Before she became the CEO of Rinascimento and the President of the Gigi Tadei Foundation, Emma Tadei was a daughter, an apprentice and then a guide. She has experienced fashion and the business since childhood through her father Vittorio Tadei, founder of the Teddy Group, of which Rinascimento is a part. Vittorio taught her first and foremost to always ask questions. He also taught her courage and the value of the truth, even when it feels uncomfortable. In short, Emma learnt from her upbringing that to be an entrepreneur and a leader, one must first be human. ‘Behind this woman is a person, an entrepreneur who loves challenges and risks. I had a clear idea of which path to pursue, with passion and without fear of failing’.

Rinascimento, the legacy of a great history 

To tell the story of Rinascimento we must talk about the meaning of a relationship. The one between Emma and her father Vittorio, but also the one with a great and, at times, difficult legacy. Growing up with an entrepreneur and visionary father who started one of the most on-trend fashion groups in Italy was ‘not easy on the one hand, but extremely fascinating on the other’ says Emma. ‘He was a very tough and demanding father with his children’, and even when it came to paying them a compliment for a good grade at school.

When Emma was little, Vittorio worked a lot and was often busy, nonetheless, he was close to all his children. Emma could only guess that ‘something big’ was at stake – complex to imagine, but great. When she became an adolescent, Emma’s world and that of her father finally merged, and they found each other. 

‘Our worlds began to get closer and I started to build a relationship with him. This is when I realised that my father was in love with his work and didn’t work for the sake of making money. Profit was certainly an important aspect of the business, but it wasn’t the goal. He really worked to build something beautiful and useful for his family, his employees and the area’.

Emma and her sisters grew up in the factory, playing among pallets of fabrics and spools of wool. ‘I grew up there. I was there from the very beginning and I watched it grow. I didn’t inherit it as a transfer of shares, but by being fully immersed in it. Vittorio really taught me how to think, how to ask questions about things and the ins and outs of the business. He was also a great master of confrontation. He always had so much enthusiasm. Problems almost enticed him and he saw them as a sort of adventure’.

The strategy of responsibility, Vittorio's legacy

Through the relationship with her father, Emma learnt that ‘rather than strategising, I should focus on a sense of responsibility for the things and people entrusted to me.
He taught me the courage to face difficult situations fearlessly while cherishing the truth. We each must have the courage to pursue the truth, even when it’s uncomfortable’.

At this point, we must ask what was the goal all along? Vittorio first, and Emma today, had no doubt: ‘To build something big, something useful, something beautiful, not only for me and my family, but also for others. Growing a business also means creating employment, benefiting people who need to work. The goal is to build something significant for them and for me. If the company grows and makes profits, at the end of the year it can invest in strategic projects and also reward its employees, thus improving their living conditions. The company is one and all when there is a constant synergy between the entrepreneur and the employees, moving together towards the same shared ideal’.

The key word for Emma is: together. ‘If you see that a colleague is struggling, it’s because they have a problem. You can help them, you can compensate for their limitations, you can take charge in their moment of need. For the common good and for the good of the company’.
Rinascimento is a brand built on important values that endure over time, but also on enthusiasm, passion and intuition. ‘I got a lot of satisfaction from encouraging my colleagues. We were all young, we went to London, we went to Paris. By then we had understood what could make our customers happy and it was nice to work together. I found it very satisfying, it made me fall in love with it all. In the beginning, I worked with people who were twenty years older than me, and put their soul and their life into their work. They held me in high esteem not just because I brought innovative ideas to the table, but also for the respect I demonstrated towards them and their work. The brand’s greatest strength is its iconic products, and the people who work on them’.

Emma has been lucky enough to experience fashion and feel its beating heart. She has lived through its changes and today she’s certain that ‘fashion - along with technology - is the sector that has changed the most in recent years. Let’s say that at this very moment in history there’s no real trend’. 

How has fashion changed over your career? 

In the 80s and 90s, film stars set the trends. Then came the low-cost fast fashion chains with ‘democratic’ fashion. Now, we are moving towards increasingly sustainable fashion. Today, everyone can identify with different styles: one day you wear a jumpsuit and sneakers, the next day a suit and in the evening a sequinned dress 

in gold or silver. Today, fashion is fluid, it is hard to focus on a specific trend. They still exist, but you have to know how to present them and communicate them to customers, to women.

Even today, fashion is an important aspect of our day, it is the way we present ourselves to others’.

The future is renewal

What will the Rinascimento of the future look like? For Emma, the focus must be on the love for Italy and Italian know-how, but above all on young people. ‘Motivating young people, valuing them and retaining talent. Because even though we have a low turnover now, it’s still higher than 10 years ago.’

‘What drove me to innovate in my job?

Definitely a sense of responsibility and a zest for things well-done. The times I really grew was thanks to people I admired. They believed in me and I believed in them’.

In Emma’s words and Vittorio’s vision, Rinascimento stands for responsibility, constant renewal, essential values and looking towards a future made of people. It’s a great story that has always been written together with each of you.