Dior in Seville, FGI’s Presenters, and Moschino Back Home – WWD

VIVA ESPAÑA: After Greece last summer, Dior is alighting in the southern Spanish city of Seville for its cruise 2023 collection.

Maria Grazia Chiuri, artistic director of women’s collections, will unveil her creations on the expansive Plaza de España on June 16, the house revealed on Monday. Built for the Ibero-American Exposition of 1929, it mixes elements of the Baroque Revival, Renaissance Revival and Moorish Revival styles of Spanish architecture.

Shaped like a half-circle, the plaza is surrounded by buildings that today are used mainly by government institutions, and is lined with tiled alcoves, each representing a different province of Spain. The buildings are accessible by four bridges over the moat, which represent the ancient kingdoms of Spain, with a large fountain located in the middle.

“The ties between Dior and Spain, and more specifically Andalusia, were forged as early as the 1950s, and have been strengthened ever since, with journeys leading to silhouettes bearing evocative names dreamed up by Monsieur Dior and his successors,” Dior said in a statement.

Among others, Christian Dior, the founder of the house, named a 1954 dress “Nuits d’Espagne” and a 1956 model “Bal à Séville.”

Chiuri will continue her tradition of collaborating with local craftspeople on the annual collection, which has the potential to significantly boost tourism revenues in its destination. Last year the house rolled out a series of videos about the Greek archeological sites that inspired her designs.

Overall, Dior is ramping up its schedule of physical displays, with plans to show its pre-fall 2022 women’s collection in Seoul on April 30, and to hold its first runway show for the men’s spring line, which is also a pre-collection, in Los Angeles on May 19. This will be followed by summer men’s ready-to-wear collection in Paris on June 24, and the fall haute couture collection in early July. — JOELLE DIDERICH

 

READY AND WAITING: This year’s finalists for the Fashion Group International’s Rising Star awards will have to wait a few weeks to find out who the winners will be, but now they know who will be handing them over.

Attendees at the annual event will also get to listen in to a keynote address delivered by the artist, author and designer Rebecca Moses. The May 10 luncheon will be held at The Lighthouse, Pier Sixty-One on the Hudson. Elle’s editor-in-chief Nina Garcia will be handing out the Womenswear award to one standout in a field of five that includes Amir Taghi, Frederick Anderson, Kelsey Randall, Junny Ann Hibbert and Mimi Prober.

Kerby Jean-Raymond will present the Menswear award, with Juul Nielsen, Christopher Lowman, Kenneth Nicholson and Terry Singh being in-the-running. Publicist Kelly Cutrone has been tapped to give out the All Gender award. Deviate’s Kelsey and Cassidy Tucker, Fried Rice’s Maya Wang, Stan’s Tristan Detwiler and William Frederick’s William McNicol are all vying for the honor.

Tracy Reese will honor Byron Lars with the President’s award for Excellence, while Jason Wu will present the Entrepreneur of the Year award to Cole Wassner of the Wassner Management Group.

Andrea Rosso will take to the podium to give the Diesel Sustainability Award to McNicol, Prober or The Vault by Volpe Beringer’s Nicole Volpe Berlinger. Gary Wassner will dole out the Hilldun Business Innovation Award to Savitude’s Karen Williams.

Ken Downing will reveal the New Retail winner with the finalists being ScentFluence’s Caroline Fabrigas, the aforementioned Beringe and Thirteen Lune’s Nyakio Grieco. Marc Hruschka will reveal the Fine Jewelry honoree, with nominees including Julie Lamb, Mary Margrill and Sara Shala Designs’ Sara Shala. Freddie Leiba will present the Accessories winner. BYBBA’s Pam Seidman, Bentz’s Melissa and Kim Bentz, Cuddigan Leather’s Jennifer Rose Smail, Mia Becar’s Betzabe Gonzalez and Salone Monet are the finalists.

Kelta Moore will hand out the Beauty Entrepreneur award with the seven finalists including Curl Daddy’s Edwin Borquez Pierrot, Em & El Organics’ Emily Trower-Young, GlossWire App’s Kimberley Carney, Kindra’s Catherine Balsam-Schwaber, Moerie’s Mantas Butkus, Raquel Riley Thomas Beauty’s Raquel Riley Thomas and Sparti Scents’ Abby Wallach and Caroline Fabrigas.

A pre-event private party will be held at the Diesel store in SoHo on April 28. Hearst Magazines, the Hilldun Corporation, Diesel and Pullquest are sponsoring the upcoming luncheon. — ROSEMARY FEITELBERG

 

FINALISTS SHOWCASE: Ahead of the winner announcement on April 26, the 2022 International Woolmark Prize Tuesday released a short film to showcase this year’s seven finalists: Ahluwalia and Saul Nash from the U.K.; Egonlab of France; Jordan Dalah of Australia; Mmusomaxwell of South Africa; Peter Do of the U.S., and Rui of China.

Directed by British singer FKA Twigs, with creative direction by Zak Group and choreography by Juliano Nunes, the film, called “Playscape,” is inspired by sculptor Isamu Noguchi’s way of seeing play as a mode of creative exploration.

The film sees an empty gallery of Noguchi’s sculptures being populated by a cast of characters at the beginning, including model Kai-Isaiah Jamal, dancer Kiddy Smile and DJ Princess Julia. The set is later switched into an imaginary landscape with a dancing number performed by her Avant Garden collective, wearing looks from the finalists’ Merino wool collections.

The short film also comes with an immersive showroom and a partnership with The Isamu Noguchi Foundation and Garden Museum.

Zak Kyes, founder of Zak Group, believes that the goal of this creative project aims to “create a playground for the next generation of fashion talent to collide with dance, art, music and design.”

“FKA twigs was the perfect collaborator because of her polymathic practice and singular voice. We are indebted to Isamu Noguchi for providing the inspiration to take play seriously,” he added.

On April 26, the winners will be selected in London by a panel of industry experts, including Burberry’s chief creative officer Riccardo Tisci, Dazed’s editor in chief Ibrahim Kamara, industrial designer Marc Newson and Shaway Yeh, founder of Yehyehyeh and group style editorial director at Modern Media Group.

The finalists will have the chance to be stocked at leading stores, via the International Woolmark Prize Retailer Network.

One finalist will be awarded the International Woolmark Prize with a cash prize of 200,000 Australian dollars, or $144,000.

The Karl Lagerfeld Award for Innovation will be awarded to another finalist, with the winner receiving 100,000 Australian dollars, or $72,000.

There will also be a Woolmark Supply Chain Award “for outstanding contribution from a trade partner driving wool supply chain innovation.”

The Woolmark Company is a subsidiary of Australian Wool Innovation, a not-for-profit enterprise that conducts research, development and marketing along the worldwide supply chain for Australian wool on behalf of the approximately 60,000 wool growers who help to fund the company. — TIANWEI ZHANG

 

BACK HOME: Moschino is returning to present its men’s collection in Milan.

The Italian brand, designed by Jeremy Scott, will stage its spring 2023 show on June 19 during Milan Men’s Fashion Week, which will run June 17 to 21.

Moschino’s last menswear collection shown in Milan was for fall 2018 and took place on Jan. 13, 2018 — an all-in-black celebration of inclusiveness and bonding, incorporating corseting and S&M bondage material.

“The return to Milano to show menswear has been on my mind for a while,” said Scott. “It feels good to be back.”

In January last year, as Italy faced another wave of the COVID-19 pandemic, the designer showcased his fall 2021 collection via look book images.

From 2016 to 2019, Moschino staged coed shows for its men’s spring and women’s resort collections in Los Angeles, where Scott is based. In January 2019, the brand landed at Rome’s Cinecittà studios to present the men’s fall 2019 and women’s pre-fall 2019 ranges.

In December 2019, the brand staged a coed runway show, presenting the men’s fall 2020 collection and women’s pre-fall 2020 lineup at the New York Transit Museum in Brooklyn.

Moschino is controlled by Aeffe, which is listed on the STAR segment of the Milan Bourse and also comprises the Alberta Ferretti, Philosophy di Lorenzo Serafini and Pollini brands.

Last year the company took full control of Moschino, paying 66.6 million euros for the 30 percent stake in the brand it didn’t own. It also acquired the license to produce and distribute the Love Moschino collections of women’s apparel in-house for 3.6 million euros.

Aeffe also took control of Moschino’s distribution in mainland China, signaling the increasing relevance of that market for the label. This involved around 20 stores, which have been operated for the past 10 years by Scienward Fashion and Luxury (Shanghai) Co. Ltd. In addition, Moschino will open four franchised stores with a new partner. The company expects to have 30 directly operated stores and 22 franchised units in five years.

As reported, Aeffe’s strategic direction for Moschino and the group’s growth in all of its markets and channels contributed to gains in 2021 profitability and consolidated revenues, which totaled 324.6 million euros, up 20.6 percent compared with 269.1 million euros in 2020. — LUISA ZARGANI

 

SPECIAL CANDLE: L’Avant Collective, which offers plant-based household products, has partnered with Christy Turlington Burns’ nonprofit, Every Mother Counts, to release a special edition of its “Fresh Linen” candle.

“We’re proud to support this wonderful organization financially and to contribute to spreading the word about their amazing work,” L’Avant Collective founders Lindsay Droz and Kristi Lord told WWD in a joint statement.

Fifty percent of proceeds from sales of the $40 candle — made solely of soy and coconut wax, with notes of ylang ylang, geranium, lavender, lemon, sage, bamboo and linen — will be donated to Every Mother Counts, which brings awareness to the global maternal health crisis and works to improve access to pregnancy care and resources in the U.S. and abroad.

“It was sobering to learn that women in the United States are two times as likely to die from complications of pregnancy and birth than her mother was a generation ago,” the statement added.

Founded in 2010, Every Mother Counts was created after Burns suffered a postpartum hemorrhage following delivery of her first child and learned that hundreds of thousands of women die each year from childbirth.

According to the organization, “while the maternal mortality rate has been decreasing globally, it’s on the rise in the United States, where one in five women of reproductive age is uninsured, and women of color are three to four times more likely to die in from complications of pregnancy and childbirth.”

Marking L’Avant Collective first collaboration, the candle launches on April 26 in honor of Mother’s Day, which falls on May 8.

Droz and Lord launched the company — headquartered in Seattle — in 2020 with the aim of producing stylish, non-toxic goods. The brand provides glass packaging, refill pouches and a subscription model, with prices ranging from $12 to $80 for a four-product bundle.

“At its core, the story of L’Avant Collective is the story of two moms looking to make a healthier environment for our children,” they continued. “That’s why collaboration with Every Mother Counts is such a natural fit for us.” — RYMA CHIKHOUNE

 

BOY STORY: The Fondation Louis Vuitton in Paris will pay tribute to the late Virgil Abloh, artistic director of menswear at Louis Vuitton, with a two-week showing of his “Coming of Age” exhibition.

Unveiled at the Little Big Man Gallery in Los Angeles in 2019, the personal show traveled to Paris, Beijing, Milan, New York City, Munich, Tokyo and Seoul. Coinciding with Abloh’s first campaign for Vuitton for spring 2019, it explored the themes of boyhood and youth through the works of artists such as Ed Templeton and Sandy Kim.

In its original format, the exhibition gave students, artists and local communities access to a do-it-yourself “copy center” to build and create their own zines with their favorite artworks. It has been expanded and reimagined for its two-week residency at the Frank Gehry-designed Fondation Vuitton, which kicks off on Wednesday.

“A tribute to a hands-on creator, the exhibition encourages activities and participation, combining physical events with digital activations. Visitors become participants, alongside artists, photographers, musicians, directors and animators,” Louis Vuitton said in a statement.

“Diverse but united, the participants serve as an illustration of Virgil Abloh’s mission and achievement to democratize the dream embodied by Louis Vuitton, rendering it a domain open to the aspirations of people from all walks of life, all ages, all genders and all races,” the house added.

The exhibition is open to the public, free of charge, from Wednesday to April 27. The Fondation Vuitton has hosted major modern art exhibitions including “The Morozov Collection, Icons of Modern Art,” which ended its run on April 3.

Abloh headed Vuitton’s menswear division from March 2018 until his death in November 2021 at the age of 41. The first large-scale retrospective of his work, “Figures of Speech,” made its debut at the Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago in 2019 and is coming to the Brooklyn Museum in July. — J.D.

 

DOWN IN DALLAS: “No one can be too much tonight,” said Brian Bolke, chair and impresario of the 60th Art Ball benefiting the Dallas Museum of Art.

Bolke, founder of the Conservatory boutiques in New York and Dallas, played up the landmark anniversary by encouraging “Sixties Glamorous” dress for the 350 attendees, even emailing a mood board of period fashions for inspiration.

Guests included Brandon Maxwell, interior designer Ken Fulk, beauty entrepreneur Edward Bess, artist Mickalene Thomas, actress Jamie-Lynn Sigler Neiman Marcus Group chief executive officer Geoffroy van Raemdonck, Cornelia Guest and “Making the Cut Winner” Andrea Pitter.

“I was going to wear Balenciaga from 1962, but when you put on something vintage and you’re vintage, it makes you look vintage,” said Becca Cason Thrash, glittering in a slinky sequined Rodarte. “Vintage is for young girls.”

Major sponsor Nancy Rogers glowed in a verdigris satin Empire gown with cluster beadwork custom made for her by Jeremy Scott.

The Moschino creative director was the man of the cocktail hour, having supplied painterly fashions from his Picasso-inspired spring 2020 collection to dress the doormen, DJ and several models, who posed in living tableaux photo ops for guests.

“I’m thrilled to be here and be Nancy’s guest and support the organization,” Scott said. “I’m from Kansas City, so I’m your neighbor. I love coming here because everyone is so friendly and genuine.”

Mary McDermott turned heads in a whimsical floral swing tunic and bellbottom pants created exclusively for her by longtime local designer Terri Camarillo Nytra.

“People don’t understand that this used to be a costume party,” said McDermott, whose late mother Margaret is the museum’s single biggest benefactor. “The first one I remember was ‘The Rites of Spring.’”

Fulk swanned among the ladies, joking about a 15-year affair with Thrash and cuddling up to Christen Wilson with the comment, “Just call us the Dallas couple.”

“He’s doing our house,” Wilson chimed in, “and he knows I’m a minimalist and he’s a maximalist.”

A number of the women sported newly natural silver hair, while Bag Snob blogger Tina Craig had colored her long hair red.

“I got divorced, and I’m reinventing myself,” Craig said.

The vintage theme permeated the menu, which opened with a globe of caviar atop onion dip served with potato chips followed by beef pot pie and crudités on a silver tray reminiscent of TV dinners and chunky banana pudding with Nilla wafers.

In his remarks, DMA director Augustín Arteaga couldn’t help but tease the upcoming “Cartier and Islamic Art: In Search of Modernity” exhibition running May 14 to Sept. 18. The DMA co-organized it with the Musée des Art Décoratifs in Paris and in collaboration with the Musée du Louvre and support from Cartier.

“It is going to be beautiful,” Arteaga said. “It is going to be the most mind-blowing thing ever.” — HOLLY HABER