March - April 2025 Brands: How Will Medusa Express Herself in New Versace? | Brunello Cucinelli BC Duo Bag for Today’s Women | Hermès Embraces Assertive Sensuality — Yes, Hermès
/ Anne Enke
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Jacquemus 'GOING BANANAS FOR JON' in LA April 2025
American actor Jon Gries, presently playing the role of Greg on ‘The White Lotus’, has gone bananas in the new Jacquemus [IG] campaign, inspired by the color yellow.
Cheekily titled ‘GOING BANANAS FOR JON’, Jacquemus is being subversive but in such a delightful way to celbrate its new flagship store in LA.
Located at 8804 Melrose Avenue, on the corner of Robertson Boulevard, the flagship celebrates the beloved, south-of-France-inspired Jacquemus ethos.
AOC recalls Pharrell Williams trying to park his Tesla cybertruck in front of the Louis Vuitton store in Miami in January 2024 and failed. The moment was only the beginning of Tesla’s problems.
Jacquemus took a much simpler route for a grand-entrance vehicle in LA. Check it out.
A Global History of Courtesans Thru the Lens of Louboutin Beauty
Today we return to Mesopotamia, asking about the rise of courtesans. Was it a worldwide role for select women, a role crossing many different global cultures but with compatible definitions?
In Mesopotamia Temple priestesses, often referred to as "sacred prostitutes," were involved in religious rites, highlighting a blend of the sacred and the secular that involved sexual service as part of worship. . . These practices are mentioned in the Code of Hammurabi, which provides one of the earliest written references to women who engaged in such roles.
In Greece The concept of the courtesan emerged more distinctly in Greece. . . In India Ancient texts in India also offer early textual evidence of courtesans, with references in ancient texts such as the Arthashastra and the Kamasutra . . . In China The origins of courtesans can be traced back to the Zhou Dynasty, which lasted from approximately 1046 to 256 BC . . . In Italy The origins of courtesanship can be traced back to a complex interplay of social, economic, and cultural factors that emerged during the Renaissance.
In America Yes, there is a record of courtesans in America. But AOC needs to catch up with the facts. After reading about white women courtesans in urban cities like New York and Chicago, we queried the story in New Orleans.
The findings were borderline extraordinary, and we will explain in our next deep dive into red lips women.
The ‘Prada Days of Summer 2025 Campaign’ Finds Wisdom in Calm Waters
Prada [IG] releases its ‘Prada Days of Summer 2025 Campaign’ lensed by Oliver Hadlee Pearch [IG] with creative direction by Ferdinando Verderi and designers Miuccia Prada and Raf Simons.
Prada is known for being one of fashion world’s most intellectual brands.
Pearch’s calm waters are distinctive in the summer campaign images. Of course, AOC turns to the lessons of history to consider not only the waters, but also the faces of the campaign traveling in small boats.
The symbolism and mythology of calm waters have been the source of contemplation and meaning across all continents and religions in the history of humankind.
A Lesson from Icarus for Elon Musk
In the Greek myth Icarus likely saw his reflection in the calm waters of the sea — as he plunged to his death. Ignoring the advice of Daedalus that he not fly too close to the sun — or his wings would become dysfunctional as the wax holding them together melted — Icarus could not resist separating himself from the rest of humanity as a sun god.
The Jacquemus x Timberland 'La Bateau' Is Perfect for Rowing to a Fight Oligarchy Rally
Timberland calls it “a new shade of iconic”. Too bad that ‘iconic’ is now the most overused word in fashion, because this New Hampshire wilderness meets Jacquemus south of France ‘La Bateau’ 3-Eye boat shoe just might live up to the meaning of the word ‘iconic’.
Or as the AOC/Bernie Sanders ‘Fight Oligarchy’ tour around America would say “a Riviera-looking AOC joins forces with New England workwear Bernie Sanders” and the crowds are losing their damn minds.
How Will Medusa Express Herself As Prada’s Versace Deal Moves Towards the Finish Line?
Luxury brand Versace has often taken its inspiration from Mediterranean mythology, particularly Greek mythology, as evidenced by its iconic Medusa logo.
Making Medusa the symbol of Versace was a daring act, deeply embedded in ancient history and the takedown of women by a rising patriarchy, who sought to control every aspect of women’s lives.
Like Lilith, Medusa was portrayed as demonic — and that was a purposeful act by the ancient-world men in charge.
Donatella Versace’s ongoing involvement with Versace as a brand ambassador, post Prada’s acquisition, is a living — not archived — critical resource. Medusa sits atop the Versace story, and we hope to hear from her soon.
Gisele Bundchen: The Early Years 1996 - 2007 and a Victoria’s Secret Career-Making Contract
Gisele was a rising star model with plenty of work in 1999. It’s almost impossible to believe, but Gisele appeared on 37 international and US covers of ‘Vogue’ alone in 2000.
Then all hell broke loose in a change that put Gisele Bündchen in the financial stratosphere of models.
In 2000, the Brazilian powerhouse signed a five-year contract with Victoria’s Secret, estimated by People Magazine to be worth $25 million. This deal made Bündchen an early member of the Angels sorority and the highest-paid model on the Forbes list for 14 straight years.
Brunello Cucinelli BC Duo Bag Campaign Shares a New Vision for a Feminine Ideal
The Brunello Cucinelli fashion business is built on the Italian values of humanism — a philosophy that AOC embraces fully now and always in my life. I am now clear in my own mind what other Italian-origin forces exist in opposition to humanism and are running wild across the US federal government.
I keep reading about alleged brilliance at work, but these beliefs run scarily close to the Italian poet Filippo Tommaso Marinetti, who published the "Manifesto of Futurism" in 1909.
AOC first wrote about the Manifesto in the 2016 Democratic primary, and it’s now thriving in the Trump administration, where it unites the far left and far right far closer than we want to admit.
The house’s ‘BC Duo’ handbag represents a bit of a torch-passing moment, as the first bag to be designed by the Cucinelli daughters. The softly-structured tote might be the quintessential ‘ladies’ bag, especially the largest of the four sizes, which appeals to our own ‘throw in anything I might need today’ mentality.
Models Rim Tekle and Tara Halliwell together symbolize the purity of the feminine ideal in Brunello Cucinelli’s world. I will leave that statement hanging to give it oxygen, rather than death by asphyxiation. ~ Anne
Le Monde d’Hermès 86 Magazine SS-2025 Lensed by Osma Harvilahti in Lisbon
AOC shares images shot in Lisbon by Osma Harvilahti [IG] for LeMonde d’Hermès 86 magazine, edited by Olivier Wicker [IG]. Models Io Sekine and Tass Sarr are styled by Rae Boxer in key pieces from the spring collection. /Hair by Pawel Solis;makeup by Karin Westerlund
Hermès’ creative director of women's ready-to-wear Nadège Vanhée expressed a not-often used phrase to describe her approach to the Spring 2025 season: “What I want to convey as the message is the idea of an assertive sensuality,” she said. “You know, it’s about the summer, a feel-good summer, and, really, this relationship you have with your skin.”
Tod's Emerging Talent 'Italian Diaries' Campaign for Gommino Driving Shoe
Tod’s unveils Italian Diaries, a campaign that honors the brand’s legendary Gommino driving shoe, embraced by five emerging talents with rich artistic backgrounds: actress and singer Ella Bleu Travolta, musician Lennon Gallagher, writer and director Stella Banderas, model and artist Roberto Rossellini, and singer and actor Leo Gassmann.
Set at Villa Talamo amidst the stunning, ancient Tuscan scenery, photographer Oliver Hadlee Pearch [IG], shoots the campaign in black and white, while the Gomminos breakout in full-color images on social media and the Tod’s website.
As a symbol of Italian culture and craftsmanship, one that represents Tod’s expertise and attention to small details, the luxury brand is part of a larger renaissance of the Italian story, one that AOC is studying in great detail.
How do we create cultures that thrive for centuries — even with an egotistical madman at the wheel and democratic ideals thrown to the curb? We’re about to find out. It’s not as if Italy — and the rest of Europe also — haven’t been down this road before.
Anne of Carversville has long-prized elegant packaging as part of the beauty experience. Dior Beauty Riviera summer 2025 delivers for the first time ever, the iconic Toile de Jouy pattern on limited-edition makeup cases and powders.
Surely this packaging belongs in a scene from Deva Cassel’s new Netflix series ‘The Leopard’. Cassel plays the role of Angelica Sedara, amid the 1860s fall of the Sicilian aristocracy, where she enjoys a high-society romance with Prince Tancredi Falconeri, played by actor Saul Nanni.
The summer 2025 Dioriviera release combines beauty’s latest modern technology against the romantic, heart-grabbing emotions of Riviera summers from Cannes to Portofino. They remain an indescribable part of Anne’s life experiences.
The Spring 2025 Ralph Lauren Campaign Is One Young Americans Can Trust
Last September, New York Fashion Week Spring/Summer 2025 opened in a rather surprising location, casually called the East End by New Yorkers.
It was a quintessential Ralph Lauren experience — an ultimate, middle class guy makes good, American experience. They are in short supply these days, but Ralph Lauren should start a young mens academy for today’s young men so impacted by him.
In Virginia, Ralph Is the Man
After the disappointing 2024 presidential election in America, I cast my focus to work with young men in Virginia, who had voted for Trump. The group can be mixed, but it must have young male Trump voters.
For those young men — Latino, Black and White — Ralph Lauren is their hero. A mix of college men and young business owners, they stunned me with their breath of knowledge about marketing. They also know Louis Vuitton inside out, and Pharrell’s role there.
‘Acqua Fiuggi: Loved by Vogue’ Reinvention Campaign Taps Elizaveta Porodina
Acqua Fiuggi: Loved by Vogue’, lensed by Elizaveta Porodina [IG], is a high-profile reinvention campaign, with ancient DNA. The portfolio of top luxury brands like Prada or Louis Vuitton don’t really need Condé Nast, as much as Vogue’s parent needs them.
That’s not the case for Acqua Fiuggi, a brand of bottled water repositioning itself as part of the wellness business sector.
Gut health was probably not on the menu at the ‘Acqua Fiuggi Loved by Vogue’ dinner photocall at Biocca Hangar during Milan Fashion Week. Nor was the fact that six years ago, Acqua Fiuggi’s owners were in the Frosinone Bankruptcy Court.
Gustav Klimt Painting of Prince William Nii Nortey Dowuona and ‘Human Zoos’
A potentially lost forever, early artwork by renowned Austrian artist Gustav Klimt, missing since the 1930s, is now being exhibited after its recent recovery. The painting portrays Prince William Nii Nortey Dowuona, a leader of the Ga people from what is now known as Ghana in West Africa. Created in 1897, the portrait shows the prince in profile set against an abstract floral backdrop. Measuring just over 2 feet in height, the compact artwork is being showcased by the Viennese gallery Wienerroither & Kohlbacher (W&K) at the TEFAF Maastricht art fair in the Netherlands, with an asking price of €15 million (approximately $16.3 million).
The Rise of Ethnographic Showcases or ‘Human Zoos’
According to W&K, the painting was created by the artist amid the 1897 Vienna Völkerschau. These Völkerschau exhibitions were ethnographic showcases — also called human zoos — from the colonial era. These widely-attended exhibitions across Europe during the 19th and 20th centuries were often businesses created for financial profit.
AOC is reviewing the totality of Anderson’s work for LOEWE, including work we’ve not shared before. These fashion images capturing the 2018 Loewe x Charles Rennie Mackintosh capsule collection are a perfect example of Anderson’s enormous respect for Arts & Crafts movements worldwide.
The handsome Felix Sueur joined with models Fran Summers and Giselle Norman in the Loewe x Charles Rennie Mackintosh capsule collection lookbook lensed by fashion photographer Craig McDean with styling by Benjamin Bruno. /Hair by Anthony Turner; makeup by Lynsey Alexander
Designer Jonathan Anderson Resigns As Loewe’s Creative Director After 11 Years
The news was confirmed Monday, March 17 following months of speculation about the evolving chess game supporting creative talent at LVMH. The question is whether all players will be in place in a day or two, or the completion wait goes on.
After spending hours revisiting Jonathan Anderson’s body of work, taking the reins at Dior would be absolute perfection for him. Both Anderson are Chiuri are humanists, with a profound attachment to craft and human artistry. Both designers embrace the entire international community at large and are devoted to honoring history in fresh, new ways.
To seal the deal for AOC, watching the LOEWE Pre-Spring/Summer 2025 Campaign video, Lilith’s name appears as 1800 BC in the upper left hand corner of the art studio segment. That love note to feminists and Jewish women nails it for Jonathan Anderson at Anne of Carversiville.
Pharrell Williams Carries the Olympic Torch Onwards to UNESCO for Louis Vuitton Men
The Louis Vuitton Men Spring 2025 campaign, lensed by Stef Mitchell with Gabriel Moses [IG] as photographer and director, The visual effects continue the major themes Louis Vuitton Men creative director Pharrell Williams introduced at his fashion show held in Paris at UNESCO House.
This season Vuitton Men teamed up with Air Afrique in Paris, a consultancy inspired by those glorious years when all things seemed possible, and a multicultural youth quake took hold around the world.
After his recent role representing Louis Vuitton and his adopted country of France at the 2024 Paris Olympics, Williams was feeling the love of his own humanrace [Pharrell’s skincare brand] family.
LVMH Orchestrates 3 Next Act Chairs for Bertrand, Arnault, Angeloglou March 2025
LVMH has taken major steps to fortify management of its largest brands Louis Vuitton and Christian Dior with promotions from its own rich stable of executive talent.
Damien Bertrand, currently CEO of Loro Piana, will become deputy CEO of Louis Vuitton.
Pierre-Emmanuel Angeloglou, who joined Vuitton as strategic missions director for fashion and leather goods and was later named executive vice president, will become deputy CEO of Christian Dior Couture.
Frédéric Arnault, currently CEO of LVMH Watches, which comprises Tag Heuer, Hublot and Zenith, will become CEO of Loro Piana.
Louis Vuitton is launching La Beauté Louis Vuitton with Dame Pat McGrath
The makeup collection will initially launch with 55 lipsticks, 10 lip balms and eight eye palettes. "Working backstage for over 20 years at Louis Vuitton fashion shows, I am thrilled to now play such a key role in the launch of La Beauté Louis Vuitton, which is the result of extraordinary craftmanship, creativity and innovation," says McGrath.
McGrath will continue to oversee her own make-up brand, Pat McGrath Labs, which she launched in 2015 with great success. The LVMH structure for La Beauté Louis Vuitton mirrors the one in place with Guerlain’s Violette Serrat.
AOC Taps Debra Shaw in Dior Cruise 2025 for a History Lesson on Pre-Christian Scottish Women
Maria Grazia Chiuri staged her Dior Cruise 2025 show in the gardens of Drummond Castle in Scotland, with bagpipes making the occasion. The winter Luxe issue of Grazia UK [IG] features top model Debra Shaw wearing key pieces from the Dior Cruise 2025 collection, lensed by Silvana Trevale [IG] at the Gleneagles Hotel in Perthshire, Scotland.
Dior’s Maria Grazia Chiuri Always Finds the Unique Makers for Her Collections
In fashion we concentrate so much on shape Grazia said, but textiles are a big part of our job—what you can do with them, and the changes you can make through them.” So, Chiuri went to the traditional—the tartan and cashmeres, the tweeds and the Argyles—and deftly filtered them into a collection which variously drew on the geopolitics of fabrics.
Chiuri’s collection and brief history lesson took AOC on a breakthrough journey into the history of women in Scotland and beyond. Anne never intended to land in a deep-dive into the Middle Ages. In fact, that’s exactly where our Gleneagles Defender landed.
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