Author: Simone Stern Carbone
PARIS — For Virgil Abloh, Paris was much bigger than just Fashion Week.“It was home, where he lived with his family,” said Chloé Sultan, who curated the new exhibition “Virgil Abloh: The Codes” with her husband, Mahfuz Sultan. “He cared deeply about Paris — not just as a fashion capital but as a city. He collaborated with local rappers, skaters, Arabic-speaking kids and francophone performers who otherwise wouldn’t have gotten a spotlight. This was the city where so many of his dreams were realised.”Spanning two floors in a wing of the Grand Palais, “The Codes,” which opens Tuesday on what…
Jean-Pierre Blanc, who founded and directed the Hyères International Festival of Fashion, Photography and Accessories for 40 years, is leaving the organisation. Under his leadership, Villa Noailles and the town of Hyères became a cultural hub with year-round programming, attracting sponsorship from Chanel, Hermès and other industry heavyweights, and launching the careers of designers including Viktor & Rolf, Anthony Vaccarello and Julien Dossena.Despite growing support from sponsors and the French government, the festival has struggled with soaring operating costs and unpaid vendor bills, drawing repeated accusations of financial mismanagement.Blanc’s departure raises questions about the festival’s stability ahead of its 40th…
LVMH-backed private equity firm L Catterton has named Stephanie Phair a senior advisor, leveraging her experience building and scaling global consumer and luxury brands.Phair, who founded The Outnet and later held senior leadership roles at Net-a-Porter and Farfetch, will work with the firm’s global portfolio of consumer companies, advising on growth, innovation and international expansion.Phair currently leads brand consultancy Invisible Dynamics, whose clients include Gap, Theory and Nike. Prior to that she held the titles of group president at Farfetch and executive chair of New Guards Group. She has also served as chair of the British Fashion Council and sat…