Dior Beauty’s Face, Blackwood Adds Swim, Saint Laurent’s Godard Film – WWD

CHOOSING CALEB: Dior Beauty has tapped another Gen Z heavyweight for a U.S. ambassadorship.

Caleb McLaughlin, of “Stranger Things” fame, is the latest in a string of Stateside ambassadors for the La Collection Privée fragrance collection. He will “partner with the brand, celebrating the iconic heritage of Dior, and supporting Dior Beauty in the fragrance category,” Dior Beauty said in a statement.

Last month Dior revealed it had inked a deal with Alexandra Daddario to support the same fragrance collection, as well as its women’s fashion business. Gris Dior, the collection’s hero, has six new ambassadors of its own, including Jenna Ortega, Thuso Mbedu, Fai Khadra, Liu Yuxin, Orelsan and fellow “Stranger Things” actors Maya Hawke and Joseph Quinn. South Korean pop star Haerin, a member of the group NewJeans, was named a global ambassador across jewelry, fashion and beauty last week.

The statement from Dior also called out McLaughlin’s budding music career — he has two original singles — and his philanthropic endeavors. “He developed his own nonprofit foundation, Toa Foundation Inc. (meaning ‘evolve’ in Swahili) that supports personal and mental development globally via performing arts and financial literacy,” the statement read. “He is also an active member of the Jr. NBA Leadership Council, the official youth basketball participation program of the NBA, which works to support and improve the youth basketball experience for young players across the country.”

McLaughlin stars in Peacock’s upcoming film “Shooting Stars” about Lebron James’ high school basketball career, and is also in Lee Daniels’ “Deliverance” and Jeymes Samuel’s “The Book of Clarence.” — JAMES MANSO

INTO THE POOL: Brandon Blackwood’s expansion is not slowing anytime soon. The viral accessories designer is launching his first swimwear line on Friday.

Blackwood has applied the same classic, color-focused perspective that made his handbag designs famous to a range of bathing suit styles.

Speaking by phone, the designer said that while some may think swim is an unusual category for his brand, it’s quite the opposite.

Blackwood made a name for himself on the internet and continues to utilize social media to engage with his community and poll consumers on their needs and wants.

One thing he noticed is that, “every summer we saw people posting their travels and really cool content with the bags, a lot of the time wearing swimsuits.”

In an effort to push this image-making element of this brand forward, Blackwood felt like introducing his own swimsuits could bring his company further into the lifestyle sector. One of his key styles — a retro lap swimsuit shape — has his brand’s logo written across the chest, which will only help with brand awareness and promotion in those summer selfie snaps.

This is the second major category launch for Blackwood in recent months. In March, he also branched out with his first line of shoes.

Blackwood’s first swim line includes eight styles — five mix-and-match bikini pieces and three one-piece suits. They are priced from $35 for a swim bralette to around $80 for a one-piece. They will be available on Blackwood’s website, as well as in-store at Kith Miami, a location where the brand does “really well,” according to the designer.

Blackwood said the swimsuits’ accessible pricing is in line with his brand’s general product launch strategy. “All of our first launches tend to have lower prices at first so our customers get can a feel for the items and we can get good feedback,” he said.

The swim designs are manufactured in Portugal and Turkey and are offered in a full-size run from extra small to extra-extra large.

There is a range of bright colors — as well as simple black — to choose from. “We chose colors based off of our popular bags because people like to match their bags to their shoes and we brought that over to swim,” Blackwood said.

For the launch campaign, Blackwood continued his focus on unconventional marketing techniques. He commissioned Zoe Poulis, a world-acclaimed artistic swimmer, to record videos of herself performing while wearing the new swim designs. For still imagery, Blackwood linked with marine biologists in the Bahamas who model the designs alongside wildlife like stingrays and game fish. — MISTY WHITE SIDELL

THE GLORY OF GODARD: Fashion house Saint Laurent has produced a short film exalting French movie maverick Jean-Luc Godard’s last work, and it will premiere at the 76th annual Cannes Film Festival later this month.

Saint Laurent creative director Anthony Vaccarello describes it as the “trailer of a movie that will never exist.”

“Unconventional in its form, the short art project describes the ideas, references and visuals he envisioned for a film that never came to be, giving the viewer rare insight into a genius’ mind and process,” according to Saint Laurent, which last month established a subsidiary devoted to the full-fledged production of movies.

As reported, Saint Laurent Productions will make its debut at Cannes with two short films among the official selection: The other is “Strange Way of Life” by Pedro Almodóvar, a Western with a twist and a focus on the male protagonists, new for the Spanish director.

The Kering-owned fashion house is billing itself as the first to set up a registered subsidiary to produce films, rather than merely funding them — or dressing its stars.

The Godard short promises to detail the creative process of the legendary French-Swiss auteur, a pioneer of the French New Wave film movement of the ‘60s.

Known for such films as “Breathless,” “Band of Outsiders,” “Pierrot le Fou” and “Alphaville,” Godard died last September at age 91.

According to Saint Laurent, Godard “changed the course of filmmaking with his innovative camera work and experimental narrative style, rejecting traditional conventions in favor of a more personal and artistic cinematic idiom.”

“I greatly admired Jean-Luc Godard, one of cinema’s most influential masterminds,” Vaccarello commented in a brief statement shared with WWD.

Saint Laurent also has feature-length projects in the works with filmmakers David Cronenberg and Paolo Sorrentino, perhaps best known for “The Great Beauty,” which won the Oscar for best foreign-language film in 2013.

Saint Laurent-produced films are bound to bring additional visibility to the brand and its aesthetic, since Vaccarello is to conceive Saint Laurent clothing and accessories in concert with each director.

The Cannes Film Festival revealed the 20-minute Godard short on Friday as part of the Cannes Classics & Cinéma de la Plage selection. — MILES SOCHA

SAY IT WITH FLOWERS: Kylie Jenner describes herself as a “JPG girl” these days.

After donning a fiery red gown by Jean Paul Gaultier’s spring guest couturier Haider Ackermann for the recent Met Gala, and a black-and-white one for the after parties, the TV personality and beauty entrepreneur is back fronting a campaign for the fashion house’s latest ready-to-wear drop.

Although the collection is dubbed “Flowers,” Jenner donned a blush-colored, lingerie-style slip with pointy cups and posed for photographer Elizaveta Porodina.

According to Florence Tétier, creative director of Jean Paul Gaultier fashion, Jenner matched “the representation of a modern mermaid that I was looking for” and her idea for the collection of “augmented nature with the floral references taken from the maison’s archives.”

At a launch event at The Webster in New York on Tuesday night, Jenner donned a clingy, transparent dress bearing a “liquid” print of flowers done in collaboration with French artist Jean-Vincent Simonet.

According to the house, Jean Paul Gaultier’s collections were strewn with flowers throughout the early 2000s. The spring 2023 offering includes a silk twill twinset and skirts, tops and bathrobes make of stretch tulle.

Occasionally, only floral buttons express the theme.

The Jenner campaign broke on a billboard on Grand Street in New York City, as well as on the social channels of the Jean Paul Gaultier house and those of Jenner, who counts 388 million followers on Instagram and whose last eight posts were dedicated to the brand. — MILES SOCHA

KNITWEAR CONTEST: The contest Talents Lineapiù, launched by the yarn firm Lineapiù Italia in 2017, aims to support young fashion talents that stand out for their use of yarns and the quality of the knitwear. Through the years the contest’s winners have included brands such as Marco Rambaldi, Vitelli and Chet Lo.

The winner of the ninth edition is Sofia Marsili with Verguenza, her luxury clothing brand that is entirely made in Tuscany. “Verguenza was born from my desire to combine the skills developed in the commercial area with the aspect of creating a collection. I wanted to create a brand that combined careful research of materials and very high quality,” she explained.

Knitwear is a fundamental element in Verguenza’s limited-edition collections, which uses high-quality raw materials and sustainable processes.

The young Italian designer decided to found the brand after earning two degrees, in business and marketing and an ongoing one in international business development, and nurturing her experience in the commercial and merchandising fields working for brands such as Zara, Gucci and Hermès, among others. 

“It is a privilege to be able to receive this award from an important company in the production of yarns such as Lineapiù,” stated Marsili. “This milestone fills me with pride for the path taken and gives me awareness toward the future. Verguenza is a constantly growing luxury company, with strong production know-how and careful marketing of the collections in the best multibrand stores in the sector. Furthermore, receiving this recognition in Florence further highlights the value of the excellence of the Florentine production cluster. It highlights the importance of working with sustainable companies in the area, conscious about the traceability of materials and the quality of the finished garment. The greatest gift is to be able to access the company’s historical archive and consolidate knowledge on the subject, do research and discuss ourselves with industry experts to continuously improve the quality of our product and guarantee our customers the uniqueness of our brand.”

“Talents Lineapiù is a source of great pride for us, an initiative to support knitwear brands that are making their way in a complex world like the fashion one: a project that brings together technique, imagination and know-how. A functional program to help to grow talent and to make their way in an increasingly competitive and difficult market,” explained Alessandro Bastagli, president of Lineapiù Italia. “It is our way of contributing to the development of their creativity, to support their commitment and their research.”

The award comes with the technical sponsorship for four seasons of Lineapiù and Filclass yarns for the creation of the brand’s sample collection and the opportunity to have access to the Lineapiù archive. — ANDREA ONATE