Dior, LVMH Tap Gymnast, Gucci’s New Ambassador, Buly Names New CEO – WWD

GUCCI DOUBLE: A few days after naming South Korean actress Gyuyoung Park a brand ambassador, Gucci is turning again to the Far East, revealing Thai actress and friend of the house Davika Hoorne as a new brand ambassador for both Gucci and Gucci Beauty.

Hoorne marks the first Thai personality to hold such a role and follows in the footsteps of Alia Bhatt, who last summer was named Gucci’s first Indian global brand ambassador.

A Thai star with hit movies and TV shows under her belt, Hoorne has attended many Gucci events over the past few years, most recently donning a monogram parka jacket in the signature “Ancora red” over a lean black tank top and miniskirt for the Gucci Ancora spring 2024 show held last month in Milan.

She has previously attended the house’s fashion shows in Milan and Castel del Monte in Italy’s Apulia region, for example, and has often worn the Italian luxury brand for public events and magazine covers, including for Vogue Thailand in 2021 and Harper’s Bazaar and L’Officiel Thailand in 2022, to name a few.

“Gucci is a globally renowned fashion brand that seamlessly blends innovative creativity with the beauty of fashion in a unique and captivating manner,” Hoorne said. “Just as Gucci allows individuals to express their true selves with freedom and clarity, I feel incredibly honored and delighted to collaborate with Gucci as a brand ambassador for both Gucci and Gucci Beauty. It is a source of immense pride and honor in my professional journey,” she added.

After making her acting debut in a leading role in 2010 with the TV series “Ngao Kammathep,” she rose to fame with the 2015 Thai romantic movie “Heart Attack” by indie director Nawapol Thamrongrattanarit, which centered on Yoon, played by Sunny Suwanmethanont, a workaholic freelancer who falls in love with his doctor Imm, played by Hoorne. The movie won eight Golden Swans at the “Subannahongsa Award,” including Hoorne for best actress. Before that she appeared in a leading role in “Pee Mak,” Thailand’s highest-grossing film of all time.

She has most recently dedicated her career to TV series, starring in hit shows including “My Ambulance,” “You Are My Heartbeat” and “Astrophile.” In 2023 she won the Best Global Teleplay Leading Actress award at the 36th Global Arts and Television Huading Awards.

Having started her career as a model, Hoorne has landed many fashion and luxury endorsements and gigs over time, for example, walking on the Michael Kors and Dolce & Gabbana runway shows.

In her role as a Gucci ambassador, Hoorne joins South Korean talents including K-drama actress Park; Hanni, a lead singer of the Korean group NewJeans; “Squid Game” star Lee Jung-jae, and IU, the nickname for singer and actress Lee Ji-eun.

The pool of international personalities named Gucci ambassadors also includes Italian tennis player Jannik Sinner; Chinese actress Ni Ni, and actor and singer Xiao Zhan, as well as Bhatt.

Although Hoorne is currently the only active Gucci Beauty ambassador, other talents have fronted Gucci Beauty campaigns in the past, including A$AP Rocky, Julia Garner and Elliot Page for the Gucci Guilty fragrance and Miley Cyrus for the Gucci Flora fragrance.

Other Gucci faces include Kendall Jenner and Bad Bunny. — MARTINO CARRERA

BULY’S NEW CEO: Nathalie Elbaz has been named chief executive officer of beauty brand Officine Universelle Buly 1803, starting Oct. 15, according to an internal memo released at the brand’s parent company LVMH Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton.

Elbaz will be based in Paris and report to Stéphanie Medoni, executive president of LVMH Beauty.

Elbaz succeeds Anne-Véronique Bruel, who led Buly through its integration into LVMH after the luxury group acquired the brand in October 2021.

Bruel is to take on a new role that will be announced shortly, according to LVMH.

Elbaz has more than 20 years’ experience in the luxury and beauty industries. She signed on to LVMH in 2005 as trade marketing manager for Guerlain France. The executive then rose through the ranks of the brand and launched its fragrance La Petite Robe Noire, which was a blockbuster in its home market.

She has been general manager France for Guerlain since 2015, where she “has remarkably contributed to elevating the brand’s image, improving operational execution, especially in direct retail, as well as expanding Guerlain’s footprint within the market,” according to LVMH.

Prior to working there, Elbaz was at L’Oréal, holding positions such as marketing manager for Lancôme and skin care group manager for the overall company.

She began her career at Arthur Anderson, first as a financial auditor, after which she joined the consulting division. Elbaz holds a master’s degree in management from ESCP Business School. — JENNIFER WEIL

ART PURCHASE: The Hepworth Wakefield has purchased its second work or art with money from the JW Anderson Collections Fund.

The Yorkshire gallery said it acquired “A snake came to my coffee table on a hot, hot day to drink there,” by Andrew Cranston. The artist has described the painting as “an intrusion of something alien into the familiar, an unlikely presence, and threat into the domestic.”

The work will go on display at The Hepworth Wakefield in November as part of “Andrew Cranston: What Made You Stop Here?,” the artist’s first U.K. institutional solo show.

Earlier this year, The Hepworth Wakefield became the inaugural recipient of the JW Anderson Collections Fund, which aims to support the acquisition of works by museums across the U.K.

Each year, a different collecting institution will receive 50,000 pounds to acquire works by artists who are underrepresented in the U.K.

Earlier this year, The Hepworth Wakefield purchased a large-scale charcoal drawing by Jake Grewal, which was displayed at the gallery in the spring.

Anderson has a longstanding relationship with The Hepworth Wakefield.

In 2017, he teamed with the gallery on a show called “Disobedient Bodies: JW Anderson Curates the Hepworth Wakefield,“ which examined clothing and the body as sculpture and the conversation between art and fashion.

It was also an homage to some of Anderson’s favorite fashion figures, including Yohji Yamamoto, Rei Kawakubo, Jean Paul Gaultier, Issey Miyake, Helmut Lang and Christian Dior.

The designer continues to curate.

Last month, Anderson oversaw an exhibition celebrating the British capital at Offer Waterman, a blue-chip gallery specializing in modern and contemporary art.

Titled “On Foot,” the show mingles the fashions Anderson creates for his signature brand, and for the Spanish luxury house Loewe. The installations celebrate various aspects of London, from the “salubrious streets of Mayfair” to the “provocatively storied alleys of Soho,” according to the designer.

The show at Offer Waterman runs until Oct. 28 and features work by artists including Frank Auerbach, Sara Flynn, Lucian Freud, Barbara Hepworth, David Hockney, L.S. Lowry, Henry Moore, Cedric Morris, Magdalene Odundo, Jem Perucchini, Walter Sickert and Christopher Wood. — SAMANTHA CONTI

LULULEMON SIGNING: Lululemon is continuing to expand its ambassador roster with Seattle Seahawks wide receiver DK Metcalf signing on as the latest family member.

Metcalf joins NBA star Jordan Clarkson and NHL player Connor Bedard, tennis champion Leylah Fernandez and ultrarunner Camille Herron as faces of the brand.

Metcalf will be featured in Lululemon’s Get Into It campaign highlighting its ABC Pant. A television spot featuring Metcalf was expected to debut nationally on Sunday during NFL games.

Outside of his performance on the field, Metcalf is an advocate for mental health in professional sports and he has become known for sharing his own personal wellness journey.

“I see both Lululemon and myself as one of one,” Metcalf said. “I want to be unique in all that I do, on and off the field. I know Lululemon will be a driving force for me.”

In addition to appearing in promotional materials for the company, Metcalf will work with Lululemon to test its training and lifestyle products. “I try to do things outside of the norm,” he added. “Good style is something that makes a person feel comfortable. Let your light shine and just be you.”

Metcalf broke the news of the partnership Friday on his Instagram and TikTok pages and he was also seen wearing the brand on Monday at MetLife stadium in East Rutherford, N.J., when the Seahawks played the New York Giants during Monday Night Football. The Seahawks won the game. — JEAN E. PALMIERI

BACK AT IT: Just over a month after selling his Italia Independent eyewear brand to Modo Group, entrepreneur Lapo Elkann is returning to the company he founded in 2006 as creative director.

Modo Group revealed the appointment Friday, after buying out the brand last month in a 1 million euro deal, which was limited to the Italia Independent brand and did not involve Italia Independent Group SpA, the publicly listed company that operated the eyewear firm until before the transaction.

Back then Modo Group, which already operated the Modo and Eco eyewear brands, did not reveal whether the Fiat scion and grandson of the late Gianni Agnelli would remain involved in the brand’s operations.

“The founder of Italia Independent is its beating heart. I’m happy that Lapo [Elkann] will help us relaunch this unique and avant-garde brand contributing with his style,” said Alessandro Lanaro, founder and chief executive officer of Modo Group.

“I’ve accepted Alessandro Lanaro’s offer with enthusiasm and I look forward to kicking off the design process for the first collection,” said Elkann. “I’m emotionally very attached to Italia Independent and it’s a pleasure to continue supporting the brand with my creativity.”

In light of the acquisition, Lanaro has folded in management duties for Italia Independent together with Giovanni Lo Faro, CEO of Modo International, the company that distributes the Modo and Eco brands.

Modo Group, which was founded in New York in 1990 by Lanaro and operates in about 80 countries, said that it plans to boost Italia Independent’s international footprint, leveraging its group headquarters in Milan, New York and Stockholm.

The brainchild of Elkann, Italia Independent managed to capture the zeitgeist in the first years of its founding, experimenting with carbon fiber frames and its signature velvety sunglasses. Heavily reliant on its founder’s image and style, it expanded its reach via several collaborations and licensing deals over the years with, among others, Hublot, Adidas, The Walt Disney Company, Billionaire Boys Club, Juventus and Fiat 500. In 2020 it inked a five-year global license with soccer superstar Cristiano Ronaldo for the development and production of eyewear under the player’s CR7 brand.

In 2015 Italia Independent Group SpA was hit by financial troubles, which required the company to restructure by reducing costs and reinforcing the product offering. Despite several efforts from its shareholders, the company eventually filed for a composition with creditors procedure in mid-2022 approved by an Ivrea, Italy Court. — M.C.

ART SUPPORTER: Valentino is strengthening its ties with the world of art with a partnership with the Triennale Milano museum. 

The company is sponsoring an exhibition dedicated to Italian contemporary painting slated to run from Oct. 25 to Feb. 11 and will be part of the packed schedule of events marking the 100th anniversary of the multidisciplinary institution.

Dubbed “Pittura Italiana Oggi,” or “Italian Painting Today” in English, the show is being curated by Damiano Gullì and will bring together the works of 120 of the most interesting Italian artists from the 1960s to the 2000s.

The exhibition will feature one work per artist, created between 2020 and 2023 to provide cross-generational perspectives and original interpretations of contemporaneity. In particular, the time frame of reference is seen as pivotal for its historical, social and economic transformations and upheavals, from the pandemic and wars to the evolving applications of artificial intelligence. Reflections of such events will be detectable in many of the works on display.

Among the talents showcased, five artists have already collaborated with the fashion brand on the Valentino Des Ateliers fall 2021 couture collection, which was presented with a runway show in Venice. For the show, 22 out of the 82 designs were created in an exchange with an international group of 17 artists, including five whose works will be included in the museum exhibit: Benni Bosetto, Guglielmo Castelli, Francis Offman, Andrea Respino and Sofia Silvia. 

At the time, Valentino’s creative director Pierpaolo Piccioli underscored that “fashion is not art,” as the former “always has a practical scope while art is an end in itself.” Yet he said they share a common intent to reflect a historical moment and a perspective, each through its own language.

The designer penned the introduction to the catalogue that will flank the Triennale Milano exhibition. Published by Electa, the tome will include contributions by Triennale Milano’s president Stefano Boeri and show curator Gullì; art critics Francesco Bonami, Susan Hudson and Davide Ferri; a conversation on painting between the artistic director of Serpentine Galleries in London, Hans Ulrich Obrist, and artist Katharina Grosse, and a text on the exhibition design by architect Italo Rota, among others.

Overall, the show is linked to the history of Triennale Milano as it draws inspiration from the mural painting exhibitions organized in the Palazzo dell’Arte since 1933, as well as from Luciano Baldessari’s project for the 9th International Exhibition in 1951. The aim is to highlight how painting has been an object of analysis and display for the institution since its founding, in addition to spotlighting the richness and complexity of Italian painting.

Valentino’s sponsorship of the show is the latest in a series of art-related projects launched by the brand, which ranged from the Valentino on Canvas initiative spotlighting contemporary and emerging painters and sculptors to supporting the work of Gian Maria Tosatti at the Venice Art Biennale in 2022.

As reported, earlier this year the brand invited Italian artist Gioele Amaro — known for his digital color fields printed on canvas — to display his work at the brand’s new store in Avenue Montaigne in Paris. These were flanked by a huge billboard appeared on Avenue de l’Opéra which made for a unique piece Amaro specifically created for the occasion. 

Recently, Valentino also collaborated with contemporary talents for Frieze in Singapore and Seoul, tasking them to reinterpret the brand’s codes in new artworks. — SANDRA SALIBIAN

DE PIANTE’S OPENING: Veronica de Piante, the eponymous luxury womenswear label based in New York, will open a physical store for the fall 2023 season at 833 Madison Avenue in New York.

The store will be open through early 2024.

The two-story shop opens Saturday and will carry a selection of the brand’s elevated tailoring, knitwear, outerwear and eveningwear. The ground floor is 767 square feet, and there’s an additional 400 square feet on the second floor that will serve as a VIP and event area. Interiors were designed by Charlie Ferrer, who worked closely with de Piante to select each piece. They kept the look classic and minimal, aiming to complement the collection.

Retail prices range from $595 for a knit to $5,995 for a shearling coat. The Veronica de Piante line is also available at Veronicadepiante.com and Net-a-porter.com. The brand, which is independently owned, was launched in November 2022; this is its only physical retail space.

Raised in Bahrain with Italian and Argentine heritage, de Piante has curated a modern collection based on her experiences. Her line is made in Italy with fabrics from the country’s own mills and she works with multigenerational, family-run businesses. Some of her key styles have embroidered grosgrain hand-sewn by female Palestinian and Syrian artists through the Social Enterprise Project, an integral part of her collection.

“For me, Madison Avenue symbolizes the cross-generational appeal of women of style — the travelers as well as the locals who stroll there daily. A store is an opportunity to interact with our clients in person. We are so looking forward to building our community this way,” said de Piante.

She noted that the customer is a cross-generational woman of substance and style, who is wearing the clothes, not the other way around. The pieces are timeless and designed to be passed through generations, she said, noting the brand appeals to women in their 20s, but also in their 80s.

Just last week, Scarlett Johansson wore Veronica de Piante’s Giula jacket and Mick trousers to the Clooney Foundation for Justice’s 2023 Albie Awards.

To celebrate the opening, de Piante will partner with VIP stylist Kate Young for a stylist session at the space on Oct. 18. — LISA LOCKWOOD