and then the others would say, No, you can completely come from the different part, which is analytics, footfall, retail, store management, eyesight, best labels, where using colors and so on. But you um distinguish it in the way that you say it starts with the client's vision in terms of profitability at the end of the day, correct?

SPEAKER_01 4:43

Well, yes, yeah, ultimately we're a business. So like we we have we have to keep in mind that uh the luxury market today it's uh it's shifted a lot in the last uh 15 years, I would say. Um it's uh who does this kind of kind of job is uh um really very much uh um called to give an experience that which is unique and and it's it's it's a must-have today. Experience is everything in in the luxury market today, but at the same time, uh you know, like you can give the best experience, but you have to keep in mind why you're doing that. It you're you're not uh you're not a circus, you're not uh a theater, you're not uh uh just an experimental uh place where you just can have fun or uh or be entertained. Like there is the product needs to be ultimately uh the main reason why the customer is there. So it's uh like in the last years, I have to say it's been uh um very interesting the journey of learning how to build um around the product uh a very interesting experience, which is to bring the light on the product through the experience. While I have to say before it was very much more product-driven, now there is like something that is has to be built around the product, uh, which is very, very uh challenging sometimes. Uh but is that what makes it fun, and that's where it comes the creative part. So that's why I would say it's a split 50-50 to by knowing what you what is your goal, which is like to make your customer fall in love with your product, but how it's uh how to do it, it that's that's a creative part.

SPEAKER_02 6:46

Now I I can see where you're coming from because I always say when people ask me what the hell is customer experience all about, and I said uh it's not huffy puffy, it's not feeling, it's not emotions, it's make your people buy more and more often from you versus the competition. And it seems like you have a similar approach, but you mentioned it changed kind of in the last few years. So was it before not the case? Were people ignoring it? Or what do you mean by that?

SPEAKER_01 7:15

I would say the brands were just acting in different ways uh because uh we were uh, first of all, we didn't have social media, which uh today is a very, very important part. Um, you know, the product could be uh the driver. Like if you if you think about it, how many of uh of the iconic products today that come from back in the days, they were like the icons. Today you it's it's more difficult to build one item like and make it become an icon if you don't give it the right space and the right narrative. People today they're just not attracted uh by, for example, simple advertising. You know, now if you look like 15 years ago, there was uh the Vogue, the magazines, uh, there were the uh the advertising uh the willing drivers of communication, and then you have brands that will have the windows and but that it was not as um taking care of today, and especially because uh today, as I was saying, with like this tool, which is uh so important that um I always say if I have I if I can get you to take a picture of the window we created, I did half of my job. Because if you want something like in your phone, it means that it's something that is meaningful to you, that I touched something in your walkthrough in a luxury street that maybe make you turn around your head and say, I'm gonna put this in something that I'll keep in my pocket. You know, it's so it's so important. That's how it changed so much.

SPEAKER_02 9:01

Yeah, it's memorable. So you create a memory for the lack of a better word. And we always say when we look at our research, um, customer experience is not anymore about buying products and services, people buy something to have an experience. So also the focus shifted of what do I do with something rather than possessing something. Do you see something similar from your clients that they do understand the importance of that?

SPEAKER_01 9:30

Oh, I would say that uh we are constantly working on that. Yes, I definitely say I think that's it's fundamental. Like today, you have to have that type of uh approach because uh in like we are in a market uh that is very busy right now. How do you stand out? Product is not enough. I have hundreds of thousands of brands uh uh in the world that make may make a good and quality product, like uh we are an Italian brand, like uh and Italy is quite lucky with the made in Italy, uh, which makes it so special in the luxury industry. But if you go if you look around, like there are there is a lot of good uh of good product out there, and there is a huge competition. How you stand out on that? Uh definitely you have to have a great quality and uh great design, which is very important. But how do I make you fall in love with the brand? Because it's not like I that's I would say like it's more important for a person to fall in love with the brand than a single product. The product once you have it, you have it. What how can I drive you to come back and continue buying into our uh our store, our brand, multiple things and and dive in a lifestyle that reflects in the brand. That's that's how you like that's how you have to work today. Well, I think that the experience when it comes like to to the luxury market, uh, it's something that you have to keep in mind the starts, uh it's it's in so many levels, so many levels, communication that direct and indirect. When it comes to source, so the physical one, like um, I strongly believe like there is a debate right now on windows, not windows, right? And which is something that I've been dragged in uh often. Uh for me, when I'm walking from the streets, the experience starts when I'm on the sidewalk. So what I'm giving something when I'm making something interesting and pleasant for the eyes as a brand that is built, as I was saying, built around the product. It's not just, I'm not showing you something that you can buy, but I'm showing you something that most likely you don't have to give me nothing for uh for it. Just look at it, it's pleasant, it's well done. There you can recognize the the quality of what is done, and you can see that there is a thought, this care. There is so that your experience starts realizing that whoever is doing that is caring. So there's a lot of thoughts around there is something that is makes you makes your brain go curious, right? And say, like, okay, like what am I looking at? You know, uh and that then should sometimes like most of the time bring you lead inside the door, which that then once that you're inside the door, it comes another level of experience, uh, which of course there is an experiential part that kind of comes in as well. But uh as far as experience for me, it it's it's really like um how how as a brand I make you live that moment of uh um of your free time, like like elevated at the point where you feel like that you're investing your time in the best way possible, which is not spending your money, it's how you're investing your time. You're feeling like in that's in that space, you're cuddled, you're in the right, like you are you are shown, like greeted and met in the right way, like you you are in an environment where you can leave your thoughts out of that door. When you step in, like you find like you're a moment of peace, which it's something that we're all looking for. Uh in a society where you so you have so much pressure, like who's uh if you're in a business, you're if you're a student, uh anything you do, like when you walk in a luxury boutique, I think that that's where you have to like your experience need to be something that's yeah, it's like going to a spa, you know what I mean? Like it has to have the same level in a different way, of course, a different environment, but it's a place where you have to forget what what your problems. It's an experience, that's the experience, I think. So every brand I think has their own approach and their own language to uh uh to make something like stand out, uh and be maybe extreme in a way, but uh there are there are ways uh that to create the what I call always call the wow effect, you know, like that thing that says wow. Like I I did several projects quite all quite quite different from uh one to another. Um but I would say that it's it's fundamental to yes, to absolutely have something that is out of the norm, I would say, which is for example, like last year we had this beautiful, beautiful installation that was like called Italian Garden, was inspired by the gardens uh of the uh the villas that uh that you know that you we have here in Italy. So we have this um the inspirations were amazing. And so when it came down to realize uh and create the actual um the actual uh display, you know, we had so many ways, how do you produce a garden? So we found like this uh this fantastic thing. We well um basically we used real plants that were stabilized, so they won't age, and we reproduced the entire garden inside the store. But when you looked outside from outside, you'll be like, wow, like what am I looking at? Like this is this entire store looks like a garden, you know. And uh and when you walk in, you feel the the the because it was real, the perfume like walking in a garden. So it was very elegant, it wasn't loud, but it was extremely elegant. In in uh um, for example, we had this horse that it was like made out of uh out of a bush, right? But it was all the details were in leather. So you had this mix between uh um you know the green and the leather, and that made it very interesting because you had all the stitching. That for me is a way of creating the wow effect in a very elegant way without having to go, you know. Um sometimes uh what is an extreme to attract uh to attract someone can bring you out of your way, so you really need to find the balance. I think that brands like us Dior, Mess ourselves, like we do a really good job on that because like uh these are brands that I uh I my Aloe themselves, like they always like do the windows that are very fun, like you can look at them, that they're not they're never out of too out of the way, you know. Like they still maintain like a sense of luxury, and uh there is a little bit of poetry inside, there is a little bit of uh narrative, it can be romantic, it can be like very um uh oriented to the artisanal part, but there's always like a very subtle and a very very uh um elegant way to create that extreme. Um, it's interesting, I think.

SPEAKER_02 17:38

But does the brand clearly communicate what the experiences that their clients are looking for? Or is it more like we know what we are doing, so act accordingly, or do they have their own insights where they say, uh Stefano, you don't mind if I call you Stefano, you know, um let's adjust that accordingly because there seem to be different trends, or we look for a new generation of clients?

SPEAKER_01 18:03

Oh, yes, like this is definitely like something that this is an ongoing and an very evolving world. Like it's you can never be the same, like from season to season, you're changing, your customer is changing. Just just look at how the trend uh changed uh in the last five, six years, like uh where we we went uh all of a sudden to a streetwear very like everywhere in the luxury world with sneakers and stuff like that, and now we shifted so the customers want something completely different, you know. And uh for me, like for example, I suffered a little bit that uh streetwear, uh streetwear world uh because uh I didn't find it elegant, it went a little bit too much, but that showed you a lot of brands how much they went out of the way for to follow the trend. I must say that in the brand that I'm today, uh what I'm very proud of uh to see in the day to day that we are really true to ourselves. Like uh and this, I think it's fundamental to a brand, never forget your roots and never forget who you are, because it's where you you will be recognized always. The minute that you leave your your core and your values to follow like uh an easy buck, like uh that won't work for uh it will work for a very short time, but it will but we'll get back to you like very quickly. And I saw it in many brands that have done that.

SPEAKER_02 19:32

But you're a brand and your company is in the brand itself. Do you feel like you have this natural magnetism? So you stand for something, you have a style, you have a flair, and then the clients that come to you are almost like the self-fulfilling prophecy. Why sometimes you say no, no, no, no, no, it won't work.

SPEAKER_01 19:52

Speaking about myself, I would say that uh if uh you look at my LinkedIn to go back to the beginning, um, I've had the chance to work in very different, very, very completely different brands. I really like a high luxury, like contemporary, uh, and I lived, I lived uh men's, women's uh like accessories. Uh it was I've done it, I think almost all. But something that I recognize to myself after so many years is like I definitely know how to wear uh a different pair of shoes. Like and uh and I learned quite quickly how to walk in the shoes that I have to wear because it's fundamental, like it's not about you, it's about the brand and the customer, right? Like and it's which is interesting, uh, how you have to like forget about what is your feeling and what is what you like or not like, it's not important. This job is not relevant, like it ultimately is about taste. Yes, definitely. You you can say what what is looks good and looks bad, and which you can have an opinion on that, but it's not about you, it's not about what you like or not, it's what your customer and likes and what especially I think what represents the brand. That because that the brand is above everything in in uh in this industry, I think. When you walk, work work for a brand, you have to you have to bring to the customer what the brand stands for. You are just a tool for it.

SPEAKER_02 21:27

That makes sense, and also the brand at the end of the day. I mean, people always say, Can I manage a brand? I said, No, the brand you cannot manage, but you can manage the experiences, and the experience become uh something in our mind that we consider the brand. So it's cause and effect, and you're clearly working on the cause of how a brand is going to be perceived. Do you sometimes also have then uh challenges that you say to your client, I know where you're coming from, I know what you want, but shouldn't you do this?

SPEAKER_01 22:03

It happens, it happens, especially like in a world that is grows very, very fast, right? So uh that's why it's fundamental to be up to date on uh uh on what's happening out there, like here, here they like I I always say there is an a job, another layer of my job is and socializing, which uh uh a lot of people will uh will would think that I really like uh like socializing, but it's not not really like but I know that if I'm not inside like uh a circle of people and I don't go get myself out and I just stay in this room with my drawings and my I might miss something, you know, like uh but that what happens a lot a lot of times. Uh no, no, I would I would say sometimes in some brands can happen that which you are always like in a room telling your story and uh and maybe you're not listening outside. That happened to me in the past. Like I have to say that today we're doing a good job on on trying to to hear uh what's out there and what's necessary. Again, ultimately, we are in a business. We have to go to we stand for ourselves, but we have to listen to to what's outside and uh and what what the client wants. Then would you go away from your your core to to make everyone happy? No, you're gonna have to make happy like a small percentage of people, like the ones that you're you're interested in.

SPEAKER_02 23:34

I'm sure based upon your success, you might you must be a very good listener, to say the least. Vita, we are doing research. A lot of companies are using augmented mirrors, so you walk by, like the coach one, or the one that you will find in Thomas Hilfiger, where it changes you, kicking stuff on, and so on. What do you think about this? Is that experience in you, or you say, oh no, no, no, no, no?

SPEAKER_01 24:02

So uh so you have to know a story. Like uh, I the first time that I worked with one of these mirrors was 2015, which it was uh quite a long time ago, 10 years ago. Um, and it was with the brand Brioni. It's like this uh one of the um one director there was uh that uh he takes care of the the sumizura for Brioni. Um very, very intelligent man, uh Petucci. Uh he's uh great great uh visionary. And he had this vision of having uh the mirror, and in order that you could do your your made-to-measure through the mirror, they were very ahead of time. And the only and they were they brought it to the store actually. The only problem is was that at that time, you know, we are speaking 10 years ago, the systems were quite slow. But like I was but I was amazed to see 10 years ago at the point that you will get inside the fitting room, like you have a full fit, like get your measurements taken, and it was quite impressive. Like I have to say, it was really wow 10 years ago. Uh today I think like it's inevitable. Like we have to uh we have to understand how they will fit in certain uh experiences, uh, because I still think that you know there is it's it's very cool to get inside a room and get your measurements taken uh by uh um by um a mirror or uh EI um helper. But for me, the experience to have a tailor taking their taking the measures is just that is the experience, I think. When you're you're you're going to Grioni to buy a it's just something too special, and I will never give up on that. I'll be honest.

SPEAKER_02 26:07

Senza dubbio, d'accordo. But for me, it was also for you as a visual uh visual merchandiser because a lot of companies use it when you walk by the store and you can see yourself with things. Are you using it to engage people even if they walk by and they can see things pretty much tailored to them?

SPEAKER_01 26:31

So we did we did some uh a few years ago, like we did something interaction, uh interactive with with the windows. It quite it works quite well. Like um it helps also to track, for example, uh like how many people I will stop to see uh to see the window. There are systems now that we don't we don't use it, but uh they've been proposed to me uh largely lately. Uh for example, like in a window, I if I place five five products, I can have like a camera looking at your eyes, what and then will give me the data on which one of these five items uh is being looked at the most. So I I find it there is on the merchandising part, it's quite interesting and will help you also to understand what like the trend and what what is re-attracting. It's some very interesting data. Um definitely is out there. Uh I think that in the next 10 years we'll see a big shift on that type of analysis inside the stores. Like it's quite uh uh if I look here. We have in Europe, uh, I don't know if I I think luckily because uh I believe a lot in privacy, but but uh I I'm uh I've seen in China in China a lot of brands are are using it uh freely, like it's not uh it's not even a question, uh like they have all this uh data, like it's uh almost everywhere, even in the super.

SPEAKER_02 28:05

I absolutely agree with you, and I always say if you want to get uh into the market of understanding how we can use technology to the benefit of the customer experience, we have to look east, not west. Yeah, no, that's the direction.

SPEAKER_01 28:19

Yeah, definitely. Like I you know, uh every time that I go to Asia, I am amazed like how how fast they are the technology. Like I am, I think that we have such brilliant minds uh uh in the West, but the the East is doing it. Like sometimes we speak too much here, like we should like just do it.

SPEAKER_02 28:49

No, I I absolutely agree, and I couldn't agree more. And you mentioned it at the beginning also that you say one part is analytics and that you're using it more and more, which kind of is important, also, I believe, for your business to demonstrate to your claim, the client, the impact of what you're having.

SPEAKER_01 29:08

True, yeah, of course. Like that so we um like in my school, the where I come from, like in all these years, analytics is always been part of my journey. Like one of the things that I I am quite proud of is like I look a lot about on the data of uh also my work. Like uh, but it's it's amazing how because it's such a big satisfaction when you create a display and you see the sales of that going up, you know. I think that ultimately for who does this job, that is the like one of the biggest rewards, you know. Remember in Bottega Veneta many years ago, we had I was in New York and we had this like this glass case that was right at the entry of our store in Fifth Avenue, that everybody was like, you know, we were discussing our removing it. And uh I really liked it because I thought this it looked like it has potential, it had potential, it just wasn't used in the right way. So I started concentrating the knot bag, which is like an iconic bag from uh from the and and inspired by the displays from the macarons, like so to put all the colors all together and I started like hanging them. Like we saw an increase uh uh of sales from that particular um um display of 175 percent. Like, but you imagine in numbers what that means in a bag that at that time cost $1,300. Like it was massive because it would just drive people like to so we ended up going uh like in an in uh we we tracked around a couple months, breaking the stock. Like we didn't have any any more bags. We had like we were selling like hot cakes. Like you can imagine that the what what impact it has, but how did I know that that was successful? Was I did that, I asked to track, I and I knew where I placed it. So ultimately I knew that the the sales were coming from that display, and all of a sudden nobody wanted to remove it. It was like our our money-making machine. It was just like and and knowing also the potential of uh that's that a place, a certain area of the store, if worked in the right way, can can bring you so much business. And it's also because it's easy to buy with your eyes, you know what what you see, and it's ultimately very in front of you. Well done, colorful, serious of things. You have the offer, you have the color, you have the the right design, is everything is right there and it's displayed in the right way. It's I I would say that it's uh for me, like uh visual merchandising has a component of mathematics that a lot of people are not considering that much.

SPEAKER_02 32:12

As a data scientist, I couldn't agree more with you, but now you still own our audience a question. What would you like to share that we don't find on LinkedIn or not on your CV? Something about you that we wouldn't expect.

SPEAKER_01 32:30

I don't know, like I'm such a transparent person that I feel like I feel everything is out there, like uh well, definitely something that's uh that is uh is have have been giving me so much, like which is like never stop being curious, like and and never stop challenging yourself on what's the next step. Like um everything we said today ultimately like comes down to uh evolution, like it's about knowing and keep evolving, uh, which is not something that you will finally see, but it's something that is very precious for who wants uh to be successful in this job. Is don't stop being curious. Like I was saying before uh before, you have to go out, you have to go to socializing, uh like maybe in the right crowd, of course. Um to see what's going on in the art world, which is like such an amazing, amazing uh place to take inspiration from. Uh don't be shy to look at the past and don't be shy to be look at the future and to like and to take inspiration because ultimately you're allowed to do it. And uh if if you are using it in the right way, you know. Uh I think that that that will be my the thing that I will uh I will encourage everyone to uh to be curious, just like continue, continue looking for some what's next. Never you never you're never uh arrived anywhere. Like there's always one more step that you can make.

SPEAKER_02 34:18

I believe we are both lucky that we are in a profession where our curiosity actually gets paid for, you know.

SPEAKER_01 34:26

I would say that that's the biggest luck. Yeah, definitely, definitely.

SPEAKER_02 34:32

So, Stefano, thank you for being with us. It was a great pleasure. Thank you for having me.

SPEAKER_01 34:39

I hope to see you soon.

SPEAKER_00 34:40

And that's a wrap on today's Lux Vision. If this conversation inspired you or gave you something to think about, please do us a favor. Follow, subscribe, and share it with those who appreciate real insight. The future of lecture isn't coming, it's already here. And we're giving you the front row C. So until next time, stay bold, stay curious, stay visionary.