Why Skills-First Leadership Is Replacing the Ivy League Playbook in the C-Suite
05/23/2025
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The old prestige pyramid—where Ivy League degrees and blue-chip consulting backgrounds paved the way to the CEO seat—is cracking.
January 19, 2022: -On Monday, Ralph Lauren CEO Patrice Louvet said that the fashion brand is chasing opportunities in the metaverse to attract younger shoppers.
At the National Retail Federation’s annual conference, he said that consumers could have boughtbought Ralph Lauren’s digital apparel, made a virtual visit, or even had a virtual coffee at the Madison Avenue store. He said the retailer is considering buying real estate in that digital world, where e-commerce, gaming, and social media collide.
Plus, Louvet said he’s personally participating: He dressed his avatar in a rugby shirt.
“One of our strategies is to win regarding a new generation, and the new generation is there. So we have to be there,” he said. “There are a lot of parallels actually amid the metaverse and Ralph’s vision as we are not a fashion company. We are in the dreams business.”
An increasing number of retailers are dipping their toes in the metaverse. Nike bought a virtual sneaker company, RTFKT, the previous month. Walmart recently filed trademarks that could pave the way to sell virtual goods from home decor to personal care products and offer virtual currency and nonfungible tokens, or NFTs, to users. And luxury brands, which include Ralph Lauren and Gucci, have launched virtual experiences.
Louvet said that Ralph Lauren participates in metaverse platform Zepeto and gaming site Roblox, where shoppers can dress their avatars in Ralph Lauren apparel. He said that the company has already seen how the metaverse could drive revenue. After just a few weeks on Zepeto, he said it sold more than 100,000 units.
He said that Ralph Lauren has not yet sold NFTs but is also considering how that could boost its brand.
“We are learning,” he said. “We are experimenting. I do think that we are going to see consumers keep to be attracted to these spaces as they expand.”
The old prestige pyramid—where Ivy League degrees and blue-chip consulting backgrounds paved the way to the CEO seat—is cracking.
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