YNAP CEO：數(shù)碼科技將顛覆時(shí)尚業(yè)

Eager to know what the next big thing in luxury will be? I am utterly convinced that digital talent will be as important to fashion and luxury as design talent. As digital collides with the fashion and luxury world, we must look ahead and drive a shift in education and training to meet demand for these digital skills. I don’t think it is a stretch to say that coding will soon be as important as reading and writing.

想知道奢侈品行業(yè)接下來會(huì)發(fā)生什么劃時(shí)代事件嗎?我有充足理由相信：對(duì)時(shí)尚界及奢侈品界來說，數(shù)據(jù)技術(shù)人才將與設(shè)計(jì)師同等重要。隨著數(shù)據(jù)技術(shù)與時(shí)尚及奢侈品界“激烈碰撞”，我們必須未雨綢繆，轉(zhuǎn)向相關(guān)教育及培訓(xùn)，以便滿足未來對(duì)網(wǎng)絡(luò)技術(shù)的需要。我的意思并不是說編碼與閱讀及寫作同等重要。

In the future, I expect that the game-changers in fashion and luxury will be tech-driven entrepreneurs, much as Elon Musk has become a pioneer in the automotive world.

我預(yù)計(jì)，改變時(shí)尚及奢侈品界未來格局的人將是那些用科技武裝起來的企業(yè)家，這與埃隆•馬斯克(Elon Musk)成為汽車業(yè)的引領(lǐng)者如出一轍。

Just look at social media pioneers such as Eva Chen, who leads fashion partnerships at Instagram. Her expertise at the convergence of social commerce and fashion has harnessed the power of Instagram and created a personal brand that resonates across all corners of the fashion community.

諸位看一下陳怡樺(Eva Chen)之類的網(wǎng)紅，她目前是Instagram時(shí)尚合作總監(jiān)。她在社交媒體商業(yè)化運(yùn)作與融合時(shí)尚方面的專長就是充分利用了Instagram的超凡影響力，并創(chuàng)造了在時(shí)尚圈各個(gè)角落引發(fā)強(qiáng)烈反響的個(gè)性時(shí)尚風(fēng)格。

We need to move beyond the idea that the creatives can fill their digital gaps simply by occasionally pulling in the tech experts. That’s not going to build a solid future. What’s needed are tech-savvy fashionistas and digital luxury artisans who are uniquely able to meld the two distinct worlds. In our world, creative collaboration is natural; we need the same easy collaboration that can cross over to the digital innovators.

我們必須超越原有的觀念：設(shè)計(jì)師只需時(shí)不時(shí)聘請科技專家就可以填補(bǔ)自己的所謂“數(shù)字鴻溝”，這樣做，無法順勢打造出“穩(wěn)固江山”。我們需要精通科技的時(shí)尚達(dá)人以及熟知數(shù)據(jù)技術(shù)的奢侈品打造者：他們能絕無僅有地實(shí)現(xiàn)網(wǎng)絡(luò)科技與時(shí)尚這兩個(gè)截然不同的行當(dāng)?shù)闹槁?lián)璧合。在當(dāng)今世界，創(chuàng)意領(lǐng)域的協(xié)作司空見慣，我們希望數(shù)碼技術(shù)革新者同樣能實(shí)現(xiàn)彼此順暢的合作關(guān)系。

I have always believed this was possible. And our experience at the Yoox Net-a-Porter Group (YNAP) is proof that the two elements can tilt the industry. When I invented the online fashion and lifestyle store Yoox in 1999, e-commerce was in its infancy and I had very few contacts within the fashion industry. I had an MBA from Columbia University and was determined to be the first to construct a digital fashion industry. Designers from Giorgio Armani to Valentino opened their doors and listened to my pitch. These visionaries understood their future was online.

我始終認(rèn)為數(shù)碼科技與時(shí)尚界的合作是可能的。我們創(chuàng)建Yoox Net-a-Porter Group集團(tuán)(YNAP)的成功經(jīng)驗(yàn)就是明證：兩大奢侈品電商的合作能顛覆時(shí)尚行業(yè)的原有格局。我1999年創(chuàng)辦時(shí)尚與生活品網(wǎng)店Yoox時(shí)，電商正處于起步階段，我在時(shí)尚業(yè)界也是人生地不熟。拿到哥倫比亞大學(xué)(Columbia University)的工商管理碩士(MBA)后，自己就立志要成為創(chuàng)建數(shù)碼時(shí)尚產(chǎn)業(yè)的第一人。阿瑪尼(Giorgio Armani)以及華倫天奴(Valentino)等時(shí)尚巨擎的設(shè)計(jì)師歡迎我，傾聽我的宏偉藍(lán)圖。這些有遠(yuǎn)見卓識(shí)的人明白，他們的未來在電商。

Today, YNAP (Yoox merged with Net-a-Porter in 2015) employs 1,000 digital innovators in the UK and Italy, making it possible to adapt to a fast-changing fashion market and tap into trends. We will add hundreds more tech jobs in the near future. We just inaugurated our new Tech Hub in London’s White City area, which is now home to a team pushing the boundaries of mobile technology and artificial intelligence in the luxury space.

如今，YNAP(Yoox與Net-a-Porter于2015年合并)在英國及意大利雇傭了1000位數(shù)碼創(chuàng)新精英，所以能順應(yīng)瞬息萬變的時(shí)尚界并充分利用上述趨向。在不久的將來，我們將增加成百上千的技術(shù)崗位。我們在倫敦White City新建的科技中心(Tech Hub)剛剛啟用，這兒如今是移動(dòng)科技與人工智能應(yīng)用于奢侈品行業(yè)的團(tuán)隊(duì)研發(fā)中心。

We also recently teamed up with Imperial College London to teach children in west London the basics of coding, with particular emphasis on training girls aged eight to 14. It’s the latest in our education initiatives for primary and secondary schools as well as universities, both in the UK and Italy.

我們最近聯(lián)手倫敦帝國理工學(xué)院(Imperial College London)，教授西倫敦的孩子最基本的編碼技術(shù)，重點(diǎn)是培訓(xùn)8-14歲的女孩。除了支持大學(xué)外，這是我們對(duì)英國與意大利中小學(xué)校采取的最新教育培訓(xùn)舉措。

Over 700 children will have the opportunity to attend free weekly classes taught by students from Imperial’s Department of Computing, who will be remunerated for their teaching time, using a curriculum that has been carefully designed alongside our developers. We’ve worked directly with local schools and each student will be able to follow a course for up to three terms. The children will learn JavaScript, build their own games and apps, and gain problem-solving skills in a creative environment.

超過700名孩子每周可參加帝國理工學(xué)院計(jì)算機(jī)系學(xué)生(為此將獲得相應(yīng)酬勞)教授的免費(fèi)課程，全部課程由他們與我們的研發(fā)人員精心設(shè)計(jì)。我們還直接與西倫敦本地學(xué)校合作，每個(gè)學(xué)生能學(xué)長達(dá)三個(gè)學(xué)期的培訓(xùn)課程。孩子們將在極富創(chuàng)造性的環(huán)境中學(xué)習(xí)JavaScript語言、編寫自己的游戲與應(yīng)用軟件以及學(xué)會(huì)解決問題的實(shí)際技能。

This initiative is part of a project, CodeLab, that aims to tackle the lack of gender equality within the technology industry. As a company committed to equal opportunities, with women making up half of our 200 top managers and executive leaders — and being paid approximately 14 per cent more than the company’s senior executive average in 2016 — we want to help create a pipeline of future female tech talent.

上述培訓(xùn)是旨在解決科技界種族不平等的CodeLab項(xiàng)目的部分內(nèi)容。我們集團(tuán)致力于實(shí)現(xiàn)男女工作機(jī)會(huì)平等(女性員工占到我們?nèi)?00位行政高管的一半，而且其2016年薪水比公司高管平均水平高出約14%)，希望為源源不斷培養(yǎng)未來女性科技精英生力軍貢獻(xiàn)一份力量。

The fact is, there simply aren’t enough women working in tech today. It’s a problem that Silicon Valley has been slow to address seriously. Industry data suggests that women make up an average of just 17 per cent of the tech workforce in big technology companies. A lack of diversity is never good and tech is missing out.

而實(shí)際情況是：科技界女性從業(yè)者十分有限。硅谷(Silicon Valley)對(duì)此問題一直消極拖沓。業(yè)界數(shù)據(jù)表明：在大型科技類公司中，女性平均只占全部技術(shù)員工的17%。員工缺乏多樣性永遠(yuǎn)是弊大于利，科技界正在一天天錯(cuò)失良機(jī)。

So where do we look for inspiration as to how digital and design flair can benefit each other? Italy’s heritage in fashion and luxury provides an important lesson for the future. Over the centuries, we have developed a symbiotic system that combines creativity with a skilled manufacturing base — it’s this pairing that can make magic. Now, that perfect mix of dreaming and doing must include the digital artists of the future.

因此，我們應(yīng)從哪兒尋求策略，才能讓數(shù)碼技術(shù)與設(shè)計(jì)才華相得益彰?意大利在時(shí)尚及奢侈品界的優(yōu)良傳統(tǒng)給未來出路提供了重要啟示。過去幾百年里，意大利人成功培育了設(shè)計(jì)與成熟制造基地的互惠互利制度——正是這種共生關(guān)系造就了意大利時(shí)尚業(yè)的神奇故事。如今，這種想象力與實(shí)干的完美結(jié)合必須納入未來的數(shù)碼科技人才。

This possibility should fire the imagination of anyone looking at a creative career in luxury. Digital has added an entirely new dimension to the creative process. It enables unlimited and unimagined means of expression. It can combine the material with the immaterial. Just as important, it brings us closer to the customer than was possible before.

上述可能性應(yīng)該能點(diǎn)燃每個(gè)志在從事奢侈品設(shè)計(jì)者的激情。數(shù)碼技術(shù)已給整個(gè)設(shè)計(jì)增添了全新維度，它能實(shí)現(xiàn)意想不到與無限的設(shè)計(jì)，能讓有形物與無形物集于一體。同樣重要的是：它能讓我們比以往任何時(shí)候都更加接近消費(fèi)者。

So let’s make sure we provide our next Coco Chanel with plenty of digital talent. She’ll be trend-spotting on the street and on the web. Big data, artificial intelligence and virtual reality will be as important to her as design, materials and craftsmanship. She’ll expect no less of her team.

因此，讓我們務(wù)必為下一個(gè)可可•香奈兒(Coco Chanel)培養(yǎng)大量的數(shù)碼技術(shù)人才。她定會(huì)在大街小巷以及網(wǎng)絡(luò)上發(fā)現(xiàn)這些潮流趨向。大數(shù)據(jù)、人工智能以及虛擬技術(shù)會(huì)與設(shè)計(jì)風(fēng)格、面料以及做工一樣至關(guān)重要。她也會(huì)對(duì)自己的員工有更高期望。

Federico Marchetti is chief executive of Yoox Net-a-Porter Group

(費(fèi)德里科•馬切蒂是Yoox Net-a-Porter Group集團(tuán)的CEO，照片提供者：馬丁•戈德溫(Martin Godwin)

Photograph: Martin Godwin 譯者/常和