Nelly RODI founder of the nellyrodi agency

You are the founder of the NellyRodi agency, a style agency. How do you define your profession and who are your clients?

Today, we are more of a forecasting agency. We try to help our clients define the future years in terms of their brand strategy, their collections and their distributions. We work with the fashion, decoration and more generally what we call "the art of living" sectors. Food, cosmetics, etc. The concept of Trends started in fashion and has developed considerably in all other sectors of activity.

What was your background before creating your agency?

I started in 1963 at Prisunic in the shadow of Denise Fayolle who changed the style codes and created Mafia with Maimé Arnodin, the first style office. Then fashion assistant at Woolmark before joining the International Cotton Institute as Fashion Director, and André Courrèges as Communications Director. In 1975, I was appointed Director of the Fashion Industries Coordination Committee, the CIM. Ten years later, I founded the agency with the desire to help fashion manufacturers anticipate consumer desires by creating a new approach: mixing style and marketing. In 1987, the Japanese subsidiary was launched, then a network of agents around the world to cover up to 21 countries. Today the agency is run by my son Pierre-François Le Louet. I continue to work within the Paris Chamber of Commerce and Industry, in charge of creation, fashion, design as Vice-President. Just like the R3ilab, Network for intangible innovation in industry. I am also President of the establishment committee of the Fabrique (school of creative professions of the CCIR) and member of the Boards of Directors of the IFM (French Fashion Institute), ESCP Europe, the Investment Fund for the creation of the city of Paris, the Franco-Japanese Exchange Committee and the Lieu du Design.

Thirty years after the creation of your agency, what is your view on this profession? On the phenomenon of consumer trends in general?

The word "trend" has been popularized and is no longer appropriate. It is meant to be superficial, no longer has its original meaning. The consumer has changed, evolved. The street has taken power. Digital, social networks have revolutionized all that. The acceleration of collections, up to 12 per year for some, pop-up stores, capsule collections, creation is in perpetual motion. We no longer pause between two collections as before. Communication has also changed. Previously, it was the fashion editors of magazines who influenced the success or failure of designers. Today, bloggers are here. Art and culture have been popularized, stores have become art galleries, we call on great artists for everyday objects. Before, there were stylists. Now we have multidisciplinary artistic directors. The organic phenomenon is also an important movement that has entered into consumption and customs. It is changing fashion with an awareness of recycling, etc.

You are very attentive to consumer expectations and the evolution of society. How have you integrated the digital world into your profession?

The first revolution for our profession was marketing, working in tandem with stylists. The second revolution was the arrival of a webmaster and a digital team. We capture faster trends, research is different. The snowball effect created by social networks. We integrate it at all levels, even at the merchandising level, or even in clothing which becomes connected. It completely transforms all of our professions.

You are known for being an ambassador for the textile industry in France. How do you see the future of this profession? Innovation of materials? Revival of clothing through young French brands?

I sincerely believe that French textiles are not dead but that they are at a turning point. Everything that is part of the old system and not challenged risks disappearing because imports of raw materials put us in a competitive situation that is already lost. We can only compete on quality, composition, and feel. Buyers today have lost their textile knowledge; they work only on price conditions. We need to re-educate the world of purchasing and marketing to learn the difference in quality between two fabrics that are identical to the naked eye.

Then on the innovation aspects. The originality of the creations but also the work in the composition of materials such as coating, the connected approach, smart textiles. It's a new world. I am financing eleven textile innovation projects through R3ilab that will be presented at the Maison & Objet trade show next September and at Première Vision. Curtains that recover heat and restore it. Bras that communicate to give indications on your stress level, well-being... I believe in French textiles because we are very advanced in product innovation.

Finally, through young French brands. I am struck by the energy of young people today who dare to develop a business in the world of fashion. I am struck by the desire they have to share, to come together, like these Fab Labs where hundreds of young people exchange and work together. This gives a new lease of life, a lucidity of being responsible for one's destiny, not counting on others, moving forward with one's network.

The NellyRodi agency publishes a large number of trend books each year in different fields. Do you still believe in the power of paper in today's all-digital culture?

This is a question that has been asked for many years within the agency. We produce 24 notebooks per year. We have developed the digital part of our offer with new tools. But our clients say that paper remains important because the color rendering is incomparable, the relief of the materials, the feel of the fabric samples. The two worlds complement each other. Our turnover on notebook subscriptions still represents 40% today.

Fashion has long set the tone for influence. Today, where do the great inspirations come from?

They emerge from travel, from culture, always from what we have known in the past. Photography, painting, sculpture, design. Very promising trends. Through our company Money Box which invests in emerging companies, we have approached the Soon Soon Soon agency which is a web observer bringing together 1,500 correspondents around the world who provide information from all directions on innovations, developments in society, services, products. We also have research heads in Los Angeles, New York and London to provide the agency teams and their projects.