Flavio Briatore
Оn the future of Monaco and more
AS PART OF THE NEW MONACO PROJECT, THE WELL-KNOWN ITALIAN BUSINESSMAN FLAVIO BRIATORE, FORMERLY A SUCCESSFUL FORMULA 1 MANAGER, ALSO THE FOUNDER AND JOINT OWNER OF THE BILLIONAIRE FASHION LABEL AND THE TWIGA AND BILLIONAIRE RESTAURANTS AND CLUBS, TALKED TO MONACO TODAY IN AN EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW IN WHICH HE SHARED HIS THOUGHTS ON THE FUTURE OF MONACO AND FORMULA 1, FASHION, CRYPTOCURRENCIES AND MUCH MORE.
FORMULA 1
Formula 1 has undergone some dramatic changes. The drivers have become much younger. In my day, the drivers were primarily strong personalities, like, for example, Ayrton Senna, Riccardo Patrese, Gerhard Berger, Alain Prost. They were genuine stars. Nowadays, if you met a racing driver in a restaurant, you might not even recognise him. The technology has taken centre stage. If you've got a good car, then you're in with a chance, but if not, you can forget about winning. In the past the focus was more on the people, on the team's desire to win. Even a small team like Benetton could win the championship title. Now it's the budget that determines everything. So, at top teams like Mercedes and Ferrari, the budget is astronomical. In fact, now it's really only those two teams competing between themselves, because the others don't stand a chance of matching up to them.
I don't know what lies ahead for Formula 1. It's very hard to say, because the younger generation is no longer in love with the motor car. I can even see that in my own son. When I was young, I couldn't wait to get my driving licence, but nowadays young people are more interested in the new ways of communicating – iPads, smartphones…
For another thing, Formula 1 seems very long-drawn-out to them. Young people today are too impatient – they don't want to spend several hours sitting in front of the television. They like to be able to take part in everything interactively. I suggested a long time ago that the drivers should do two 40-minute laps, with a compulsory 15-minute break in between. But other people are in charge now, and it's no longer my problem.
I don't think that robot drivers will replace people. Where's the interest in that? Real sport has to be about people, personalities, heroes. Take football, for example, which is so popular in Europe and which 90% of young people are keen on. They're not interested in Formula 1, all they need is football. How could we supplant stars like Cristiano Ronaldo? It's not realistic to think we could.
FASHION
Fashion has also changed enormously. Nowadays, we're all buying more and more online. Physical shops are no longer as popular as they once were. It's sad to see so many well-known shops closing down, in New York and London, for example. The cost of renting retail space is falling rapidly. People's approach to shopping has changed. At Billionaire, we're now selling 30% online and 70% through our shops. But in the future, in 5 to 7 years' time, that's expected to be 50/50. In the end, everything will be sold online. It will no longer be necessary to attract people into shops, and that will entirely change the economy. In the past, such significant changeovers happened once a year, but now you have to keep track of the trends virtually every day or even every hour.
The future for fashion is online and that means we won't even be able to feel the material. We're losing the social aspect of shopping. In the past, people used to meet up in shops, devote some time to shopping, have a chat, try on clothes, discuss the designs, and check the quality. Now mostly we only have "visualisations" – pictures. Of course, they are accompanied by descriptions of the material, but reading about it and touching it are very different things.
I always say that the more technology there is, the fewer jobs. We make less and less use of people and their skilful hands. We are losing the important details, the quality and at the same time the very concept of luxury, because luxury means paying attention to the details.
All the Billionaire brand needs is Philipp Plein (he laughs). He has changed a great deal, he was insistent, at times aggressive, but he's a real workaholic, an enthusiast, a grafter, a creative. Philipp is more than just bling, he has created a genuine empire.
MONACO
For me, Monaco is an island of happiness, if you like. Living here is very comfortable and safe. It's a unique place. The Monte-Carlo brand is one of the most successful brands ever, famous all over the world. With all the changes that are going on in Europe, with Brexit, I hope that Monaco will remain
just as it is now. Perhaps there will be more people, but I always think, the more people the better – they are all potential customers. Living in Monaco is a privilege that must remain exclusive.
They should build a skyscraper in Monaco with 800-900 apartments, like the Burj Khalifa in Dubai, which would become a symbol of the Principality. Where Jimmy'z is now would be the perfect place (he laughs).
FLYING CARS
That would be a fantastic idea. If all the traffic went up in the air, we'd be able to walk about in the streets in peace again. Although I don't think the traffic in Monaco is that bad, just for a few weeks in August. Nothing's impossible, so I think we could soon see flying Uber taxis.
SPACE TOURISM
I prefer to stay on terra firma, I'm an astrophobe. I don't want to go to Mars, I want to go to Saint-Tropez, it's closer. And I would rather have my son close to me, for example at Twiga, not on the Moon. But you never can tell in advance.
CRYOGENIC FREEZING
W e need to be very careful about this. Medicine nowadays has advanced enormously, we benefit from excellent diagnosis and treatment, and we're living longer. When I was a teenager, a 40-year-old was seen as an old man, who didn't have long left. But nowadays we are still young at 70. It's just a question of how well we look after ourselves. My friend Silvio Berlusconi plans to live until he's 120. If I last until 90, I'll be very happy. My son is 9 now, and I hope to survive until he's about 24 or 25. To do that, I need to keep fit. But I don't want to lie in a fridge somewhere, I'd rather fly to Mars. I want to live here and now.
CLONING
I f you were to clone all the beautiful blondes with blue eyes, that wouldn't be a bad thing at all (he laughs). But there's no need to clone me personally. I'll do everything that needs doing myself.
O f course, Instagram divides people, just like all the other social media. For example, a few days ago I was in one of my restaurants in London with my colleague Francesco and, while he was sitting opposite me, he sent me a message on Instagram. We were right next to each other but conducting a conversation on social media.
What I really want for the future is for people to be more connected. New technologies, in my opinion, drive people apart, make them lonely. When I was 14, 15, 16 years old, I remember, I used to go to a bar with my friends, we would play cards, talk. Now people in bars sit with their laptops and it's hard to find anyone who would want to talk to other people. They all live largely on social media. And that's not really living.
One of the main problems with social media is that you don't have to identify yourself. You don't have to show your face. You can set up a dodgy account, put a picture of your dog on it and sound off about anything in the world. People are embittered, envious and disgruntled and they lash out at other people, on social media in particular. It leads to a serious breakdown of society.
I do have an Instagram account, but I'm sure it's not healthy.
CRYPTOCURRENCIES
Cryptocurrencies are a joke. It's possible that in 20 years' time people will be using stones instead of money, I don't know. I don't believe in digital currency. I prefer the idea of cloning money.
INVESTMENTS
Iprefer to invest in my own business, because I understand very well what I'm doing and how it works. Or else in new technologies, startups being proposed by young people, because they have an entirely new, fresh approach and I find that really interesting.
When I go to the bank and the banker starts to advise me on where to invest my money, I say to him: "How much do you earn in a month? 3,000 euros? If you're so clever, why don't you invest yourself? Why are you telling me what I should do with my money? If you know all about it better than me, why are you still working here?"
I control my own money, then if I lose it, I have only myself to blame.