Chapter 3AgilitySeizing and Repeating Opportunities

Louis Vuitton Fashion Director Daniel Piette described Spanish clothing and accessories shop Zara as “possibly the most innovative and devastating retailer in the world.”1 Innovative and devastating might be right, but you won't see Zara's designs on the runway at Fashion Week in New York or on the cover of British Vogue. The house does not advertise and their marketing department operates on a shoestring. Instead, Zara starts its marketing and R&D endeavors much closer to the sales floor.

The original “fast-fashion” house, Zara's business model is built around agility. For instance, store managers at Zara are trained to report back to headquarters weekly with customer preferences and dislikes: ...

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