![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.euruni.edu\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/Philippe-Bach-1024x800.jpg\")
<\/p>\nFor legions of young fashionistas, Paris and its haute couture are a modern-day mecca, the glittering lights of the Eiffel Tower drawing them like moths to the flame. Models, designers and publicists flock from all over the world to the catwalks of the French capital in search of fame, fortune and fabulous fashion adventures.<\/p>\n
Yet one industry executive has travelled in the opposite direction to make his name, moving away from Paris to forge his career. Philippe Bach has turned fashion convention on its head through Smash, the hugely popular womenswear house in Barcelona, and EU Business School has played a crucial role in the story.<\/p>\n
Philippe fell in love with Barcelona while studying at EU\u2019s campus in the Catalan capital in the late 1980s. Corsican by birth, he found Barcelona\u2019s relaxed Mediterranean vibe more to his liking than Paris and soon realized it was where he wanted to set up home.<\/p>\n
He takes up the story: \u201cI grew up in Paris and I studied at EU in Versailles. I decided to move down to the Barcelona campus after a friend made the same move.<\/p>\n
\u201cAt EU I met so many people. International people, entrepreneurs. Most of my friends from EU are living abroad, some in the U.S., some in Europe, but I\u2019ve kept some very good friends. That environment was very stimulating.\u201d<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Philippe has stayed in Barcelona ever since and has now clocked up more than 30 years in the city. But his career trajectory hasn\u2019t been so straightforward.<\/p>\n
After 11 years with W.L. Gore & Associates, the materials science business which makes Gore-tex fabric, he veered into the travel industry with Viajes Iberia, before returning to the apparel world by taking senior roles first at VF Corporation \u2013 the company behind brands such as Wrangler, Timberland and Vanity Fair \u2013 and then at curtain manufacturer Bandalux.<\/p>\n
In 2010, he returned to the fashion industry as general manager of Smash, a womenswear company which had been born in Holland but moved to Barcelona six years earlier. The business has enjoyed a period of sustained growth under his leadership; Smash now has a foothold in more than 40 countries, with several concessions including Spanish giant El Corte Ingl\u00e9s.<\/p>\n
Philippe says that, \u201cwhen I arrived it was what we call a pronto business, which means that you buy the product and sell rapidly, with very little design.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe turned it into a pre-selling business, which means you design the product, you sell it and you manufacture it. You have a lot more influence on the brand.<\/p>\n
\u201cWholesale and online are key focuses of the business. We are selling 30% of our business in Spain and 70% abroad, which shows the influence of these channels. The market is changing very fast between offline and online, so we are very reactive.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe are developing partnerships focusing on marketplaces, like Amazon and the bespoke Corte Ingl\u00e9s marketplaces. We try to be strong there and in the department stores, and in our wholesale business.\u201d<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.euruni.edu\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/Philippe-Bach2-1024x685.jpg\")
Smash’s Barcelona office, with the backdrop of the Mediterranean<\/p><\/div>\n
While the streetwear styles of Amsterdam continue to inform the brand\u2019s outlook, Philippe says \u201cthe Barcelona flair – the sun, the sea, the Mediterranean – has made Smash what it is today.\u201d<\/p>\n
The pull of Barcelona has also been a crucial factor in recruiting top talent. \u201cWe are about 80 people,\u201d Philippe says, \u201cand most of the people are coming from abroad. They have all decided to live in Barcelona and the lifestyle is a big factor. There is no better place to live.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe are right in front of the sea, close to the railway station, so there is no better spot. The beach is great, we have spectacular views.\u201d<\/p>\n
The company\u2019s slogan is Happy Barcelona Style, and Philippe says that \u201cthis is our baseline. The slogan sums us up.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s happy because the company has a lot to do with the company where I started, Gore, where there is no hierarchy and a very human environment. This is something I have been using my whole career and something I\u2019m using at Smash.<\/p>\n
“It\u2019s a very cool company to work for. It\u2019s Barcelona because we all chose to live here. It\u2019s style because we love fashion.\u201d<\/p>\n
Asked what advice he would give today\u2019s batch of EU students, Philippe says \u201cto remain open, to stay flexible, to be ready for change. Not to take anything for granted. To be eager to learn new things.\u201d<\/p>\n
It\u2019s advice that Philippe has followed closely throughout his career, and which looks likely to shape the next stage of his remarkable fashion odyssey.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
For legions of young fashionistas, Paris and its haute couture are a modern-day mecca, the glittering lights of the Eiffel Tower drawing them like moths to the flame. Models, designers and publicists flock from all over the world to the catwalks of the French capital in search of fame, fortune and fabulous fashion adventures. Yet one industry executive has travelled in the opposite direction to make his name, moving away from Paris to forge his career. Philippe Bach has turned fashion convention on its head through Smash, the hugely popular womenswear house in Barcelona, and EU Business School has played […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":34624,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"content-type":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[636,1773],"tags":[1693,620,837,1014,1105,1436,1692,1691],"class_list":["post-24821","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-alumni","category-eu-business-school-community","tag-badalona","tag-eu-barcelona","tag-eu-business-school","tag-fashion","tag-fashion-industry","tag-paris","tag-philippe-bach","tag-smash","post--single"],"yoast_head":"\r\n