Pisces - The Imaginative

Updated: Apr 5

Zodiac Tales

Episode 3.

New month, new “Zodiac Tales” episode! Today we are discovering the intuitive universe of “Pisces”!

In order to give a deeper dimension to our new collection of silk bandanas based on the theme of the twelve astrological signs, we welcome, each month, a new ambassador of the current sign. We choose inspiring and varied personalities whom we invite to join us to share their journey, their experience, as well as the bond they develop with their own astrological sign.

Touching and authentic encounters that each time promise a magical moment.

Our third guest in this series is Christophe Cormanne. Currently Fashion and Couture Director at Dior Belgium,

he tells us about his evolution in the world of luxury, his resilience, his determination and the creativity, specific to Pisces, that he develops every day to reinvent himself!

Below is the interview transcript, enjoy!

Listen to the interview

Welcome Christophe.

We are delighted to have you here with us at the store, as part of this ambassador campaign for our astrology bandanas.

In this case, representing Pisces, which you are wearing.

To begin, could you tell us a little more about yourself and what you do for a living?

I am a retailer.

So I am in charge of commercial points of sale.

I started my career at Chanel more than twenty years ago. Then I had the opportunity to grow at Zara for a year. I took charge of Armani for six years. Then, I worked at Pierre Marcolini for two years. I created a new retail department in the Benelux for Longchamp for three years and for five years, I have managed Dior for Fashion and Couture in Belgium.

J'aime beaucoup accompagner des entreprises pour du coaching et j'ai la chance d'être lecturer conférencier à l'IHECS pour le certificat de Marketing et Communication de Luxe depuis 2015. Donc, j'ai beaucoup de rencontres, beaucoup d'échanges et de partages de passions.

I really like supporting companies by coaching them and I've had the chance of being a lecturer at IHECS for the Luxury Marketing and Communication certificate since 2015. So, I have a lot of meetings, a lot of exchanges and sharing of passions.

Like we say in English "booked and busy"... (laughter)

How would you describe your personality in three words?

Obviously I am an entrepreneur.

This is the very key to my professional activity. I am a very creative person, so I am not afraid to differentiate myself from the competition with a completely different and daring approach.

I am a very emotional person. So the sign, I believe, reveals it strongly. I am very sensitive to human contact, to sharing and to experience, and I am passionate I think.. (laughter)

Pour en revenir à l'astrologie, finalement, qu'est ce que c'est l'astrologie pour toi ?

Astrology, for me, is not a way to know what will happen to me.

It's more of a tool that will allow me to understand what routes are available to me, to realize myself and accomplish path in life.

So, it's a bit of a way to anticipate the future by giving me different options -

and it's up to me to choose the option that suits best,

and to ultimately prepare myself to carry it out.

Do you know a lot about your own sing?

I had the chance to meet Patricia Millis as part of a workshop we did for the House of Dior. It was last March. In the collection that we presented, there was a tribute paid to Catherine de Medici, who was herself very superstitious. And Christian Dior himself was also very superstitious. So astrology has always been present in the creativity of Maison Dior and I found it interesting to do a workshop with my clients.

I invited Patricia Millis to the private salon of Maison Dior to individually receive our clients who wanted to do a workshop. And I was lucky that a client canceled. So I was able to do the workshop myself and I was extremely disturbed by Patricia's reading about the last months that I had just experienced, and about my personality which she had very quickly identified.

I have built a bond of great trust with her, because we have already seen each other three times this year and I find the exercise quite fascinating.

Was astrology, before this initial workshop, something

less important for you or more abstract?

I was very rational, so I was convinced that I was in control of everything that happened to me. And now I think I need to be sensitive to everything around me. And so, Patricia really gives me reading keys that I wouldn't have thought of, she allows me to focus more on myself too.

I found it very interesting and I shared this experience outside of Dior with friends, and the feedback was quite unanimous in fact that the experience really allows you to have a different reading of your future and to anticipate it quite calmly.

Pisces are known to be great empaths.

First of all, would you agree? (laughter)

Completely !

It's sharing the other's emotion. It is a form of generosity. Obviously empathy is a form of sensitivity which also makes the world fairer, I find. And it's certainly one of my great qualities for doing the job I do today: it's totally necessary. You have to love others.

In relation to the job - or in any case to the position you currently have at Dior - does this empathy play a role in the management of a team, or even in the bond that you create and nourish with customers?

Both with the team and with customers, it is a relationship of trust and therefore this empathy allows us to demonstrate sincerity, authenticity and that we are really concerned about their expectations.

For a team, these are the development wishes. For customers, it really is tailor-made support. So yes, it's super important. If you are not empathetic I think you should not work in retail.

Do you feel that you have to be careful with your empathy at times if it becomes too great?

Yes, because you need to be able to effectively protect yourself and set limits in certain forms of relationships. And so, yes, you have to know how to distance yourself at times.

How can someone renew themselves in the luxury world?

In the couture House, we have a heritage that is simply extraordinary. Christian Dior created the house in 1947. He died in 1957, quite young, at 54 years old. And in ten years, he gave us all the codes on which we are still working today. So on a creative level, we need to be able to renew these codes and bring them to life.

And for us, on a retail level, we must have these three qualities: agility, creativity and audacity.

The audacity to stand out from the competition and be able to offer activities and experiences that are different. Agility to truly be able to adapt to an environment that is constantly changing and evolving. And creativity, to be able to give colour to your business and to be able to have fun taking bets, while leaving a legacy.

It’s the need to leave a trace somehow. Creativity for me is telling myself that I have been at Dior for five years, but there will be something left of me the day I leave and I will have allowed my team to grow so much on skills, and my clients to experience moments that they will never forget and which will ensure that the bond will remain.

Pisces are also known to be “born creatives”.

Does this creativity also allow the eternal renewal that you demonstrate, particularly at Dior but also in your other projects?

Yes, it’s avoiding getting into a form of routine which would be a real cancer in my job. Because if we get into a routine, we no longer want to be challenged. And my hypersensitivity means that I am an ion sensor. In fact, everything interests me, everything brings me emotion and I always want to do something with it. And since creativity allows you to connect with many things, it is inexhaustible curiosity. That's what's exciting, is that there are always subjects on which we want to

bounce back and open new doors.

Do you also integrate these qualities and skills

that you put into your work into your personal life?

Completely yes.

It’s passion above all. It's the desire to connect, to share this emotion.

I believe this is the meaning of life.

What are you more proud of?

My friendships, the bonds I have built, the people I have met and the relationships that grew between us. I am not from Brussels and therefore I have no family here but I have found my chosen family over the last twenty years which is extremely precious to me. And, of that, I am extremely proud.

Is there anything you'd like to add, an anecdote or a quote of some sort?

I'm going to talk about something personal to me, but these last three months have been very hard. I have been very ill. I had an eye infection and then sepsis. So my vital prognosis was compromised and I want to say that today life is very precious for me and that we must fight because life is beautiful and we must not give up. You really have to have this resilience and believe in life because it offers you incredible opportunities.

During these three months of illness, I realized that I had extraordinary friends. I felt very supported and I have even more curiosity, more desires. Don't give up: life is beautiful and it is precious.

We really have to seize all these opportunities.

Could you tell us what you're working on right now and where people can find you?

Yes, on Instagram, I am quite active. My name is Christophe Cormanne so I'm easy to find. There are two profiles, a Dior profile and a private profile.

As I explained with what I have just experienced in recent months, I'm moving forward day by day, and I find it very pleasant because it is another approach.

Of course, in the challenging environment of LVMH, I will very quickly have to redo long-term action plans. But this day-to-day schedule really allows me to reconnect with myself, spend time with the people I love, and actually find balance. Which I certainly didn't have before.

Thank you for the trust you put in us!

With pleasure.

It's a privilege for me!

It's an honor.

The same for us, it’s really great.

We can applaud each other!

In addition, receiving you in this more vulnerable period is extremely touching.

But I feel confortable, you are kind to me and I am very proud of your work,

so I really want to support you.

I am proud to have been able to participate and can't wait to celebrate my birthday with your scarf: I will be in Marrakech!

How amazing!

The colours will be beautiful, what a good idea to celebrate in Marrakech!