2023-11-02 14:54:46
Roberto Verino He inherited the vocation of eternal youth from his maternal grandmother and attributes his communion with the land where he was born 78 years ago to “a magnificent professor, more than that, a teacher of life.” “He told us that we had to be very proud of Verín because Viriato is from here,” recalls the designer and “forced businessman.” As the Lusitanian leader who faced the expansion of Rome in Hispania, he is a self-confessed warrior who built one of the most prestigious brands in Spanish fashion in a small town with no textile tradition, stoic in the face of the conquest of fast fashion. Next day the 10th he will collect the Gold Medal of the Circle of Businessmen of Galicia. He has just arrived from Seville after inaugurating the makeover of his store in the city and the exhibition with which he celebrates his more than four decades of career. “We are in a space that they have recovered as a museum of some Roman ruins from 2,000 years ago,” she says. The mixture of his own history with the origin of our culture “is an absolutely magical moment for me,” he admits, “very surprised” by all the people who accompanied him.
The surprising thing is that he continues to be surprised by people’s response. Do you still fear failure?
It’s not that I fear it, but people don’t move easily, especially if it’s pouring in a city where it’s not common.
But you are Roberto Verino.
People are used to dealing with a lot of important people and I’m not so much. I am a passionate worker about my job who seeks to enjoy every day with it and be happy by making others happy.
And for that “hard worker”, what does the Gold Medal of the Business Circle?
It’s always very flattering. I feel honored and grateful. It so happens that among the previous winners there is an important group of friends from Ourense and it is a pride to share that space. The choice surprises me because deep down I am a businessman by force. Being an entrepreneur is very difficult and very risky. I enjoy being a designer more, but I have no choice but to do my part also thanks to a good team and having my family around me.
I imagine that at the beginning, when he decided to create an industry from his town, there was no other alternative than to be businessman by force, as he says. Did that later allow her to be faithful to what she wanted to do?
Of course. From a very pragmatic point of view, for any businessman or financial manager who seeks to make the business profitable above all else in the shortest possible time and with just the right resources, being born in a rural environment without any textile tradition is difficult. It’s quixotic. It is a great effort that you carry out because you have a dream and the conviction that it is also possible here. When you work with other nationalities you realize that we are not less than anyone. On the contrary. I always defended self-esteem for what is ours and pride in the country. How can we be so incapable of feeling it? For the love of God! Or are we so Cainites that we just make fun of ourselves?
There’s quite a bit of that, isn’t there?
Unfortunately. As a country, the things that unite us are more than those that separate us. If we pursue excellence and row to emerge victorious, we all win.
And how much internal fighting has there been in that duality of trendsetter and businessman in need of profitability?
The key is to be balanced so that the brand image, the ability, as I like to say, to surprise, excite and seduce, does not skyrocket so much as to not make the company profitable. A very complex binomial. But there I am, there we are, that’s where we discuss what is divine and what is human.
What has it done differently to be a very important exception of survival among the firms of the textile emergence of Galicia in the 80’s?
Try to remain the same person, maintain the values and defend, precisely, the origins. Coming to work in Verín was very complicated at that time and many people from the area had to be trained. That effort later became an advantage. They are faithful co-workers who, like me, give whatever it takes to keep everything the best.
Look at all the talk now about relocating production nearby and training. Curious.
We were starting from scratch and the training was transcendental. We had to look for very different collaborations, from the most important sewing machine company in Vigo at that time, Refrey – its own technicians gave us classes to use the machines – to dressmakers and tailors, who were not so frequent either because the jobs were already being diluted. It was almost a miracle.
The recognition from the Círculo de Empresarios expressly mentions his “social” trajectory for this other part of his career.
Which is not why they have given me other awards that, fortunately, I also have. It makes me recognize that it is not an effort that has remained there, lost in the image.
There have been moments so complicated that, rather than throwing in the towel, they demanded that you close. COVID-19 itself dealt us an impressive blow. But I am tenacious and I have the greatest capacity to enjoy my work.” Roberto Verino – Designer and businessman
Did you ever think about throwing in the towel or, as has happened with other firms, selling it to an investor?
There have been moments so complicated that, rather than throwing in the towel, they demanded that you close. the same COVID-19 He gave us an impressive stick. But I am tenacious and I have the greatest capacity to enjoy my work. I want to continue doing it as long as my strength allows me to. I often mention my maternal grandmother who lived to be 98 years old full of health, mentality and the ability to live. If I have her genetics, something must have touched me… [Ríe] Well, I want to continue like her. Since advances can also help me, I say: “Well, I’m going to work until I’m 98, I’ll take a sabbatical and then we’ll see what I do.” I’m sure the same because I think there is nothing that could excite me more.
His grandmother was also in some way the germ of his taste for style. What would you think if you saw the exhibition with which he is celebrating his 40-year career?
She was already proud of where events were going, she even encouraged me a lot. Which seemed to me to be unequivocal proof of her youth. When someone puts effort into something that will have returns in the next 10, 15 or 20 years and she, who was also very intelligent, understood that she was not going to live 120 years, it is because she was very excited and convinced that it was worth it. . Being young is not about having or not having years, but about the feeling of doing things no matter what happens, however long it takes, whatever arises.
“There is a Verino style that transcends time and leaves its mark.” Roberto Verino – Designer and entrepreneur
And you? What came to your mind with what appeared opening drawers to set up the exhibition?
Looking back you realize that there is a common thread, an essence, something that you have been transmitting. Even if it is with very, very soft edges, it is there. There is a Verino style that transcends time and leaves its mark. The dynamic we are in, where time is a luxury, sometimes prevents us from reflecting. Putting everything together, I saw many things that perhaps we had not given the value or merit that they have and now I can say: “Wow!” Like my grandmother, I too will have to go. I hope it’s too late. And yet, Roberto Verino is going to stay there. The brand will still be there and so will many people’s memories of me.
He often talks about the importance of creating “an emotional closet.” Of the durability of garments as the true commitment to sustainability in the moda. Are there many companies that are pretending to be sustainable? It seems that in the industry no one does fast fashion anymore.
There’s a lot…
¿Greenwashing?
Yes, a lot of taking advantage. But hey, that always happened and I’m not going to be more papist than the Pope. The fight to be there and get ahead is human. It’s something you have to live with. And we accept the rules of the game, nothing happens.
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Before he spoke about the pandemic. They have finally recovered previous sales levels. They are now remodeling the flagships. What is the most immediate future for Roberto Verino?
We are launching a new phase with a change of image that attempts to continue defending our original values and seeks to relate to people in a much more emphatic way. The pandemic forced us to understand how important people are and to enjoy ourselves. All the effort will put our consumers in the spotlight and give them the maximum number of solutions, the total interplay between online and physical space, and for our sellers to truly become image consultants. I always insisted a lot on them not to let anyone leave the store with something that really doesn’t fit them because that means bread for today and hunger for tomorrow. A customer happy with the brand is a loyal customer. Thanks to that fidelity, the pandemic was a very serious blow, but not definitive, and today we are in a very promising phase.
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