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Postcards from Rethink Central

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Prefer to read? Here’s the transcript:

Years ago, at one of those quiet holiday moments, me and a group of pals sat down in between the festivities and

we watched a documentary on the UK fashion industry.

Not from the point-of-view of the designers, but from the point-of-view of the journalists who write about it. It was fascinating.

It must be an enormous number of years ago that I saw it but

one thing from it still sticks with me.

It was an interview with one of the national daily paper’s fashion critics, who was talking about a mistake he’d made.

He was describing how

Karl Lagerfeld had invited him backstage at his Winter Show.

You’ll know Karl Lagerfeld he was the chap with a little fan who did Chloe and Fendi and eventually reinvented Chanel.

So there he is, a fashion icon. There he is, the journalist who has viewed the show. He knew Karl a little bit because he’d interviewed him a few months before and he’d seen other shows by him.

Karl Lagerfeld flutters over and says

‘What did you think of the show?’

And the journalist said <in the documentary> ‘I don’t know what came over me because I knew what the answer was: ‘It was ‘Fantastic!’

But what he actually said was

‘It was lovely but I think your Spring Show was stronger.’

You don’t say that in film <or fashion!> Oh, no, no, no, no. Nobody says that. And certainly not to Karl Lagerfeld, a man known for taking pique very easily.

And the journalist said

‘I never went to a Karl Lagerfeld show again.

And particularly, I never went backstage. I was never asked. Even my assistants weren’t asked. I was very lucky I didn’t lose my job over that.

And you know what I should have done, because there is always something you like. I should have found it whether it was a hat or a dress or a shoe. I should have talked about how amazing that was.

It wasn’t as strong a show as the spring one which, as we now know, was one of the best of his entire life. But no one wants to hear that.

I should have talked about how amazing that one shoe was

and gushed in true fashion style.’

It stuck with him and it stuck with me and my friends. To the point where for years (!) it became a byword for when things weren’t quite right. You’d swan out and say, ‘What do you think of my outfit?’ And my friends would say, ‘Nice shoes!’ And you’d go and change.

It’s also true for coaching.

Because sometimes your clients come to you in bits. And they want the truth, of course, they want the truth.

They’re paying for the truth. But they want it dressed up

as an ‘Okay, so this is going really well. THIS is the lovely shoe. Now, maybe the dress needs a bit of work, maybe everything else you’re doing doesn’t really match the shoe that you have there’.

With my clients, sometimes I’ll ask how things are and they’ll say ‘You know, I’m still looking for the shoe.’

And if you are looking for the shoe right now, then maybe I can help.

I run a regular Q&A and I would love to see you – and indeed your shoes – there. Drop your name in the box below and I’ll see you there.

Also – aren’t fashion shows great?

Next live call is October 10, 2023 - Noon Eastern / 6pm UK.
Come along to ask your questions about launches, strategies for marketing, Masterminds or whatever you're stuck on in your business.

Add your email below and I'll send you the zoom info for the calls. See you there!

Or come say hello on Instagram here.  I microblog daily.