As recession looms and retailers pull back, finding the balance between creativity and commerciality, growth and caution is existential for young brands.

Virtual fashion brand RTFKT rocketed from launch to Nike acquisition in less than two years. The man on the joystick isn’t a Silicon Valley geek but a French provocateur with a radical business vision and a warning for the fashion industry: ‘A lot of brands are going to die.’

The Bettencourt-Meyers family office is taking a minority stake in the Paris-based fashion label, whose sales have skyrocketed in recent years.

In a 2019 conversation with BoF’s Imran Amed, the tennis champion, who announced her retirement this week, reveals how the mental toughness she has built on the court prepared her for life as an entrepreneur.