Gennaro Solito
& The Neapolitan Luxury Style:
WCW Fashionistas Aesthetics

Viewpoint by Andrew Scharf, Head of the WCW Group

From a sartorial point of view, Naples is paradise. It has craftsmen and women making some of the most beautiful clothes I have ever seen. Gennaro Solito and Anna Matuozzo are just two excellent reasons to pay this city a visit.

Although Mariano Rubinacci is considered highly in any discussion on bespoke tailoring, you would be foolish not to go and visit Gennaro Solito. Many people I know actually prefer this house for its traditional approach to men’s tailoring. Unlike Rubinacci, Gennaro and his son actually cut every jacket and trouser on the premises.

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Euphoria Tops The Kusmi Tea Craze:
WCW Fashionistas Obsession

Viewpoint by Andrew Scharf, Head of the WCW Group

Recently, Kusmi, the purveyor of luxury flavored tea launched its brew, entitled Euphoria. When I asked the sales clerk to tell me about the product, she began by saying that drinking this tea was like listening to Stairway to Heaven.

Undoubtedly, the crazed fans of flavoured teas should welcome this new beverage with gusto.

Just last weekend at we were invited to one of these trendy dinner parties in the tenth arrondissement where the hostess offered everyone “tea”. Tea is not usually offered at dinner parties. Malt whisky, yes. But Euphoria?

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Getting An MBA Admit:
WCW Business Education Trends

Viewpoint by Andrew Scharf, Head of the WCW Group

Clearly passion and success are not exclusives to the USA. Everyone wants to foster his or her career to maximize opportunity.

Recently, I visited certain Ivy League campuses and attended information sessions at the undergrad and grad levels. The audiences were not strictly American. In fact, they were quite cosmopolitan in their make-up. Some of the best info sessions were held at Yale, Princeton, and Dartmouth.

The questions from the audiences were quite revealing and peppered with stress.

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Is Europe Still Relevant Or Lost In Translation:
WCW Global Affairs

Viewpoint by Andrew Scharf, Head of the WCW Group

Political brinkmanship, Greek debt and unemployment across the Euro zone are bringing down governments one after another. The people are fed up with politics as usual, but they are expressing rage rather than reason.

These key issues are giving those still in power and not swept away up elections much food for thought. The future of Europe hangs in the balance and this is not hyperbole.

Current events in Greece appear almost out of control. There might even be a referendum on whether the Greek people wish to remain in the EU and the euro zone.

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IR Writing 101 Communications Matter:
WCW Management Consulting

Viewpoint by Rob Berick, Managing Director at Dix & Eaton,
WCW Columnist

In the spirit of an earlier discussion we had on the importance of content, I thought it would be worthwhile to take a step back and revisit the basic tenets of writing.

What better way to kick off this exercise than to take a peek at an internal memo written by David Oglivy in the 1980s.

Among my favorite bits are…

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Wood & Faulk Made In The USA:
WCW Fashionistas Aesthetics
Viewpoint by Andrew Scharf, Head of the WCW Group

The Japanese have a knack for sourcing the world for all that is hand made and wonderful. I just uncovered at Colette a copy of “HUGE, Man discovers Style”.

The current issue not only features Brooklyn, Portland and Greg Lauren, it has an enormous section this month entitled, Made In America. Their list is surely the mother load.

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Act Like Confucius & Foster Goodness In Business:
WCW Management Consulting Trends/ Leadership

Viewpoint by Andrew Scharf, Head of the WCW Group

In “The Analects”, Confucius once wrote: “A man of benevolence never worries; a man of wisdom is never in two minds; a man of courage is never afraid.”

Confucius always strikes deep. He presses you to the wall and makes you stare your consciousness in the eye. A petty business professional at any age or level of seniority will just dismiss Confucius as either dead or misguided.

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WCW Fashionistas Obsession:
Officina Profumo-Farmaceutica Di Santa Maria Novella

Viewpoint by Andrew Scharf, Head of the WCW Group
Photographs by Mark Hebblewhite

In an age where heritage is trumped up, here is a firm, which can truly claim pedigree. It is Santa Maria Novella. The firm was established in Florence in 1200 and is one of the oldest pharmacies existing in the Western World. Its official name is Officina Profumo-Farmaceutica di Santa Maria Novella.

Today its products can be bought in London’s Piccadilly Arcade, in Paris on rue de la Paix and in Florence on the sight of the original location.

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The Pucci Scarf Redesigned:
WCW Fashionistas Aesthetics/ Luxury Brand Management

Viewpoint by Andrew Scharf, Head of the WCW Group

It is not surprising then that the sleeping beauty of Italian fashion, Pucci has gained a new breath of fire under its current artistic director, Peter Dundas. Since March 2009, the fashion house established by Emilio Pucci is seen again as a “must” stop by Fashionistas. The Scarf Redesignedis just the last campaign to show women you need not wear these fabulous colorful and playful designs just over your head or around your neck.

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Brooks Brothers Holds Bow Tie Festival:
WCW Fashionistas Aesthetics

Viewpoint by Andrew Scharf, Head of the WCW Group

What other clothing institution holds a bow tie festival and advocates friends to post their pics online? May the best Madras bow win!

Why its Brooks Brothers, of course.

When it comes to examining the history of men’s clothing, BB with its emblematic golden fleece stands alone. It was once called the greatest men’s store in the world. In those day’s, there was no chain and the brand had not been dumbed down. Both the clothes and the store were institutions, iconic.

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