Pucci Goes Back Home, Dior Lands in Michigan, LVMH’s Board Pick
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HOMETOWN GLORY: Emilio Pucci’s next collection will be unveiled at a fashion show in the house’s hometown of Florence on May 4, WWD has learned.
It will mark the first runway showcase for Pucci artistic director Camille Miceli, who has preferred multiday lifestyle “experiences” since she arrived at the creative helm in September 2021.
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The venue for the evening display and other details are still under wraps. The summer collection that will be unveiled, dubbed “Initials E.P.,” is expected to pay tribute to the founder by “freshly exploring the roots of the maison.”
An image from the Pucci archives shows models on the barrel-clay-tile rooftop of Palazzo Pucci wearing the spring-summer 1967 collection of flowing evening dresses, terrycloth capes and wide-legged jumpsuits.
Controlled by luxury giant LVMH Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton since 2000, Pucci is now a resort-focused brand that unveils collections on a see-now, buy-now basis, although each unveiling includes several drops.
Miceli unveiled her debut collection in April 2022 over a two-day event that included a yoga class and dining on the beach in Capri, the island where founder Emilio Pucci opened his initial boutique in 1951.
She followed up with a three-day event last December at the glamorous Swiss mountain resort of St. Moritz, where she unveiled a Pucci x Fusalp skiwear collection.
Founder Emilio Pucci, who died in 1992, was a member of the Italian Olympic ski team in 1932. He began designing skiwear out of jersey fabrics in 1947 and opened his house in Florence in 1949.
Considered one of Italy’s fashion pioneers in outfitting the jet set, Pucci quickly became synonymous with dazzling, colorful prints and glamorous lifestyles. — MILES SOCHA
MICHIGAN, NO LONGER A DREAM: Dior has opened its first location in Michigan, a richly designed and decorated store in the Somerset Collection shopping center in Troy, which is part of the greater Detroit area.
The store, at 2801 West Big Beaver Road, spotlights the Dior women’s and men’s fashions as well as fine jewelry, timepieces, sunglasses, sneakers and belts.
The womenswear area furniture was supplied by various galleries and designers. Featured pieces include a Bruno Moinard sofa, Eros console by Angelo Mangiarotti and a side table Fetiche by Negropontes Gallery Paris. The menswear area’s furniture was selected from special designers. Featured pieces include Gio Ponti armchairs, a Neri & Hu side table and a Steiner armchair. Dior commissioned unique works of art for the store, including artwork by Louis Frydman. — DAVID MOIN
BOARD PICK: LVMH Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton plans to add a seasoned finance executive to its board.
At its next annual general meeting, due to be held on April 20, the French luxury conglomerate will propose the appointment of Laurent Mignon, group chief executive officer of investment firm Wendel, whose core shareholder is the Wendel family.
In addition, Mignon is vice chairman of the board of global certification firm Bureau Veritas and sits on the board of specialty materials manufacturer Arkema and AROP, the association of the Friends of the Paris Opera.
He is also a non-voting member of Franco-German financial services group Oddo BHF.
Prior to taking up his post at Wendel in December 2022, Mignon spent more than 12 years at Groupe BPCE, where he was CEO of corporate and investment bank Natixis and chairman of the executive board of Groupe BPCE from May 2018 to December 2022, among other positions.
After graduating from French business school HEC in 1986 and completing the Stanford Executive Program, Mignon worked for more than 10 years for Banque lndosuez, first in capital markets and then in corporate and investment banking. He has also held positions at Schroders Bank in London; insurance and financial services firm AGF, and Oddo & Cie.
If approved by shareholders, Mignon will be the first new member of the LVMH board since 2018. In addition to Bernard Arnault, chairman and CEO of LVMH, the board includes his children, Delphine Arnault and Antoine Arnault, as well as Italian executive Diego Della Valle, among others. — JOELLE DIDERICH
HEADING FOR THE SLOPES: Saks is hosting a weekend getaway in Aspen from Thursday through Sunday for Saks Limitless, its invite-only loyalty program.
Throughout the weekend, Saks Limitless clients and influential guests will be treated to a wide variety of luxury experiences including a horse and sleigh ride to the legendary Pine Creek Cookhouse, a mountaintop après-ski party at Aspenx Beach Club, guided skiing and snowboarding sessions on Aspen Mountain, spa treatments, private shopping appointments with local Aspen jewelry brand Atlas Fine by Ashley Wein, among other activities.
Some 20 guests will participate, and everything is complimentary, including the hotel.
Saks will also host virtual events on Saks Live throughout the weekend to give viewers a behind-the-scenes look at the exclusive experience. For example on Friday at 2 p.m., content creator and founder of the Tezza app Tezza Barton will style what she’ll be wearing for her weekend in Aspen with Saks, and on Saturday at noon, Saks Live will feature Ashley Wein talking about her jewelry brand.
“We are excited to see Saks Limitless continue to grow as we deliver access to more exclusive experiences and an unparalleled level of personalized service through the program,” said Mariel Sholem, vice president of Saks Limitless. “Top customers are important to our long-term strategy, and we remain committed to providing these high-value clients with the very best Saks has to offer. This incredible trip to Aspen serves as an example of how we bring the Saks experience to life for our top clients in new and exciting ways that are relevant to their lifestyles.”
As of March, Saks Limitless includes more than 5,000 top clients across the Saks Fifth Avenue ecosystem. — LISA LOCKWOOD
CHOOSING TILDA: South Korean skin care brand Sulwhasoo has tapped Tilda Swinton as its latest global brand ambassador.
According to the brand, through this position Swinton will be promoting Sulwhasoo’s global mission of “building a world of beauty powered by art and heritage.”
The Academy Award-winning actress joins Blackpink member Rosé, who was appointed as a global brand ambassador in 2022. This news comes on the heels of the brand’s recent announcement of a one-year partnership with The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City, through which the two will create programming to celebrate global heritage.
To kick-start her new role, Swinton, who has been a longtime fan of Sulwhasoo, appears in the brand’s second “brand universe” style video shot at the House of Sulwhasoo Bukchon in Seoul, South Korea. Rosé featured in the first “brand universe” style video last September. These videos aim to bring consumers into the Sulwhasoo world to experience the origin of the brand and its products.
In a quote featured on the brand’s Instagram, Swinton said, “I think spirit and heritage are really beyond valuable. There’s really a reason to focus on things that don’t change because they never will.”
In the new video titled “I Am Ginseng,” Swinton discusses her love for ginseng, an ingredient that has been at the core of the brand since its origin. The ingredient is featured in several of the brand’s current bestsellers, including the Concentrated Ginseng Renewing Cream, $260, and the Concentrated Ginseng Renewing Serum, $210.
This appointment follows Sulwhasoo’s recent rebranding initiative, unveiled last August through a campaign tagged #SulwhasooRebloom. Through this, the brand committed its efforts to showcasing how Sulwhasoo’s heritage led to it “blooming” into a modern, luxury global brand.
With rebranding and recent partnership news, Sulwhasoo plans to scale its presence globally, further expanding its footprint and presence outside of Korea. — EMILY BURNS
VIRTUAL TRY-ON: Maria Tash has launched virtual try-on software that lets shoppers plot out their piercing schemes before they even step foot in her store.
The jeweler’s Tash Studio software has been in development for more than five years and is more than just a sticker-type application.
“It’s fully rendered jewelry that uses AI to employ real piercing principles — it knows where rings and studs actually go on the ear and has principles of gravity built in. It knows the inner diameter of earrings and how much gravity sits on a ring. You can rotate studs 360 degrees,” Tash said of the program, which also knows where to not allow certain piercings on the ear.
Tash’s brand has been building out its collection of earring charms recently — allowing customers to add a little more zing to their look. In the Tash Studio program, charm use is encouraged: “You can take a charm and drag it onto a ring, and it knows which charm goes with which ring and it hangs appropriately,” she said.
Tash sees the software, which is now available for use on her brand’s site, as a multipronged opportunity. It enables a wider sense of comfort among consumers, helping them make decisions about body jewelry before they even enter her store. The program is already proven to boost online sales for those who already have piercings and want to plot out a new earring scheme.
“Initial data shows that our consumers spend more time and money [on our site]. Confidence is up and returns are down because of sizing,” Tash said.
The designer added that, “I have a vision for Maria Tash. This will not only live online in e-commerce, but it’s something we can deploy in-store when shoppers queue up. We do think it will create a bump in revenue for obvious reasons.”
That’s not the end of Tash’s ambition with the software. She plans to license it to other piercing and jewelry brands in the future.
“Right now we are in observation mode but we have high hopes for the software. We would like to work with other brands and think we can expand this in the future with partners,” Tash said. — MISTY WHITE SIDELL
CHILD’S PLAY: Ramy Brook, the women’s contemporary firm, is getting into the children’s business.
The first collection will launch on Thursday at ramybrook.com and at Ramy Brook’s Madison Avenue boutique.
The collection includes dresses, cover-ups and swimwear for girls ages 18 month to 12 years old. Many of the looks are matching versions of the women’s line and can be worn for mommy-and-me occasions.
The collection retails from $98 to $168.
Ramy Brook has always appealed to a multigenerational customer, and designing for both moms and their daughters has always been one of founder and chief creative officer Ramy Sharp’s goals.
“I’ve always designed clothing that both mothers and daughters could enjoy wearing, and since the start, we’ve done mother-daughter shoots for Ramy Brook. Creating a collection for little kids has been a longtime dream of mine that I’m now so excited to bring to life. Sharing clothes and inspiration with my daughter Stevie is something so special for me. With this new extension of Ramy Brook, I hope it sparks the same kind of joy for other mothers and daughters,” said Sharp. — L.L.
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