On April 9th, Bocconi Students for Fashion and the Luxury and Arts Club SDA Bocconi had the pleasure of hosting Mr. Giuliano Calza and Mr. Giordano Calza of GCDS for the event, “The New Wave of Entrepreneurs”. At GCDS, which stands for ‘God Can’t Destroy Streetwear,’ Mr. Giuliano is the Creative Director and Mr. Giordano is the CEO, and both brothers are alumni of Bocconi University. The event was moderated by Professor Emanuela Prandelli, who holds the distinguished position of LVMH Associate Professor in Fashion and Luxury Management.
Giordano and Giuliano Calza, Courtesy of Forbes
The brothers founded GCDS in Italy in 2015, after they spent a couple of years living in China. Since then, GCDS has presented their collections at New York and Milan Fashion Weeks, placed their products in 300 retailers around the world, and attained revenues of €22 million per year. The brothers have even been featured on the cover of Forbes Magazine as part of 30 Under 30. The Calza duo is exceptionally complementary, with Mr. Giuliano as the creative mind and Mr. Giordano as the business mind, a fact which helps them to not only balance but also bounce ideas off one another.
During the event, Mr. Giuliano talked about how his past helped shape GCDS. He mentioned that in his 20s, he took practically every job he could find, and that all of these experiences eventually helped him create and run GCDS. In the early days of the company, the brothers were each handling diverse responsibilities, ranging from PR to production to finances. Mr. Giuliano stressed that amid all of this, it was essential for him to take a proactive role in designing his future rather than sitting back and expecting it to hopefully work out. Above all, GCDS is a key example of a fashion company that has achieved incredible success through digital entrepreneurship, as Mr. Giuliano recounted the story of their products immediately selling out as soon as Chiara Ferragni sported them.
GCDS is a very personal project for the brothers, one that they are not willing to compromise for anything that goes against their dreams and interests. Mr. Giordano said, “I want to be free to do and to act”, and Mr. Giuliano supported this feeling by explaining, “If you never risk it, you never make it.” In fact, it is this attitude that has helped them come as far as they have. During the S/S 2019 show in Milan, GCDS debuted triple-breasted models on the catwalk. This drew a huge media frenzy, and news outlets such as the New York Times contacted GCDS to enquire about the concept.
The design process at GCDS is comprised of brainstorming with a team of 20 people, among whom the average age is 25. Each collection is an amalgamation of the individual inspirations within the team, and the Calza brothers emphasize the importance of having employees who do better. When asked about the future of GCDS, it was noted that the goal was to become more international (while retaining Italian craftsmanship), branch into make-up products, and most importantly, as entrepreneurs, stay true to their vision of GCDS.
by Yongjia Cheng
