Emilly Nunes 'Rainforest' Activist by Fernando Sippel for Numéro Netherlands February 2024
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Rumor: Louis Vuitton Is At Bat for Beverly Hills Cheval Blanc Property
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WWD shared the unconfirmed rumor that Louis Vuitton hopes to take over the defeated proposal for a 109-key Cheval Blanc hotel on the 50,000 sq foot property on Rodeo Drive in Beverly Hills.
LVMH thought they had a deal going last spring for the Cheval Blanc in Beverly Hills. AOC knew LVMH had the wrong team negotiating on their behalf, long before we wrote the end of the very close vote story.
Weekend Paris Protests at New Louis Vuitton Hotel Site
The circumstances of the 2023 Cheval Blanc Beverly Hills no-vote is even more relevant today, after protesters took over the Paris construction site of the new Louis Vuitton hotel and store in Paris this weekend.
Read MoreCandice Swanepoel's Tropic of C x Agua Bendita Swim in Mushrooms Lovefest
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Today, supermodel Candice Swanepoel and Carolina Sanchez [IG] deliver divine new images lensed by Jerome Duran [IG] for the Tropic of C x Agua Bendita swimwear collaboration.
A Gaia Love Letter
Respect and joy over the gifts of the natural world are center stage for both brands: Tropic of C and Agua Bendita. Sustainability and a deep-seeded respect for Gaia are key brand planks.
Equally important, connections among mothers and their children send precious Gaia statements about human connections on earth.
Mushrooms on Two Levels of Symbolism: Ancient Worship and a Global Mushroom Network
The creation of a charming mushroom print for the Tropic of C x Agua Bendita drop has deep roots in many ancient cultures around the world.
In particular, our focus on psilocybin or ‘magic mushrooms’ is fundamental to the much-acclaimed rise of western civilization.
Read MoreImaan Hammam for Zara Swimwear | Even Stone Age Humans Loved Swimming
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Imaan Hammam for Zara Swimwear | Even Stone Age Humans Loved Swimming
Top model Imaan Hammam fronts the late February 2024 release of Zara Swimwear. The images remind us that spring is coming in to the northern hemisphere, and swimming is on our minds.
Some of the earliest examples of ancient swimmers include the frescoes in the Cave of Swimmers in Egypt, dating back to around 10,000 years ago.
Water holds immense symbolic significance in various global religions due to its powerful and transformative nature. In many belief systems, water is seen as a source of life and purification.
Read on about the role of water in Buddhism, Hinduism, Islam and indigenous cultures.
Read MoreVogue China Editor-in-Chief Margaret Zhang Departs End of March 2024
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Margaret Zhang’s tenure as editor-in-chief of Vogue China will be a short one.
Condé Nast chief content officer Anna Wintour shared the news with Vogue China staff in an email on Friday that Zhang will be leaving the publication at the end of March when her contract expires.
Youngest EIC Ever
Zhang’s appointment to the prestigious position of editor-in-chief in February 2021 redefined the career skills propelling a professional talent into such a prestigious position. Not only was Zhang the youngest Vogue editor ever at just 27, she was the first influencer — and one with little magazine experience — to be named a top editor at any Vogue edition.
Read MoreDevyn, Doutzen, Imaan, Lily, Mayowa: New Body by Victoria 2024 Campaign
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Models Devyn Garcia, Doutzen Kroes, Imaan Hammam, Lily Aldridge and Mayowa Nicholas invite us into Victoria’s Secret 7.0, or whatever version we’on at this point. Anne is totally lost.
It’s great, though to see such a high-quality cast assembled on behalf of the new Body by Victoria 2024 Campaign.[IG] Photographer Mikael Jansson [IG] captures the quintet, styled by Camilla Nickerson. / Makeup by Mark Carrasquillo; hair by James Pecis
We don’t know the annual results for VS, which had another very tough year in revenue and profitability in 2023. Those results will become public on March 7, 2024.
It seemes that the global fashion show documentary did not fare particularly well, as VS chief executive Martin Waters said — speaking about a list of VS actions to reinvigorate the entire business, not only the renewed 2023 fashion show: “Despite everyone’s best endeavours, it’s not been enough to carry the day.”
Read MoreAOC Revisits Jennifer Garner's Once Upon a Farm As PBC Kids Food Company
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Healthy Food for Kids Unites Jennifer Garner and Ron Finley
It’s been over five years since AOC wrote about Jennifer Garner’s co-owned business ‘Once Upon a Farm’. Our focus in summer 2018 was the actor’s support of Ron Finley, the Gangsta Gardener of the Ron Finley Project.
Jennifer Garner got AOC’s attention today after seeing a Fortune Magazine headline that Once Upon a Farm is now a $100 million business eyeing an IPO.
AOC knew in 2018 that Once Upon a Farm had B-Corp status. But we were confused reading today that the company also registered as a Public Benefit Corporation [PBC] in 2021.
Of course, we asked: What’s a PBC? Now we have some answers.
Read MoreTod's Group and L Catterton Sign Deal to Delist from Italian Stock Exchange or Merge
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On Super Bowl Sunday, the Tod’s-LVMH decades-long business connection went into high gear with news that Tod’s Diego Della Valle, his brother Andrea Della Valle and the LVMH-backed private equity firm L Catterton have entered an agreement involving the launch of a tender offer at €43 per Tod’s share. The goal of delisting Tods’Group from the Italian stock exchange is in sight.
Today’s financial offer will leave the Della Valle Family with a 54 percent stake in Tod’s Group capital and assets; L Catterton will indirectly own 36 percent and Delphine SAS [a fully-owned subsidiary of LVMH] will retain a 10 percent stake.
Tod’s first announced a desire to delist its company from the Italian stock exchange in August 2022. That effort failed in October 2022, when a bid launched solely by the Della Valle family failed to reach the 90% threshold required to delist.
Anne of Carversville wrote days ago about about our growing understanding of the management style of LVMH/Bernard Arnault-trained executives. The trees planted have deep roots that bear premium fruit with long-term alliances, strong interpersonal friendships, trust and loyalties. It’s impressive.
Read MoreLVMH Maison Acqua di Parma Yellow Cafe Opens in Seoul, Korea Designed by Dorothee Meilicjzon
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Italian Maison Acqua Di Parma, a member of the LVMH family of artisans and artists-inspired maisons, brings its Italian heritage and Milanese creativity to Seoul with the Acqua di Parma Yellow Café. The design by Dorothée Meilichzon fuses Italian charm with the dynamic spirit of Seoul.
Located at Lotte Avenuel Jamsil B1F, Acqua di Parma Yellow Café is much more than a café, proposing an immersion into the Maison’s unique aesthetic and heritage.
Indeed, you are seeing a ‘wavy plate’ on a shelf [below] in Seoul’s new Acqua di Parma Yellow Café. If you seek a concrete signal about the hoped-for evolution of the new cafe in Seoul, recall the March 2022 pop-up in Milan for the brand’s new fragrance Colonia CLUB.
Read MoreEmRata Loves the Beachy Vibe of Victor & Rolf's Flowerbomb Tiger Lily Solar Fragrance
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Netflix announced on Wednesday that Emily Ratajkowski will join the new Lena Dunham series ‘Too Much’, a romantic comedy series created by Dunham and husband Luis Felber.
The announcement is perfect timing for EmRata, who returns as the face of the latest Viktor & Rolf Flowerbomb Tiger Lily perfume campaign, lensed by Anthony Arquier [IG].
Read MoreCan LVMH Write the Book on Developing Human Potential in Brands and Businesses?
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The more AOC studies LVMH from every angle, the more impressive the organization becomes. I’ve been researching ways in which LVMH has addressed the philosophy of humanism. The concept flourishes across the maisons, and it seems that great care is given to developing both the executives and the artisans.
Fundamental to the maisons is a similar vision for how the brands interact with their clients — and not only their elite-class clients. LVMH plants deep, dynamic forests for their brands.
As everyone says, LVMH moves fast, but it’s also the case that huge mistakes are avoided because of a culture of deep roots and also deep knowledge about the humans who work in their businesses.
Read MoreBarbara Palvin in For Love and Lemons Valentine's Day 2024 Collection
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Top model Barbara Palvin brings her sensual mix of femininity and seductive, innocent coquette to For Love & Lemons Valentine’s Day 2024 collection, lensed by Carin Backoff [IG].
The History of Valentine’s Day
AOC embarked on a brief history of Valentine’s Day to support these images. It became so complicated with historical data that resonates with 2023 politics in America, that we are backing off and issuing it separately ‘next-door’ to this page.
Read MoreZac Posen Tapped By GAP Inc. As EVP Creative Asset Across Gap Brands
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American designer Zac Posen is starting his next chapter in San Francisco, accepting a dual role as Executive Vice President & Creative Director of Gap Inc and Chief Creative Officer of Old Navy.
In Posen, Dickson said he saw a combination of cultural savvy and technical skill that could jumpstart Gap Inc. getting it back on track.
Posen’s position is the first time Gap Inc. has hired a creative lead at the executive portfolio level which includes Athleta, Banana Republic, and Old Navy besides Gap.
Dickson is looking for an intellectual creative partner to cultivate and inspire his own vision at Gap. Part of Posen’s role will be to create sparkplug synergy in Dickson and other creatives across the organization.
Read MoreUsher's V-Day 2024 SKIMS Mens Campaign Hits on New NBA Alliance
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In advance of his NFL Super Bowl Sunday halftime show, Usher fronts a new campaign for SKIMS Stretch and SKIMS Cotton mens collections.
“Kim’s been a longtime friend of mine who’s always been so supportive of my work, so the opportunity to collaborate together on a campaign that supports both of our highly anticipated launches made total sense,” Usher told the press about his Skims debut. “Launching this campaign ahead of multiple career milestones feels like a full circle moment, with SKIMS.”
The brand will be offering an exclusive version of Usher’s new album, ‘Coming Home’, featuring a bonus track. The Skims product drops on Monday, February 12, noon EST.
Read MoreBottega Veneta Embraces Sumptuous, Modern Elegance in Milan's Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II
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Italian luxury brand Bottega Veneta opened its third store in Milan on Tuesday, with a design perfectly integrated into Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II, a landmark location between the city’s Duomo cathedral and the Teatro alla Scala.
Covering about 2,600 square feet over two levels, the store is AOC’s favorite to date. It’s modern without being cold and sumptuous without being overbearing. Even the huge gold planter works for AOC. Love the green leather.
“There are different experiences of space in the store,” Matthieu Blazy told WWD. “I wanted to express the idea of a domestic interior referring to Italian modernist architecture that contrasts with the aesthetic of a spaceship. And to capture the intimacy and the imagination of getting dressed.”
Read MoreThis Is Sotheby's? The Stories Kristina O'Neill Can Tell As Head of Sotheby's Media
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Kristina O’Neill, former EIC of WSJ Magazine is now installed at Sotheby’s as Head of Sotheby’s Media and editor-in-chief of a revamped Sotheby’s Magazine.
What an exciting creative road lies ahead of her. AOC raises this topic because O’Neill seems perfectly primed to tap into the creative and business evolution going on at the world’s largest auction house. Visually, it’s one that expands the customer base and also acquires “heart” along the way.
O’Neill can catch the modernized Sotheby’s football and run with it. Her decade of work at WSJ Magazine reveals her status as a change agent. Only someone like AOC who can easily call up a decade of her work for review is aware that O’Neill was featuring Black talent long before the summer of 2020.
British-Ghanaian photographer Campbell Addy comes to mind. Outside of a small feature in British Vogue in 2018, Addy shot for WSJ Magazine before any of the other major magazines.
Read MoreLVMH Reports Record 2023 Financial Results Adding $30 Billion to Market Value
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Louis Vuitton, Moët & Chandon and Hennessy [LVMH] reported 2023 year-end sales of 86.15 billion euros [$93.46 billion], representing a 10% organic increase in fourth quarter and a 13% organic growth yearly increase against 2022.
Profit from recurring operations stood at €22.8 billion for 2023, up 8%. The current operating margin remained stable with respect to 2022. In addition, LVMH has advised the markets that it anticipates no further price increases across its business units in 2024.
Now that he is back to being the richest man in the world, thanks to a 12% rise in LVMH’s stock price on Friday, Arnault’s practice of engaging his children in collective conversations around every aspect of the entire LVMH business over Zoom lunches — early breakfast in New York — reminds us that the family is not a Rupert Murdoch-like clan of cannibals.
Read MoreCandice Swanepoel Promotes Hailey Bieber's Rhode Skin Pineapple Refresh Cleanser
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Candice Swanepoel and Hailey Bieber are two of the smartest women in the fashion and beauty sectors. Now they are teaming up in the launch of Bieber’s Rhode Skin calendar girls, with Swanepoel owning January and July.
Low-Key Cross Promotion
As of this moment, Candice has her @Rhode images on her personal IG, not Tropic of C. That may change in a few days, but Monday, this is Swanepoel’s only action. The sequence of three images and one video has 255,000 likes in 3-4 days.
No fanfare, no endorsements. Just the two women together as the friends they are in real life. Moving over to Rhode [IG], Candice appears again as Miss July and this time she’s carrying a big tube of the new Rhode Pineapple Refresh Cleanser.
Read More'Amor e Cia' for Vogue Portugal December 2023 Explores Skin Color Beauty
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Photographer Catharina Pavitschitz [IG] adds poetic beauty to the pages of Vogue Portugal’s [IG] December 2023 ‘Love and Hope’ issue with ‘Amor e Cia’ [Love and Company].
Vogue Portugal has an exemplary history in dealing with deeply-challenging issues of skin color, as it impacts racial identity and global culture images.
As European powers began to expand their empires through colonization, the concept of race as a hierarchical system based on physical attributes — particularly skin color — gained traction. This intellectual position was driven by the need to justify the subjugation and exploitation of indigenous populations and the mass enslavement of Africans across the continent.
The Vatican occupies a position of great prominence at the historical heart of the global slave trade, dating back to the 15th century when Pope Nicholas V issued the papal bull Dum Diversas in 1452, granting the Portuguese the right to enslave non-Christian peoples.
Read MoreLouis Vuitton Men SS 2024 by Pharrell Williams Hong Kong Pop-Up Joins Upcoming 50 Locations
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