Paolo Chiesa: Scarcity can work in your favour
The AZ Academy lecturer explains why young designers need to think about merchandising before stock, scale and slow sales start shaping the business for them.
By Amy Francombe
We need new roadmaps in fashion. Leaving school with a mountain of debt and a dream is a strategy few designers can rely upon in 2026. As fees at prestigious design schools continue to climb, we’ve partnered with AZ Academy, a free Milan-based fashion course born out of the late Alber Elbaz’s AZ Factory – his brand turned fashion incubator – and overseen by Richemont, Creative Academy and Accademia Costume & Moda (ACM), to democratise access to fashion business education and a roster of esteemed industry figures.
For many emerging designers, merchandising plays second fiddle to the creative process. Why devote time to the granular details when the aesthetic, branding and visual identity are still being defined? It’s an understandable position but, realistically, kicking merchandising down the line is like mortgaging the future to pay for the present. Once a brand starts operating in the real world, and people start to take notice of it, a lack of merchandising strategy quickly becomes a problem.
At its core, merchandising is about what to produce, how much, at what price and for whom. On one side there is the designer’s vision, the other there is data. Sometimes they are in alignment, other times not. But whenever one or the other is ignored, the result is usually overproduction, slow-moving stock and at times, immense financial pressure.
AZ Academy guest lecturer Paolo Chiesa has spent his career working precisely in that tension. Having held senior roles across major fashion groups including OTB Group [including brands like Diesel, Maison Margiela and Marni] and working on the development and repositioning of brands such as Jil Sander, his expertise lies in building systems that allow design to function in the market. From due diligence and acquisitions to retail strategy and collection planning, his work has focused on translating vision into viable business.
Through his involvement with AZ Academy, Paolo works closely with early-stage designers, many of whom are navigating the realities of building a brand for the first time. It is here that the same pattern often emerges: a strong creative identity paired with a limited understanding of how that vision translates into product, pricing and sell-through.
“Designers don’t underestimate merchandising intentionally,” Paolo says. “They simply haven’t yet experienced the consequences of not thinking about it.” His advice to designers wanting to set up their own brands is not about replacing instinct with spreadsheets, but instead making sensible decisions that will help their brands grow. He encourages designers to think about their customer from the outset, to define a clear point of view and, crucially, to start small. In a market that is increasingly saturated, clarity and consistency matter more than scale. “It’s better to be very precise and grow from there,” he says, “than to try to do everything at once and lose control.”
“Merchandising is there to support and strengthen that vision, not compete with it. Once that is understood, the conversation changes. It becomes less about control and more about collaboration.”
Can you briefly walk me through your role and how you came to specialise in merchandising?
My last major experience was with the OTB Group, working with Renzo Rosso. I was involved in the takeover of brands, leading the commercial and merchandising side. We worked on due diligence, acquiring the company and then managing the transition. I spent several years there, working closely with different teams on both the commercial and merchandising strategy. One of the key projects was Jil Sander, which we acquired during Covid. I worked on the due diligence process and then stayed on to manage the commercial, merchandising and retail side for about five years – up until last year.
My path into merchandising really came from necessity. After graduating from Bocconi University, I started out in a more commercial role. At that time, companies were transitioning from being very design-led, coming out of the late ‘90s, into building their own retail and direct-to-consumer businesses. There was suddenly a need to properly plan collections, margins and buying.
So merchandising became about structuring the product, creating something that could be designed, produced and sold efficiently. That is really how it started. I happened to be in the right place at the right time and over time I helped build and structure these processes across different companies.
When you work with early-stage designers at AZ, do they tend to underestimate merchandising?
From what I see, young designers are very curious. They want to understand how merchandising can help them. But there is also a sense of duality. They often see merchandising versus the creative studio, almost as if the two are in competition. At an early stage, designers are very focused on their creative ideas, which is natural. Their work often comes from a very pure, specific vision. So sometimes there is a bit of suspicion: are you here to tell me what to do, or are you competing with my creativity?
But in reality, merchandising is there to support and strengthen that vision, not compete with it. Once that is understood, the conversation changes. It becomes less about control and more about collaboration – someone sitting next to you, helping you identify the strengths of your work and bring them to life in the best possible way.
In these smaller environments, where everyone is a founder and everything feels very personal, it can be emotional. But ultimately, merchandising becomes a kind of sparring partner. It gives you a different perspective on your work, helping you understand what is strong, what can be improved and how to make it viable in the real world.
“Some students initially want to do everything – multiple categories, big collections – but it’s more effective to start with one clear idea, one category or one point of view.”
How do you structure your teaching?
It is more conversational. I usually come in as a guest, sometimes as part of a jury, so it is less about formal structure and more about sharing experiences. We talk about the industry, what the role looks like in practice and then open it up to questions. The course itself follows more of an academic model, providing a framework through presentations, materials and books. But my contribution is about showing how things actually work. I bring real examples: how you build a merchandising plan, how you follow it and how you price a collection. The most valuable part is not the theory but seeing how decisions are made in real situations. Students can ask questions, bring their own ideas and understand how those scenarios might play out depending on the size or structure of a company. It becomes a very open dialogue.
What are the most common mistakes you see young designers make, and what do they find most helpful?
The market is extremely complex and more than ever today. Of course, they need a vision. The brand needs a unique point of view – something that can’t be easily copied, something that has real value and can last over time. It’s important that what they create stands out and has meaning in the long term.
We also encourage them not to try to do everything at once. Instead of launching large, broad collections immediately, it’s better to start with something focused. Resources are limited, probably more than ever right now, so it’s important to establish a strong identity first. Some students initially want to do everything – multiple categories, big collections – but it’s more effective to start with one clear idea, one category or one point of view. Then, once that’s strong, it can grow naturally into other areas.
The key is having a point of view that people remember. The market is incredibly saturated – there’s everything, at every price point – so to exist and to last, you need to be distinctive. That’s really the starting point we try to reinforce. From there, growth can happen organically. If something works, it will expand naturally. If it takes more time, that’s fine too. The important thing is to own your idea completely before moving on to the next step.
Something a lot of young designers worry about is how to deal with slow-moving stock, especially without damaging their brand.
It’s really important that they avoid building up stock, especially in the early stages. Stock is very capital-intensive, and it can easily hold back a young business. We encourage them to focus first on building a relationship with their audience. It’s about identifying the uniqueness of what they’re creating, finding a clear point of view, and carving out a space for themselves. From there, they need to find their customer. That can start online, but it can also come through early supporters – what we might call “friends of the house” – people who help amplify the brand in the beginning.
The idea is to produce only when you have a sense that the product is already, at least partially, sold. You shouldn’t produce large quantities just to place them in stores and hope they sell. Instead, you create demand first, and then produce in response to that demand. It’s important not to rush, because overstocking can really hurt you. If you do end up with excess stock, there are ways to handle it creatively. As a young designer, you can transform it. Perhaps through a sustainability angle, reworking pieces into something new. It depends on the DNA of the brand, but there are always ways to rethink it.
At the same time, we encourage them to really understand their audience. You can’t appeal to everyone. It’s important to identify a core group of supporters, whether that’s early customers, retailers, or even celebrities, who can help build visibility. Then you produce in a focused way, directly responding to your audience. This usually means starting small. In the long run, that approach is much more grounded and sustainable. It’s better to miss a few opportunities than to scale too quickly and face constant problems. Scarcity can actually work in your favour. If people want something and can’t easily get it, it increases its appeal. But if you’re overstocked with something no one wants, you lose that desirability and risk damaging the brand before it’s even established.
“Scarcity can actually work in your favour. If people want something and can’t easily get it, it increases its appeal. But if you’re overstocked with something no one wants, you lose that desirability and risk damaging the brand before it’s even established.”
Having worked with large brands that rely heavily on data, how should early-stage designers approach decision-making when they don’t have access to that same level of information?
It really comes down to understanding where you want to position yourself, especially in terms of price point and target customer. Even without large datasets, there are many tools available now that allow you to track the market. Larger companies might use more sophisticated systems, but even smaller brands can do basic research online and observe competitors directly.
You can analyse price points within your category, compare yourself to brands you see as competitors, and start to define where you want to sit in that landscape. Today, that kind of information is much more accessible than it used to be. From there, it becomes a matter of decision-making. Your pricing is influenced by two main things: your sourcing and your positioning. If your production costs are high, your price point will naturally need to be higher. If your sourcing is more accessible, you have more flexibility in where you position yourself. At the same time, the uniqueness of your product plays a role. If what you’re offering is truly distinctive, customers may be willing to pay more for it. It’s a continuous process – constantly observing the market, understanding your costs and refining your position.
Remember that fashion can be artistic, of course, but it also needs a customer. The real success comes when someone chooses to wear your product and bring it into their everyday life. That’s something people who have only ever worked within big brands don’t always fully understand, especially if they’ve never tried to build something of their own. When you’re working on your own project that connection with reality is essential. It’s what allows you to stay in the market and, ultimately, to succeed. If you don’t have that, then your brand risks becoming just a conversation piece – something editors talk about for a moment, but which is quickly replaced by the next new thing. And then, suddenly, you’re no longer relevant.
What do you think separates brands that scale sustainably from those that struggle or stall?
Having a consistent vision, both in terms of design and in terms of your consumer. At the end of the day, you’re not just creating something abstract; you’re creating a product for someone to wear in real life. That’s something you can’t lose sight of. In the past, especially in the ’90s, there were brands that built strong creative identities but didn’t necessarily deliver commercially, and they were often sustained or acquired by larger groups. Today, the market is very different and much more complex. Even as a designer, you need to think about your customer.
That doesn’t mean you need a huge audience, it can be a very niche one, but you need to have someone in mind. You need to be willing to engage in a conversation with that customer. That’s what ultimately drives success. There has to be a reason for your brand to exist for that consumer. Without that, it’s very difficult to build something sustainable. Right now, it’s not really the time for brands that exist purely on image or external support. That’s really what we try to communicate. There is a dream, of course, but it also has to exist in real life. It’s about balancing those two things.
