Dior’s Floral Ads, Brooklyn Beckham in Milan, Pharrell’s Collaboration – WWD

FLOWER MEN: Following the lush garden backdrop for its spring campaign last year, Dior stuck with a floral theme for its spring 2024 ads — only this time, in the form of washes of delicate color rather than actual blooms.  

Kim Jones, artistic director of menswear at Dior, celebrated five years at the French house with a “pop-up” presentation that saw models emerging from the floor of the metallic gray set. The designer said he got the idea from founder Christian Dior’s garden, with models — some wearing neon-colored beanie hats — standing in for flowers.

That inspired photographer Rafael Pavarotti, who showcased the campaign stars on pedestals against blue, green, yellow, orange and pink color gradients.

Models Emile Danckaert, Awwal Adeoti, Younghoon Jeon, Viktor Krohm and Dara Gueye wear outfits that pay tribute to the brand’s storied cast of creative directors ranging from Yves Saint Laurent to Marc Bohan and Gianfranco Ferré, in a celebration of house codes focused on tweed.

Meanwhile, Dior’s signature cannage pattern appears on everything from cropped sweaters, paired with herringbone cardigans, to cognac-colored satchels.

Jones said despite the quiet luxury trend, some consumers hanker for strong brand signifiers. “You just have to go down the street in America or China or somewhere and you see how people dress, so it depends where you are,” he said.

The campaign was art-directed by Ronnie Cooke Newhouse and styled by Melanie Ward. Peter Philips did the makeup and Benjamin Muller the hair. — JOELLE DIDERICH

BROOKLYN IN MILAN: Stuart Weitzman unveiled its first men’s shoes collection in Milan, a product extension that responds to demands from all of the brand’s geographical markets, said Jonathan Lelonek, senior vice president of global wholesale. 

Marking the launch, friend of the house Brooklyn Beckham touted the craftsmanship of the shoes. His favorites? “The chunky loafers from the Club line — they are comfortable, lightweight and go perfect with any outfit,” he said, pointing to his own suit pants, T-shirt and bomber jacket.

He said his wife, Nicola Peltz, helped him choose the ones he was wearing at the presentation and she was not far from his thoughts as he held a cap with “Lola” written on it, supporting her latest venture, the film of the same name she directed and acted in.

Beckham said he’d always been “a big fan” of Stuart Weitzman, and that “hopefully we’ll build a really long collaboration.”

The collection includes three main lines: the Club, comprising sleek loafers and oxfords in supple leather and suede; Premiere, for special occasions, including velvet and precious embellishments, and Resort, laid-back moccasins and slides, in soft suede or durable tumbled leather.

Designs will retail at around $595 and the collection will be available at the brand’s online store and at retailers including Saks, Neiman Marcus, Bergdorf Goodman and Nordstrom beginning in February. — LUISA ZARGANI

NOW YOU SEE IT: Just days before parading his third men’s collection for Louis Vuitton, Pharrell Williams teased a collaboration between the French luxury brand and Timberland.

The musician, identifiable by his jewelry including a gold Human Made bangle, is seen in a short video lifting the leg of his jeans to reveal a loosely laced yellow Timberland boot. A Louis Vuitton logo appears on the tongue of the shoe, which he folds to reveal the brand’s signature monogram printed on the inside.

The short video was posted on the Instagram account Skateboard, the unofficial account run by the musician’s team which posts behind-the-scenes content from inside the Vuitton menswear studio. 

In another video, Williams can be seen wearing the boots with flared jeans, a yellow Kenzo sweatshirt and a white cowboy hat as he watches a quadruped Spot robot built by U.S. firm Boston Dynamics walking around the Vuitton studio during preparations for the show, scheduled for Tuesday.

Ahead of his debut last June, Williams posed on Instagram in outfits from the collection, prompting Vuitton chairman and chief executive officer Pietro Beccari to gently chide his new recruit.

“Pharrell is unveiling the collection piece by piece, because it is already 20 days that he wears [items from] the show,” Beccari said in the interview last June, noting that Williams is approaching the assignment from the perspective of a prolific luxury shopper. “He’s impatient and I said, ‘He’s the client, right? So that’s it.’”

That means that industry observers will be closely scrutinizing the music star’s appearances in the run-up to his shows. A collaboration with Timberland appears a logical move, given the brand’s close association with the hip-hop community. 

The workwear boot was popularized by musicians including Wu-Tang Clan, Jay-Z, Tupac Shakur, Kanye West and The Notorious B.I.G., who frequently rapped about his “Timbs.” The boots were also adopted by female stars like Rihanna, Missy Elliott and Aaliyah.

It wouldn’t be the first big footwear collection for Vuitton, which under its previous menswear designer, the late Virgil Abloh, launched its own versions of Nike’s iconic Air Force 1 trainers.

Williams also has a history with Timberland, having designed several styles of the boot through his streetwear brand Billionaire Boys Club’s Bee Line collection. In 2022, a Timberland boot he customized with his own drawings sold for $7,500 on his auction platform Joopiter.  — J.D.

CHANEL EXIT: Christine Dagousset, the global open innovation officer of Chanel, has left the company, WWD has learned.

Dagousset, who could not be reached for comment, is a beauty industry veteran who joined the company in 1998 as senior vice president of global skin care, and quickly rose through the ranks. In 2014, she was named global president of the fragrances and beauty division, a position she held for four years before being named global long-term development officer.  In that role, she developed and implemented long-term business initiatives and built innovation capabilities for Chanel, including minority investments. She sits on the boards of Olaplex and Evolved by Nature.

Neither Chanel nor Dagousset could be reached for comment.

Chanel landed at No. 8 on Beauty Inc’s most recent Top 100 list of the largest manufacturers in the beauty industry, with more than $7 billion in sales for 2022. Sales during calendar 2022 were propelled by fragrance and makeup, as well as the launch of No.1 de Chanel, a skin care-heavy lineup based on the camellia flower that contains 97 percent natural ingredients and features eco-designed packaging.

The Beauty Inc Top 100 for 2023 will appear in the April issue of Beauty Inc. — JENNY B. FINE

JOINING SEPHORA: Sephora has named Anca Marola its new global chief digital officer, starting Feb. 12.

The executive will become part of the LVMH Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton-owned retailer’s global leadership team, and report to Guillaume Motte, Sephora’s chief executive officer.

Marola succeeds Marc Abergel in the role.

“Sephora is the only prestige beauty omnichannel retailer that is truly global. In each of the 35 markets where we operate, our customers expect a seamless, personalized and rich experience,” Motte said in an internal announcement obtained by WWD.

“This is a key driver to our success, and our ambition is clear: We want to continue to delight our community with the best of prestige beauty products and services,” he continued. “I am convinced that, thanks to her experience leading the LVMH data center of excellence, Anca will help us significantly in strengthening our great internal digital community, accelerating value creation through an ambitious data strategy and enhancing our customers’ omnichannel experience.”

Marola joined LVMH in 2014, and has led business intelligence, client and customer experience at the company. The company said she’s played a key role in consolidating the group’s data strategy, implementing analytics and AI across the value chain with initiatives including the data academy and the research partnership with Stanford HAI.

Prior to that, Marola started her career in consulting and consumer research at GFK. She’s a graduate of HEC Paris, with a master’s in marketing, and from the executive program of AI from MIT.

“Over the past years, we have accelerated our data and digital capabilities to turn them into a growth engine for LVMH,” said Toni Belloni, LVMH group managing director. “Anca has been a key contributor for this transformation, building a talented organization and a robust data strategy for the group.

“She worked in close collaboration with the maisons to leverage this knowledge for personalized client experiences, greater efficiency across the value chain, and early deployment of artificial intelligence,” he said, adding that Marola’s successor will be announced shortly. — JENNIFER WEIL

NEW CHARITY FUND: American entrepreneurs and philanthropists Jay Schottenstein, chief executive officer of American Eagle, and Robert H. Book are launching the Fallen Heroes Fund, a global effort providing immediate financial and emotional support of the families of fallen Israel Defense Forces (IDF) soldiers and first responders, on Tuesday.

The Fallen Heroes Fund is a direct response to the Oct. 7 Hamas attack on Israel. The fund’s mission is to come together with empathy and strength for the parents, children, and spouses of those who have died.

The group will provide a memorial book honoring the fallen and a check for 36,000 Israeli shekel, or $9,628 U.S., to the immediate family of the fallen. One hundred percent of the money donated goes directly to the families; administrative costs are covered by the founding members.

Members of the Fallen Heroes Fund plan to travel personally to visit with the families as they grieve and adjust to their circumstances, aiming to help in any way possible to ease suffering.

“The devastating cost of sacrifice to those left behind does not discriminate,” said former U.S. ambassador to Israel David Friedman, a co-chair of the Fallen Heroes Fund.

To date, the Fallen Heroes Fund has privately raised more than $7 million and is in the process of providing relief to the families of more than 540 fallen soldiers and first responders. In addition to Friedman, the fund’s board of directors includes co-chairmen retired major general Israel Ziv, former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and former Senator Joe Lieberman, among many others.

Donations are being accepted at fallenh.org. — LISA LOCKWOOD

GR10K INVESTMENT: In a sign that the days of gorpcore are not over yet, fashion business accelerator Underscore District, an investor in buzzy Italian brand Magliano, has acquired a majority stake in GR10K, a utility and workwear label based in Italy that was founded in 2019 by Anna Grassi. 

The brand — which offers unfussy pieces with a performance component, including mid layers and shells, as well as sweaters and workwear pants — is available at a network of 70 stores across Europe, Asia and the U.S. In 2021 it kicked off a collaboration with Salomon, as the latter has been building a successful lifestyle-leaning business catering to the same performance trend.

Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed. 

The investment is aimed at further scaling the brand’s potential, the companies said in a joint statement, from venturing into new product categories to building awareness and its international footprint. 

“We have known GR10K for a long time and we’ve always looked with regard and respect to the work done on products and  branding, which is very much in tune with how our ideal partner should be,” said Edoardo Di Luzio, chief executive officer of Underscore District. 

Praising the brand as one to watch in the Italian fashion landscape, Di Luzio said that GR10K has been able to attract an international and loyal customer base thanks to a recognizable image and product and continued innovation. 

This marks Underscore District’s fourth investment. The firm manages Piumestudio, a women’s footwear and accessories brand based in Italy’s Veneto region, and WOK Store, a street- and avant garde-leaning fashion concept store in Milan. Formerly known as Impossible Brands, the brand accelerator changed its name in late 2022 just before forging a partnership with Magliano. 

GR10K’s founder Grassi described Underscore District as an ideal partner due to its dynamic, nimble and innovative approach to investments. “We have had long discussions about the future of the brand and determined a shared strategic plan,” she said. — MARTINO CARRERA

SAILING AWAY: Celebrating its sailing heritage, Loro Piana will be the official title sponsor of the 71st edition of the Giraglia Regatta, organized by the Yacht Club Italiano with the support of the Société Nautique de Saint-Tropez, and to be held June 7 to 15.

“There has always been a very strong connection between Loro Piana and sailing. We share many common values: tradition, passion — or should I say obsession — for excellence, for perfection, for perseverance…even more so through the lens of the Giraglia Regatta,” said Damien Bertrand, chief executive officer of Loro Piana. “Sailing means contact with nature, but also research: it is an extraordinary open-air laboratory that has always been exploited by Loro Piana to experiment with the best performing and most innovative solutions.”

The sponsorship reflects the Loro Piana family’s passion for sailing and deputy chairman Pier Luigi Loro Piana this year will participate in the Giraglia Regatta aboard his boat My Song with the crew.

“For me, competition in sailing is about the boat: how do you make it go faster, better, smoother? How do you work with the wind and the sea? You can only learn this by competing, by comparing yourself with others and learning,” he observed. “That being said, I am not a very competitive person, I don’t really enjoy competing for the sake of competing. The point is not winning, the point is sailing, enjoying the journey and working together with the crew. If you win, it is only a bonus.” 

A pragmatic businessman with an encyclopaedic knowledge of and passion for fabrics whose family founded luxury brand Loro Piana in 1924, he was named deputy chairman of the company after LVMH Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton bought it in 2013.

The Loro Piana Giraglia 2024 will start with four days of coastal races along the shores of Saint-Tropez, to be held from June 9 to June 11. The main event will be held on June 12 with the offshore sailing race from Saint-Tropez to Genoa via the Giraglia island in Northern Corsica, a voyage of 241 nautical miles.

First held in 1953, this sailing race sees over 200 boats, including 30-meter yachts and Maxis, take part in each edition.

As reported, in May the Loro Piana brand was the official sponsor of the IMA Maxi European Championship, organized by the International Maxi Association together with one of the country’s oldest yacht clubs, Naples’ Circolo del Remo e della Vela Italia. The sailing event ran from May 12 to 21 and comprised a 150-mile-long regatta and four days of inshore regattas. Pier Luigi Loro Piana competed in the race with My Song. — L.Z.

WINTER SEA: While Paul & Shark’s rebranding is ongoing as it inches toward a proposition that’s less anchored in its yachting and sea-centric past, the brand joined the Milan Fashion Week calendar to present a resortwear capsule collection as part of its fall lineup.

After unveiling its main collection at Pitti Uomo last week, the brand threw an afternoon bash at member’s club Casa Cipriani, a stone’s throw from its store on Via Montenapoleone, which saw guests, including talents Creed Mckinnon and Jonas Kautenburger, among others, sipping cocktail at aperitivo and dancing until after dawn.

The Club Riviera collection was filled with transitional pieces intended for winter vacationers, from silk blazers and crisp linen shirts in an autumnal palette to maritime striped sweater and knit sets.

Last June, Paul & Shark bowed its inaugural resortwear line, called Riviera, at a cocktail party at its Milan store.

Softening the core yachting ethos of years past, the brand’s sustainability credentials and link with the sea are being exalted via lifestyle-leaning activations and communication projects, while its fashion is increasingly more in tune with customers’ demand for clothing apt for outdoorsy experiences.

Cue the most recent activation in Italy’s tony ski destination Cortina d’Ampezzo, where the brand took over the storied Scoiattoli chalet and linked with the Cortina d’Ampezzo ski club. — M.C.

BEAUTY BUY: Bogart has acquired Rose et Marius, which it called in a statement a “house of haute parfumerie and art of living.”  

Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed. 

Rose et Marius, created in 2012 and based in Aix-en-Provence, France, develops fragrances retailed in its boutique there, as well as other locations in the country and abroad. Its products are handmade in Provence, using natural raw materials. 

“Bogart will provide Rose et Marius with its expertise as a manufacturer, its integrated distribution network — April stores — and the resources it needs to expand internationally,” Bogart said in a statement. “This operation will be financed from the company’s own funds.” 

Bogart is publicly quoted on the Euronext Paris exchange. It is a specialist in creating, manufacturing and selling luxury fragrances and cosmetics. The group’s sales in the first nine months of 2023 reached 203.1 million euros. 

Bogart’s flagship fragrance brands include Jacques Bogart, Carven and Stendhal. It also has in the portfolio Chevignon and Neo Cologne, as well as Ted Lapidus perfume and fashion. Bogart owns April perfumeries, the Close vegan professional makeup label, Cousin.e.s hair care and Méthode Jeanne Piaubert skin care. — J.W.

NEW MODEL: Philippe Model Paris presented its first collection in Milan during Men’s Fashion Week following the appointment of Finnish designer Tuomas Merikoski as creative director of the brand.

Merikoski is the founder of the Aalto brand, and has worked in Paris at Louis Vuitton with Kim Jones and at Givenchy with Riccardo Tisci. Aalto was a finalist of the LVMH Prize in 2016.

Under managing director Stefano Di Nezza, the brand is expanding from its core footwear business into a men’s and women’s apparel collection. The first was called “Imperfections.”

This translated into men’s and women’s apparel that had unexpected details meant “to stay away from a forced image,” explained Di Nezza, such as a trench coat that showed an unlined hem, or pants that had some carefully placed spots, telegraphing “a vibrant and cool melting pot of culture, art, religion and social life harking back to the brand’s Paris origins,” he said.

Colorful knits showed the brand’s stylized logo in graphic motifs, while shearling vests and checkered pants had an easy and relaxed attitude. Mindful of its legacy, it introduced a fun new sneaker with a supersized midsole in colors contrasting with the vamp.

“We are conveying the message that we want to transform this into a global brand, dusting it off while leveraging its past,” said Merikoski.

In July 2016, 21 Investimenti, the private equity firm Alessandro Benetton founded in 1992 that is now called 21 Invest, acquired a majority stake in Philippe Model Paris. — L.Z.