Daniel Harari, Lectra CEO, and Edouard Husson, dean of ESCP Europe Business School, have inaugurated the Fashion and Technology Chair.
The new Lectra-ESCP Europe Chair, with a three-year tenure, is positioned at the crossroads of innovation and research. The Chair’s aim will be to develop and convey knowledge based on innovations within the fashion and luxury sectors, thanks to cutting-edge technologies.
Lectra and ESCP Europe started collaborating in 2011 with the establishment of i7, the Institute for Innovation and Competitiveness, of which Lectra is a founding member. The Fashion and Technology Chair is the next step in this cooperation and intends to create a joint center for teaching, passing on expertise and research, with an emphasis on the interaction between technology and innovation.
Market globalization, competition from emerging countries, fast-fashion, and growth of retail and communication channels are requiring the fashion and luxury sectors to address major issues mainly related to innovation. The Chair’s main objective is to explore the specificities of the fashion and luxury sectors and their approach to technologies linked to design and supply change management. There will also be a focus on the challenges of digital development and on the emergence of value-added strategies for innovation and original business models in developing countries, particularly China.
The Chair will promote technology as a catalyst for innovation among students and alumni. This will be one of the themes studied by ESCP students every year and the subject of research dissertations and professional theses.
“ESCP Europe, i7, the Institute for Innovation and Competitiveness, and Lectra share a common vision of the key role that innovation plays in the economy, and it seems only natural for us to create this Chair. The purpose of a business school, such as ESCP Europe, which trains tomorrow’s leaders of European and global companies, is to investigate the economic sphere’s empowerment and to offer tools in order to respond rapidly to the dynamics of a polycentric globalization," said Edouard Husson.
The Chair’s scientific board members are Valérie Moatti, professor at ESCP Europe and expert on supply chain management and growth strategies, and Céline Abecassis-Moedas, visiting ESCP professor and professor at the Universidade Católica Portuguesa, where she teaches strategy and innovation management.
"Innovation is part of Lectra’s DNA. It expresses itself through our technological breakthroughs to serve new business models. For 40 years, we have supported changes in the fashion industry and contributed to our customers’ development. Our commitment to future professionals and innovation has led us to create the Fashion and Technology Chair with ESCP Europe. We want thus contribute to encourage new technological advances in teaching and research for the fashion industry in France as well as around the world," said Daniel Harari.
Steering and management committees will oversee governance and will be composed of Lectra and ESCP Europe representatives. Together, they will define and approve the academic program, including research guidance, and advise the scientific board on the Chair’s actions.
“FASHION AND TECHNOLOGY” ROUND TABLE
A round table entitled “Fashion and Technology: a paradoxical driver of innovation?” organized by Lectra and ESCP Europe for the Chair’s launch took place on February 6 at the campus of ESCP Europe Paris, bringing together several emblematic leaders and personalities from the fashion sector, including John Palacin, advisor to the minister of Industrial Renewal; Didier Grumbach, chairman of the Fédération Française de la Couture, du Prêt-à-Porter des Couturiers et des Créateurs de mode; Christian Blanckaert, chairman of Petit Bateau; and Jacques Bungert, chairman of Courrèges.
