Pharrell Williams Carries the Olympic Torch Onwards to UNESCO for Louis Vuitton Men
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LVMH Orchestrates 3 Next Act Chairs for Bertrand, Arnault, Angeloglou March 2025
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LVMH Orchestrates 3 Next Act Chairs for Bertrand, Arnault, Angeloglou March 2025
LVMH has taken major steps to fortify management of its largest brands Louis Vuitton and Christian Dior with promotions from its own rich stable of executive talent.
Damien Bertrand, currently CEO of Loro Piana, will become deputy CEO of Louis Vuitton.
Pierre-Emmanuel Angeloglou, who joined Vuitton as strategic missions director for fashion and leather goods and was later named executive vice president, will become deputy CEO of Christian Dior Couture.
Frédéric Arnault, currently CEO of LVMH Watches, which comprises Tag Heuer, Hublot and Zenith, will become CEO of Loro Piana.
Read MoreLa Beauté Louis Vuitton Launches in Fall 2025, Dame Pat McGrath Creative Director
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Louis Vuitton is launching La Beauté Louis Vuitton with Dame Pat McGrath
The makeup collection will initially launch with 55 lipsticks, 10 lip balms and eight eye palettes. "Working backstage for over 20 years at Louis Vuitton fashion shows, I am thrilled to now play such a key role in the launch of La Beauté Louis Vuitton, which is the result of extraordinary craftmanship, creativity and innovation," says McGrath.
McGrath will continue to oversee her own make-up brand, Pat McGrath Labs, which she launched in 2015 with great success. The LVMH structure for La Beauté Louis Vuitton mirrors the one in place with Guerlain’s Violette Serrat.
Read More'Checking Out' at Ritz Hotel Paris by Tim Walker Prompts New Art of Living Hotel Stories
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In 2012, Grace Coddington styled Josephine Skriver, Kate Moss, Mirte Maas, Patricia van der Vliet and Sigrid Agren in Tim Walker’s phantasmagoria of feminine beauty and luxury hotel romanticism in ‘Checking Out’ for Vogue US. The hotel is the Ritz Paris and it prompted a move of the fashion story into AOC Living, with the intention of writing in-depth about the history of the famous hotel and its founders César and Marie-Louise Ritz.
Read MoreAOC Taps Debra Shaw in Dior Cruise 2025 for a History Lesson on Pre-Christian Scottish Women
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AOC Taps Debra Shaw in Dior Cruise 2025 for a History Lesson on Pre-Christian Scottish Women
Maria Grazia Chiuri staged her Dior Cruise 2025 show in the gardens of Drummond Castle in Scotland, with bagpipes making the occasion. The winter Luxe issue of Grazia UK [IG] features top model Debra Shaw wearing key pieces from the Dior Cruise 2025 collection, lensed by Silvana Trevale [IG] at the Gleneagles Hotel in Perthshire, Scotland.
Dior’s Maria Grazia Chiuri Always Finds the Unique Makers for Her Collections
In fashion we concentrate so much on shape Grazia said, but textiles are a big part of our job—what you can do with them, and the changes you can make through them.” So, Chiuri went to the traditional—the tartan and cashmeres, the tweeds and the Argyles—and deftly filtered them into a collection which variously drew on the geopolitics of fabrics.
Chiuri’s collection and brief history lesson took AOC on a breakthrough journey into the history of women in Scotland and beyond. Anne never intended to land in a deep-dive into the Middle Ages. In fact, that’s exactly where our Gleneagles Defender landed.
Read MoreThe Takashi Murakami x MLB Tokyo Series Launching by Fanatics x Complex Shop
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Japanese art star Takashi Murakami wants us to know he has more than one love besides Zendaya’s latest drop fronting his Louis Vuitton collaboration. With his new Major League Baseball collection, the artist hopes to build on what he sees as the “historical friendship between Japan and the United States.”
The Takashi Murakami x MLB Tokyo Series collection launches March 7, 2025 in advance of the series between the Cubs and Dodgers that opens the MLB baseball season at the Tokyo Dome on March 18-19.
Read MoreExactly Why is Gucci Poised for a Rebound? Industry Minds Are Wondering
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Exactly Why is Gucci Poised for a Rebound? Industry Minds Are Wondering
Kering’s Gucci sales for the three months ending Dec. 31 decreased 24%. Of course Kering chairman and CEO François-Henri Pinault assures financial industry professionals that Gucci is poised for a rebound.
AOC has a one-word response: Why?
Bernstein’s global luxury goods analyst Luca Solca believes he knows how to fix the problem, declaring recently that Gucci:
“needs a new, heavyweight creative director, and it needs it now. The task is to add an original and compelling fashion twist on the cleansed Gucci image Sabato De Sarno has contributed to create: more elegant, more qualitative, but dull.
A heavyweight designer [say Hedi Slimane — the most likely candidate in our view — or John Galliano or Maria Grazia Chiuri, for example] could restart the buzz around the brand, and help it to regain center stage.”
Read MoreDua Lipa Packs Up On the Go Life Essentials in New CHANEL 25 Bag
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Singer-songwriter Dua Lipa is the face of the new CHANEL 25 handbag.
In the film directed by Gordon von Steiner, Lipa arrives at a studio in New York City for a Chanel fashion photo shoot. Posing with the 25 bag, a much-needed, hold-everything accessory for people on the go, Dua Lipa sings along to the ‘80s hit “She Drives Me Crazy” by the Fine Young Cannibals.
Read MoreL'Oreal Group Invests in Jacquemus Retail Expansion and Future Beauty Business
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L'Oreal Group Invests in Jacquemus Retail Expansion and Future Beauty Business
In spring 2024, the growing cult brand Jacquemus opened stores in Dubai, Capri, and Saint-Tropez, followed by New York and London last fall.
Jacquemus annual revenue estimates had climbed to $250 million, largely self-funded from the brand’s business operations.
Sharing the Jacquemus Holiday 2024 campaign, AOC reported that the brand had maxed out its growth opportunities until it obtained a minority investor.
On January 28, Jacquemus announced that it has tapped Celine North America president Sarah Benady as its next chief executive officer. There was no doubt that an announcement was coming soon in this perfectly-orchestrated business PR blitz based on business fundamentals and not marketing word salads.
The announcement came today, February 7, that L’Oréal Group has made a minority investment in Jacquemus to fund the house’s ongoing retail growth and expansion into the beauty sector.
Read MoreGucci Is Bleeding to Death & Sabato de Sarno Is Not the Doctor She Needed
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Gucci Is Bleeding to Death & Sabato de Sarno Is Not the Doctor She Needed
Gucci creative director Sabato de Sarno is leaving Gucci after two years. Gucci’s Feb. 25 runway show will be designed by its design studio, the brand said Thursday, Feb.6.
Gucci’s Problems Are Bigger than de Sarno’s Tepid Designs
AOC does not believe that Gucci’s revenue plunge of 26% in the third quarter of 2024, a scary reflection of the brand’s current status, was solely the result of de Sarno’s tepid approach to design.
We note that his ‘marching orders’ came from Kering head and Gucci’s billionaire owner François-Henri Pinault.
You cannot cut the heart out of Alessandro Michele’s Gucci success and expect those same customers to now buy a quiet Gucci, with marketing campaigns that prompted AOC to write that the models look like they’re making a case for lobotomies for women.
Read MoreLouis Vuitton Taps Skateboarder Tyshawn Jones As Friend of the House
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Louis Vuitton Taps Skateboarder Tyshawn Jones As Friend of the House
Luxury house Louis Vuitton doesn’t need to use three banned in America initials i-e-d when reinforcing the 21st century DNA of the world’s largest luxury brand.
There’s no luxury house that AOC watches more closely than Louis Vuitton in understanding their ‘take’ on where we’re heading culturally. I should clarify that it’s Louis Vuitton Men — more than women’s — that clarifies the brand’s vision in the public sphere.
AOC didn’t understand just how tight former Christian Dior Men’s creative director Kim Jones was with Virgil Abloh, when Jones was at the helm of Louis Vuitton Men’s from 2011-2018 and passed the baton to Abloh as his mentor.
With Pharrell Williams succeeding Abloh [RIP] — we’re looking at a continuous cultural vision for LV that’s about 15 years old across three creative directors who formed their own modern-day rat pack.
Read MoreKim Jones and Virgil Abloh: As Jones Exits Dior Men, We Discover Him as Mentor to Abloh
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As Jones Exits Dior Men, We Discover Him as Mentor to Abloh
The clues were few that British designer Kim Jones was about to leave Christian Dior Mens, especially after delivering one of the most ‘stupendous’ shows of his career in his Fall 2025 presentation in Paris last on Friday last week.
Praise for Jones has been lavish from his peers, with widespread consensus that Kim Jones’ seven-years tenure at Dior Mens “accelerated the convergence of men’s fashion, art, and celebrity to warp speed.”
Kim Jones and Virgil Abloh
In writing this post, AOC was not aware of the very close relationship of Kim Jones and Virgil Abloh. We share a major taste of the duo together.
The future for Kim Jones will include his work with Charleston Trust, where the designer became a vice president in fall 2024.
Read MoreDior Beauty 'Visionary' Willow Smith on 21st Century Lip Glow and 'Big Feelings'
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Dior Beauty 'Visionary' Willow Smith on 21st Century Lip Glow and 'Big Feelings'
Dior Beauty [IG] ambassador Willow Smith [IG] joins the January 2025 campaign of cult-favorite Dior Addict Lip Glow. The new campaign is shot by Dan Beleiu [IG] and filmed by Valentin Herfray.
When Dior Beauty named Willow as an ambassador in March 2024, they described her as:
“one of the most visionary and daring young women of her generation”.
Willow describes herself as “the child who sings the ancient song”. Her latest sound is ‘Big Feelings’ from her May 2024 album ‘Empathogen’.
“It doesn’t sound as clean as a regular piano,” Smith notes about their use of a 1910 piano for ‘Big Feelings. “The wood sound adds to the snarly nature of the song—it’s like we’re going inside the mind, where everything is textured.”
Read MoreOD BEAUTY PARIS Launches GLOWSTICK in Elizaveta Porodina Campaign
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Today, we meet Ossiel and Diego.Together, they birthed OD, a beauty brand that resonates with the soul of conscious luxury. Clean, refillable, recyclable, and vegan.
In these images, Ossiel and Diego’s project is surrounded by beauty and creative talent in the form of THE Elizaveta Porodina [IG] [their caps, not AOC’s, but we concur] in the company of longtime close friend Maggie Maurer and new friend, rising South Sudan model Awek Gak.
Read MoreGuerlain's Violette Serrat Relaunches G Rouge Lipstick for Paris Lovers Worldwide
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Guerlain's Violette Serrat Relaunches G Rouge Lipstick for Paris Lovers
Meet Violette Serrat
French-born Violette Serrat, creative director of makeup for Guerlain since summer 2021, was born and raised in Paris. Serrat understands French women and their love of red lipstick.
Fifteen years after Rouge G’s first Guerlain release, it’s reborn in 40 stunning shades in both velvet-matte and satin finishes. Rouge G is formulated with a new 89 per cent skincare-based formula made with lily oleo extract. Created with lily flowers and paired with sweet almond oil, this complex has smoothing, hydrating and plumping properties and improves the quality of lips worldwide with prolonged wear.
Top faces Natalia Vodianova and Malika El Maslouhi are leading the campaign lensed by Charlotte Wales [IG].
Even the iconic mirrored cases notched up their glam quotient without hurting the environment. Using gold instead of silver, the nine new jewel cases are 19 per cent lighter than before, allowing for a 30 per cent reduction in carbon dioxide emissions.
Read MoreTyler Mitchell Now a Gagosian Artist, Walking in Footsteps of Basquiat & Avedon
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Imagine the extraordinary pride fashion and art photographer Tyler Mitchell must feel, as he joins the same Gagosian art gallery network that represented the enormously-gifted, thought-provoking artist Jean-Michel Basquiat.
Gagosian’s first project with Mitchell will open at Paris Photo 2024, November 6-10, 2024 Grand Palais, Paris Booth B22. ‘Avedon & Me’ is curated by the artist, featuring a blend of his own photography alongside fellow Gagosian photographer Richard Avedon.
Mitchell selected Avedon’s 1946 mirror self-portrait with Baldwin for the 2023 Avedon 100 centennial exhibition at Gagosian New York.
Read MoreBrunello Cucinelli Reports Solid YTD 2024 Revenue Increase of 12.4%; Q3 Only 9.2%
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Brunello Cucinelli released a strong 2024 nine-months revenue performance that runs counter to generally sluggish financial performance in the luxury sector.
In the third quarter itself, revenues rose 9.2% to 300 million euros ($325 million), with an increase even in China where the brand has limited exposure compared to brands like Gucci and Louis Vuitton.
"With the substantial orders already placed for the Men's and Women's Spring-Summer 2025 sales campaign, we can reaffirm our plans for healthy, sustainable growth, projecting a revenue increase of around 10% for both 2025 and 2026," Executive Chairman Cucinelli said in a statement.
Read MoreClaudia Schiffer's Tuxedo Style Covers Vogue Arabia September 2024 by Kayt Jones
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Supermodel Claudia Schiffer graces the September 2024 issue of Vogue Arabia [IG] with three ‘class act’ tuxedo-style covers, lensed by Kayt Jones [IG] days after her 54th birthday.
Barbara Baumel chooses Karl Lagerfeld, Nina Ricci and Sportmax in Vogue Arabia’s cover celebration of bold, powerful, fall 2024 fashion. / Makeup by Lisa Eldridge; hair by Stephen Beaver
Read MoreMiu Miu CEO Benedetta Petruzzo Moves to Christian Dior Couture as Managing Director
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Given the stellar performance of Miu Miu in a post-COVID luxury landscape, it has to be a crushing blow to lose Miu Miu CEO Benedetta Petruzzo.
Delphine Arnault, chairman and CEO of Christian Dior Couture has confirmed Petruzzo’s arrival on Oct. 15.
"I am convinced that Benedetta's talent and leadership will be major assets in the continued development of Dior's activities and its international influence," Arnault said. "Her expertise in the luxury market will persist in enhancing the desirability and success of Dior. Together, with the excellence of the teams in place, we will carry on building the future and strengthening our organization."
Read MoreVictoria's Secret's 'Dream Lingerie' 2024 Campaign Stop on Its Reinvention Journey
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