by Camilla Pinto
Alessia Von Slawik is a twenty-four years old Italian graduate of Bsc Management Systems and Information at City University in London. She lives with her brother Eduard in Chelsea, London.
Alessia was born in Turin, Italy’s northern Industrial city worldwide famous for FIAT. Before coming to London, to attend Bsc Management Systems and Information at City University, she studied in Turin and as a boarding modern languages student in Milan in the state boarding, half-boarding and day pupils school “Collegio delle Fanciulle”, a female School born in 1808.
Alessia carries her family’s DNA for Business and the passion for Fashion. Her grandfather’s brother, from her mother’s side, was Cavaliere del Lavoro Arrigo Recordati, chairman of the famous pharmaceutical Italian company GRUPPO RECORDATI s.p.a. The group was founded in 1926 in Correggio (Emilia Romagna), a fifteenth century town. At first it was a small pharmacy, dating back to the eighteenth century. At only twenty-three years old Arrigo Recordati joined the company degree-fresh, to continue his father’s mission(1951-1999 when he died).
Alessia’s aunt, Laura Recordati was working for Scapa of Scotland as sales manager and gave an important contribution to the success of the company when the brand was at its vortex of success. Alessia’s mother used to work in the Fashion industry too.
However one should not think of her as a 'golden girl' because Alessia is independent since childhood. She is building her career by herself.
Alessia and I happened to meet when we were children because of the friendship of my family with her aunt Laura’s family. Then we lost sight of each other and we met again, after years in London.
At first glance Alessia gives the impression of being very clever. She is a prudent, reliable and proper person. One distinguishes these qualities in her attitude, behaviour and in her chic dress code. She wears classic style clothes such as tailleurs often trousers appropriate for her role. She normally wears Zara and Mango clothes mixed with Vuitton accessories and shoes for whom she has a real obsession.
She adhores working in the Marketing department as Product Manager at Louis Vuitton in London’s New Bond Street.
She is accustomed to read a lot: her favourite books are biographies such as those on Marie-Antoinette,
ALESSIA VON SLAWIK
A passion for luxury
From Turin to London, passing from
Milan and Paris
Napoleon and Catherine “The Great” in Italian, French and English. She would probably love reading the book "Catherine de Medici" by Leonie Frieda. She loves Classical music, Opera and Ballet . When she can, she goes to the theater to see performances such as “Don Giovanni”, “Sleeping Beauty” and “Giselle”. She is romantic and dreams herself living in a Castle as an eighteenth century Princess. Her childhood was not so far from her dream, in fact she used to spend holidays in the family Recordati Villa in Correggio , close to the headquarters of Recordati (at the time, now the Group moved to Milan). Her surname has Austrian-Hungaric origins.
For the job she needs to keep updated with the Fashion brands merging with one another. After graduating from City University, Alessia was part-time sales associate responsible for the shoe department, in particular sales, stock and targets at Hobbs’, the English Fashion retailer in London. This experience, her studies at City University and her knowledge of the field have lead her, with her own skills unexpectedly to approach the world-widely known luxury Fashion firm Louis Vuitton in the London branch as part-time sales associate, linked to its headquarters in Paris. Alessia felt she could approach the marketing, broadcasting or advertising departments. In the luxury Fashion goods colossal. Alessia’s day involves the managing of the product. She is responsible for handling all product quantitative analysis and reports. She is also prompt to do market research and keep track of the firm’s respective competitors’ strategies, material research, production coordination. Alessia’s duty in the firm is to monitor the market, know the Fashion trends of the moment, be updated on the activities of the competitors in terms of marketing strategies, pricing and the product distribution. Moreover when speaking of material research, Alessia researches and proposes to the Fashion designer the materials with which one builds the collection. These materials need to be coherent with the image one intends to achieve innovating them. However her other task is to organize and coordinate the production of the collection in such a way as to respect the deadlines allowing the Fashion designer to be able to verify the coordination of the clothing, study the product to obtain the best balance between quality and cost, arrange the collection for production. Furthermore the product manager assists the sales staff so that it can inform the clientele of the production techniques to achieve the best combinations of cost-productimage. Finally she assists and communicates to the staff, who is responsible for the image and communication, the message the Fashion designer intends to convey with the Fashion show.
The busy day of Alessia begins at half past nine and, depending on the set tasks and added priorities she might have she needs to follow up, her day may come to a halt at seven in the evening, at midnight or later. She is fresh, lively, positive and independent. It is a pleasure to talk to her and listen to what she says about her job, even if one is not an expert. She is not at all someone who shows off. Indeed one thinks she must be proud of herself.
Alessia is an ambitious, determined, passionate girl with an underneath layer of alluring shiness. She is outgoing and open-minded who hangs around with people coming from all countries; she is cosmopolitan. Alessia represents the link between the head office in Paris, the UK and Scandinavia stores. She provides the stores with product information on new lines, product launches and allocations. She organizes training sessions on the new incoming stocks and analysis of scarves’ sales. At Louis Vuitton Alessia trains new sales associates and helps them to solve difficulties in their duties. To follow she has also been responsible for the store’s database maintenance.
Having to keep track of all her areas of work, she virtually has difficulty enjoying her lunch. Although her work may reach reasonably high levels of stress with very short deadlines and last-minute changes, Alessia
Alessia Von Slawik portrayed by C. Pinto
handles her duties with enthusiasm and charisma. She very much enjoys her work. When she can, she relaxes watching films such as “Emma”, “Monsoon Wedding” and “How to lose a guy in ten days”.
She goes as often as she can to art exhibitions to, for example, those taking place at the Courtauld Institute of Art, as well as other prestigious Art collections, as she adhores History of Art.
Her duties at Louis Vuitton also include running product presentations whereby she informs the Fashion team of future quantitatives, how the lines are running. Lines are mainly ten and divide up in leather goods, stores, ‘hard-sided’ and ‘softsided’ luggage, agenda pens, pens and textiles.
For Alessia the past month has been quite hectic, ‘events’, such as Fashion shows took place and she concludes that the French Fashion house ad campaigns aim to continue to communicate its product through top models to maintain its exclusive luxury appeal and clientele desirability definitely moving away from the mass market phenomenon. Alessia Von Slawik’s agenda is filled with priority deadlines. In addition she records her other duties on an A4 notebook in order for her not to forget appointments and schedules because she receives information from several ‘input’ coming from the shops, the office, the press and the Paris headquarters. The French firm Louis Vuitton, that Alessia calls ‘Europe area’, is owned by LVMH that in the same time owns Fendi, Loewe, Celine, Louis Vuitton, as well as the Marketing department with five staff, Press, Finance and Information technology with four staff. Alessia is given more and more responsibilities by the managing director. She has been appointed an intern who is supposed to carry out market research and give feedback reports to Alessia. She finds her work very interesting though she feels she has reached a deadlock as she has by now gained full experience of what is expected from her. She is so passionate of her job that she finds herself new things to do.
From her point of view there are two categories of people. She is part of the category that works for passion and may be initially paid less but at the end that will be more morally and economically compensated. She feels at ease at work, there is a lot of respect and communication between her colleagues and herself. They come each other’s way.
Alessia Von Slawik has indeed a diligent, strong team-player, hardworking personality. She is certainly a career woman. She is the right example of NEWPEOPLE’s manager able to balance hardwork and private life. Alessia has two secret wishes, one of them is work at Louis Vuitton’s headquarters in Paris and the other is to work for the jewelry firm, as she likes jewels. She would never step out of luxury. Her final dream is to go back to Italy possibly working as Marketing Director. She will most probably go a long way and realize her dreams.
by Camilla Pinto
“She adhores working in the Marketing department as Product Manager at Louis Vuitton in London’s New Bond Street.”
Villa Recordati’s Italian garden
Correggio. Ph. Andrea Pinto
Alessia in Novara countryside with
her aunt Laura, her family, my family
and I shot by my father Andrea Pinto.
