Today, I have the great pleasure of speaking with an entrepreneur whose work intersects fashion, retail, and technology with a unique identity: Alessandro Orsini, CEO and co-founder of Subdued.

Let’s begin with you. What can you tell us about your background and how you approach decision-making?

First of all, thank you for having me. When we talk about decision-making, we’re talking about the core of a company. Decisions create directions. They define what comes next.

Personally, I like to say I come from the streets—I’ve learned through doing, applying my knowledge directly in the field. Over time, I had to self-educate, absorbing many concepts others might have acquired through more traditional academic paths. Through that experience, I’ve developed my own leadership style—one that has brought results, not just because of me, but because of the way I’ve approached things.

Decision-making used to be about the individual—instinct, intuition, and expertise all converging in one person. Today, that’s changed. Technology now plays a central role. The decision-making process is no longer isolated—it’s the product of prior systems, data flows, and shared knowledge.

Let me give an example from the fashion world. Creativity is still the fuel—it drives everything. But the engine is technology. Without it, the vehicle doesn’t move.

We must not overestimate what technology can do. It’s not a silver bullet. But if used correctly, it supports the process. It must be implemented thoughtfully, improved daily by people who understand how to bring incremental change—change that eventually becomes part of the system. Ultimately, even in a tech-driven process, ideas still originate from the human mind.

Let’s talk about process. Many people imagine fashion as pure creativity—but managing a fashion company today means navigating extreme operational complexity. How do you manage such a vast and diverse structure?

There’s no secret formula—it’s about working hard, every day. That’s the truth. But there are also values and principles that help you navigate the complexity.

One of the key ideas for me is reduction. Every day, we are bombarded with information, ideas, suggestions, doubts. The role of leadership is to reduce that complexity—not by oversimplifying, but by identifying the essence of things. When everything feels important, nothing is.

Another important concept is focus. I often use the metaphor of the horse with blinders—not because we shouldn’t be aware of what’s happening around us, but because it’s essential to know where we’re going. If you’re always reacting to external noise, you’ll never create your own path.

The third principle is continuity. We live in a culture obsessed with disruption. But in my experience, value often comes from doing the same thing well, again and again, improving it slowly and consistently.

You need to build a culture of execution. That’s what allows a structure—especially one as diverse and geographically distributed as ours—to function without collapsing. If you don’t build a strong organizational culture, you’ll end up doing everything yourself. And that doesn’t scale.

Let’s talk about intuition. You said earlier that it used to be central to decision-making. In a context increasingly shaped by data, does intuition still play a role?

Absolutely. And I’d say it’s even more crucial now. When data becomes a commodity—something everyone has access to—what makes the difference is how you interpret it. And that’s where intuition comes in.

Intuition is not guessing. It’s pattern recognition built over time. It’s the ability to sense where things are heading before others do. But to sharpen intuition, you have to stay close to reality—you have to observe, listen, get your hands dirty.

One of the most dangerous traps in any growing company is distance. The more you grow, the more layers you create, the further you drift from the core. And when you lose that connection, your intuition weakens. You start making decisions based on abstractions.

So I always try to stay connected—to the stores, to the team, to the product. That’s where you pick up the signals. That’s where you cultivate the kind of intuition that helps you lead.

Let’s talk about identity. Subdued is a brand with a very strong identity—clear, recognizable, consistent. How do you build and maintain such a distinct identity over time?

It’s a balance between coherence and evolution. A brand must evolve, but it must do so without betraying itself.

We’ve always tried to stay true to our DNA: to a vision of femininity, freedom, and a certain freshness that speaks to generations of young women. But that doesn’t mean standing still. It means understanding how that vision can be reinterpreted, year after year, without losing its core.

What helps us is that we’ve always done everything in-house—from product design to communication to retail. That allows us to maintain consistency and speed. When you outsource everything, you lose control, and over time, your identity becomes diluted.

Another thing that helps is listening. Our customer base is young and changes quickly. You need to stay in constant dialogue—not just through market research, but through direct observation: seeing how they behave in stores, how they talk online, how they express themselves. That’s what keeps you relevant.

One last question we always ask at The Node: when you have to make a difficult decision—one where data and logic aren’t enough—what do you rely on?

I rely on a sense of coherence. I try to ask myself: does this decision align with who I am, with what I believe in, with the direction we want to go?

Sometimes that means going against short-term logic. Sometimes it means choosing what feels right, even if it’s not the easiest or most profitable option. But every time I’ve followed that instinct—what you might call inner coherence—it’s paid off in the long run.

So, while I value data and analysis, at the end of the day, the most important metric is this: can I stand by this decision a year from now, five years from now, and still recognize myself in it? If the answer is yes, then I move forward.