A true boss factor Giorgio Armani, founder and still leader of the group today. It was April last year when, amid the pandemic, with a letter that will remain unique in the fashion world, he invited all fashion operators to find new paths, more viable, more focused on men, more on being and less on ‘to appear. Since then, Giorgio Armani has been the spokesperson for many initiatives, from fundraising to donations, followed by many other fashion gurus.
The State of Fashion 2021 by BOF and McKinsey indicated some crucial strategies that could have been very useful for the recovery of a sector that has been severely tested. One exhortation above all: “Finding meaning in difficult times”, finding new horizons and new meanings. To give a positive signal and an example to the outside, the changes must take place inside. And it is thus that with the usual sensitivity and foresight, Giorgio Armani, thanks to the help of numerous experts, has brought about a real revolution in his work spaces, with a specific goal: to focus on his employees and the protection of their health.
In addition to working remotely, the company offers tests to detect the presence of the covid every two months for all employees, free daily distribution of surgical masks, flexible hours (also and especially for those who work in presence), attendance calendars that ensure distancing and non-gathering, intensification of hygiene measures, vaccination campaign for the flu. The latter is a fundamental point, given the difficulties that vaccines’ administration has had in Lombardy.
But that’s not all.
Some corporate spaces have been completely transformed. The premises of the gym via Bergognone 46 were used as an infirmary. Here employees are subjected to periodic free serological tests and, upon request, to the administration of flu vaccines, a possibility that has also been extended to family members.
The chefs and all the restaurants in Milan – Emporio Armani Caffè and Ristorante Milano and Nobu Milano – already active in preparing takeaway and delivery dishes, were involved in the development of a service for those who work in presence. Meals – chosen from a different menu every day – can be consumed, when permitted and in compliance with the safety protocol in place, in the catering room adjacent to the Armani / Teatro, reconfigured as a canteen, and are also delivered to other locations upon request. In via Borgonuovo, near the fashion district.
An important example, even at a global level, entirely in tune with its founder’s great human and artistic sensitivity.
