Alessandro, when Stilema was born you were a child and today you are at your father’s side to continue and renew his initial project. What drove you into all this?
Yes it is true, I was only 3 years old, so in fact I have always lived in the world of the company, which as a child meant above all receiving many products or samples at home that aroused my curiosity.
I know that the parent-child relationship in business can be complex, but in my and my father’s case, I consider myself very fortunate in that there has always been the utmost mutual respect between us, resulting in a great deal of autonomy not only in carrying out projects, but also in sharing strategic choices, so conflicts between us have always been very rare and, when they have arisen, they have become positive opportunities to find the best solutions together.
I firmly believe that the most significant results arise from the encounter between experience and tradition on the one hand, but also between change and innovation on the other, in practice a synthesis capable of bringing out the best in both, a combination not only understood as a parent-child relationship but also as collaboration between generations that, when it works, can generate extraordinary results.
What is your role within Stilema and what are the main areas you follow?
Ours is a typical family business where flexibility is an integral part of daily work, so it often happens that everyone does a little bit of everything, but at the same time, the increasing complexity of “doing business” has led us to specialise in well-defined areas.
At Stilema, we have three main divisions, two of which are dedicated to the B2B channel, Loyalty & Luxury Promotion and Packaging, and one aimed at B2C with our E-Commerce channel for the Stilema Milano brand, dedicated to a line of premium bags but which I do not exclude in the future could be extended to the world of luxury packaging.
My role naturally ranges from guiding the strategic choices, to the operational management with the support of our team of all project phases such as customer acquisition, product development, commercial negotiation, production control, and finally delivery.
In parallel, I follow marketing and communication activities, from websites to social media, from ADV campaigns to publications, because I believe it is fundamental to tell people who we are and what we do.
In recent years, I have also dedicated a lot of effort to the issue of compliance with the increasingly numerous and stringent regulations, a path that has allowed us to constantly raise our standards of sustainability and attention to the environment, through tools such as FSC certification and compliance with the EUDR regulation, thanks to which we guarantee maximum transparency of the entire supply chain, such as that the plant from which the paper used for each of our boxes is produced is placed on a verified plot.
When and how did the idea of creating a section within your company totally dedicated to luxury packaging develop?
Stilema started out as a company that designed and produced promotional bags for the cosmetics industry as well as for the most important luxury fragrance brands, so as part of a natural commercial evolution, in 2017 we decided to expand our offer by introducing a division dedicated to luxury packaging, with a particular focus on high-end secondary packaging.
The choice was a natural one as, on the one hand, there was a strong affinity with the sector we already presided over, while on the other hand we had identified a market shortage, especially for articles with non-standard shapes such as round boxes, which are not present in the traditional offer.
Thanks also to our well-established presence in the Far East, we have thus been able to position ourselves rapidly as a partner of reference not only for customers in our “historic” sector, but also for new realities such as those in the high-end food sector.
What are your main strengths in the luxury packaging market?
Our industrial approach to bag production, remembering that we started as a manufacturing company in Italy in the 1980s, has shaped our forma mentis allowing us to develop this type of production with the same methodical and professional approach.
The experience gained from having interfaced with extremely demanding interlocutors, such as the big brands we have worked with (Versace, Dolce & Gabbana, Moschino, Trussardi, to name but a few), has certainly steered us towards scrupulous attention to every detail and maintaining a high standard of quality.
A forty-year direct presence in China with an extremely lean structure has always allowed us to significantly contain costs compared to the competition, thus making us highly competitive.
In your opinion, what are the main strategies a company must adopt to stand out in the exclusive luxury packaging market?
I believe that in order to stand out in the luxury packaging market, it is not enough to create beautiful packaging, but it is essential to be able to convey the values of the brand-customer through every detail, finding the right balance between creativity and sustainability, so I believe that the best strategy must take the following key points into account
- Quality and innovation: refined materials, impeccable workmanship and continuous experimentation with new techniques to amaze and differentiate.
Customisation and uniqueness: luxury thrives on exclusivity, so it is essential to offer tailor-made solutions, even with unconventional shapes. - Sustainability: this is something that cannot be lacking today, not only because we are asked to do so by the market, but above all because we firmly believe that only with the contribution of each actor is it possible to reduce the negative impact of human activities on the environment, and it is this conviction that drives us to constantly search for solutions increasingly oriented in this direction.
- Price competitiveness: even in an exclusive market like the luxury one, it is important to maintain competitive prices, and we do this thanks to a very lean and efficient organisation, which allows us to contain costs without ever compromising the quality and prestige of the product.
- Speed and reliability: the luxury market is dynamic and competitive, so being able to guarantee certain deadlines and complete services is a decisive plus.
Partnership with the customer: don’t just be suppliers, but consultants capable of translating brand identity and providing a truly all-round service. - In short, emerging in this sector means finding the right balance between traditional craftsmanship, technological innovation and sensitivity to the future, because in luxury every detail makes the difference.
What are the materials most in demand today by high-end brands in order to balance aesthetics and sustainability, and what are the main challenges to be faced in the coming years?
The use of paper from verified plots of land, and FSC certification, allows us to offer a high standard of care for the environment, but this does not prevent subsequent processing and finishing, in which we are experts, from contributing to generating original and innovative solutions.
In a market that is often saturated with products, those who manage to distinguish themselves with innovative and attractive solutions have the chance to really stand out by creating real differentiation, and in this sense I am proud to anticipate that just in the last few days we have developed, thanks to the creation of a special mould, a solution where the paper covering consists of a series of 3D elements that create a quilted effect using only the paper itself.
