OXFORDSHIRE, United Kingdom — Gucci chief executive Marco Bizzarri and Farfetch founder José Neves discussed their leadership strategies and how to stay competitive at VOICES, BoF's new annual gathering for big thinkers.

“It’s all about the people you hire. You need to be surrounded by dreamers,” said Neves, in the on-stage conversation with BoF founder and CEO Imran Amed.

Neves explained that Farfetch organises its initiatives into three categories: optimisation, sustaining innovation and disruptive innovation. “I always tell our team that our business model may be fantastic today, growing very fast, but in five years, it will be irrelevant,” added Neves. “Are we playing to win or are we playing not to lose? When a company plays not to lose in the current age, they are going to lose.”

Bizzarri also stressed the importance of strong company values in the face of uncertainty. “You have to make sure that the company is sustainable enough... that the people share the same values of happiness, respect, joy and are quick to respond," he said.

"That, to me, is the big shift that we need to face in the coming years of fashion. Values are more important than strategy today.”

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VOICES is BoF's new annual gathering for big thinkers in partnership with QIC Global Real Estate.