Jerry Hall, Jessica Miller and More Front Chloé, Gucci Sets a Date

CHLOE’S NEW CROWD: Ahead of her big runway reveal on Feb. 29 during Paris Fashion Week, Chloé’s new creative director Chemena Kamali is releasing a series of portraits of iconic women from different eras of the maison.

They include Jerry Hall, Jessica Miller, Natalia Vodianova and Liya Kebede, many of them pictured with the Eiffel Tower and Paris rooftops looming behind them.

The still campaign, lensed by photographer David Sims, plus a film by Frank Lebon, are to be released later Monday on Chloé‘s digital channels.

“I wanted to capture the emotion and energy of Chloé and the women who embody both its history and spirit,” said Kamali, revealing the images and the concept exclusively to WWD. “They are effortlessly powerful, beautiful, free.”

Hall and company are joined by a “new generation of Chloé women” including FeiFei Sun, Ornella Umutoni and Kristine Lindseth.

The portraits — featuring windblown hair, direct gazes and upturned chins — telegraph confidence, natural beauty and the dreamy femininity long associated with the Paris house, founded by Gaby Aghion in 1952.

All the models wear looks from Kamali’s pre-fall collection, which was shown to buyers in December under the utmost secrecy, and suggest a return to floaty fabrics, looser silhouettes and a powdery palette.

The images also feature Chloé’s new logo in a serif font inspired by the original from the ’70s, when designer Karl Lagerfeld propelled the house to prominence.

The tweaked logo was recently revealed on the maison’s Instagram account, which was wiped clean and is now being populated by Kamali, who wrote that she plans to build “on the vision that Gaby Aghion and Karl Lagerfeld defined early in the maison’s history.”

Lagerfeld’s incomparable fashion career included two stints at Chloé: from 1974 to 1983, and from 1992 to 1997. 

The maison’s latest Instagram post flashes images of a young Lagerfeld and his famously frothy, lighthearted creations, along with runway snippets from other chapters of the brand, which has been designed by a succession of mostly female designers.

Born in Germany in 1981, Kamali studied fashion design at the Trier University of Applied Sciences and then graduated from Central Saint Martins, a constituent college of the University of the Arts in London, in 2007, beginning her career at Chloé as part of Phoebe Philo’s team.

She rejoined Chloé in 2012 as design director under Clare Waight Keller until 2016, when she departed to become Saint Laurent’s women’s ready-to-wear design director under Anthony Vaccarello.

Her résumé also includes stints at Alberta Ferretti and Strenesse. She also recently consulted for Los Angeles-based contemporary brand Frame.

As creative director of the new “Chloé portraits,” Kamali conscripted Ashley Brokaw for casting, Lotta Volkova for styling, Damien Boissinot for hair, and Lucia Pieroni for makeup.

Sims lensed Chloé campaigns under two previous creative directors: Hannah MacGibbon and Natacha Ramsay-Levi. — MILES SOCHA

GUCCI ON CRUISE: Gucci has earmarked May 13 for the unveiling of its cruise 2025 collection. The show will be held in London, but in sync with the industry trend of divulging the location at a later date and with a separate communication, details about the venue are still not available.

This will be creative director Sabato De Sarno’s first cruise collection, after taking the helm of the luxury brand in January last year.

In a statement, the company said London “pays tribute to Gucci’s profound connection to the British capital, intrinsically linked to the brand’s heritage, and offers new opportunities to delve into the integral role the city has played in shaping the brand’s narrative throughout its storied history as a world-renowned symbol of Italian craft, visionary creativity and innovative design.”  

Indeed, Gucci’s history is linked to founder Guccio Gucci, who in 1897 was a luggage porter and lift boy at London hotel The Savoy. Observing the guests’ luggage, he was inspired to start creating his own line of luxury suitcases and bags, founding his namesake house in Florence in 1921 and setting up the first Gucci store in the Italian city’s Via della Vigna Nuova. 

Last year, Gucci staged its cruise 2024 show at the Gyeongbokgung Palace in Seoul on May 16, marking the brand’s 25 years in the country. That collection was designed by an in-house team, following the exit of previous creative director Alessandro Michele in November 2022.

The show was held in front of Geunjeongjeon, the main hall of the Gyeongbokgung Palace, known for being the main venue for royal ceremonies and for receiving foreign dignitaries during the Joseon Dynasty (1392 to 1910).

Before the COVID-19 pandemic hit, Michele had selected unique locations for Gucci’s then-called cruise collections: Arles, France, at the Alyscamps Roman necropolis, classified as a UNESCO World Heritage site in 1981, for the cruise 2019 show. Before that, the shows were held in other culturally significant locations, including New York’s Dia Art Foundation, Westminster Abbey’s cloisters in London, Palazzo Pitti’s Palatina Gallery in Florence and the Capitoline Museums in Rome. Gucci committed to preserve these storied sites.

What is known so far of the cruise calendar is that Chanel plans to present its 2025 line in the port city of Marseille on May 2. Louis Vuitton has scheduled its cruise show for May 23, and Dior has announced its show will take place on June 3 in an undisclosed location. Max Mara is planning to present its resort 2025 collection with a fashion show in Venice on June 11. — LUISA ZARGANI

AREA SIGNS ZANOTTI: Ahead of its spring 2024 show on Sunday, Area has revealed a new footwear licensing partnership with Giuseppe Zanotti.

The multiseason deal will see the Italian luxury footwear label manage the design, production and wholesale distribution of the New York-based womenswear brand’s shoe collection. The new category will debut during Area’s New York Fashion Week see now, buy now show Sunday.

For its inaugural project, around 30 signature styles, including platforms, flats and pumps were developed within Giuseppe Zanotti’s Italian production facilities. The styles will feature design elements that align with Area’s spring 2024 collection inspiration: eyes. From vintage ’20s cartoon googly eyes, Surrealist art movement fascinations with the eye, and graphic Pop Art, among others, the theme will be seen throughout the collection.

The footwear line will be immediately available for sale alongside the full Area fashion collection on the brand’s website as well as at Bergdorf Goodman and Fwrd, following the brand’s spring 2024 runway show.

The next collection, fall 2024, will be shown to international wholesale clients starting later this month at the Giuseppe Zanotti showroom in Milan, as well as the Tomorrow showrooms in Milan and Paris.

Beckett Fogg, cofounder and chief executive officer of Area, said in a statement that the company is “proud” of this new “dynamic” partnership that aims to leverage Giuseppe Zanotti’s Italian heritage craftsmanship and innovation to highlight Area’s signature embellishments and techniques. “Together, we present a collection which expands the Area universe, aligned in a vision to become the new face of global luxury,” Fogg said.

“I love Piotrek’s and Beckett’s multifaceted and evolving vision of femininity, I think we speak to the same woman,” Mr. Zanotti added. “Also, their passion for innovative embellishments and quality craftsmanship perfectly fit with our design DNA and time-honored expertise. The collection is vibrant, it’s like the music we both love listening to for inspiration.”

This is not the first time Giuseppe Zanotti has worked with another brand on shoes. In late 2020, Zanotti inked a footwear licensing deal with Alexandre Vauthier. The Paris-based designer — who is now in the third year of a licensing partnership with Zanotti — bowed his first shoe collection with the brand for pre-fall 2021. This is Giuseppe Zanotti’s only other licensing deal, according to the Italian company.

Separately, the Italian shoe brand teamed up with designer Nicolò Beretta to develop a new footwear line dubbed “Nicolò Beretta mentored by Giuseppe Zanotti,” which debuted for fall 2023.

Prior to working with Giuseppe Zanotti, Area worked with Sergio Rossi on a collection of shoes, starting in 2022. — STEPHEN GARNER

KANYE TURNS UP: Guillermo Andrade unveiled his 424 flagship to his entourage of friends on Friday.

Kanye West was among the guests, attracting attention — as he does — though his face was covered in a white mask.

“Something very important. The only GOAT,” Andrade shouted to the crowd with his hands on West’s shoulders. “The only GOAT,” he repeated. “The only f–king GOAT. The only one.”

The greatest of all time. It seems that’s who West is to Andrade — who has admirers of his own. An innovator in streetwear, Andrade’s former multibrand store on Fairfax Avenue, FourTwoFour, launched Jerry Lorenzo’s Fear of God and supported the likes of Rhude and Vlone early on. It’s now a new chapter for Andrade who has opened on coveted Melrose Place after closing the Fairfax location two years ago.

“I thought retail was over when I closed the Fairfax store,” Andrade told WWD. “I always knew I wanted to be in this neighborhood, and it is the right time now.”

It’s a cave-like feel inside the basement-level space, which offers Andrade’s label, 424. He introduced the line in 2015, launching with T-shirts, hoodies and trousers. It’s grown since then, expanding into new categories and manufactured in Italy. Priced between $115 and $1,480, it includes tailoring.

“Now we work with fabric mills and make our own fabric from scratch,” said Andrade. “We develop our own washes and our own treatments.”

Those who came out to the party included rapper Westside Gunn, actress Sasha Calle, stylist Aleali May, Simihaze Beauty’s Simi and Haze Khadra, actor-comedian DeRay Davis, stylist Ian Connor, designer Salehe Bembury and designer Reese Cooper. — RYMA CHIKHOUNE

ÁWET’S BIGGER REACH: In its second year, Áwet New York will expand its NYFW Showroom, which will include Black, Indigenous and people of color designers, at its store at 57 Bond Street from Friday to Feb. 13.

During this time, a curated group of Black, Indigenous and people of color-owned women’s brands across apparel, accessories and footwear will show in the 2,100-square-foot space. The brands include Áwet New York, which was founded by Awet Woldegebriel, a refugee from Eritrea, and which focuses on craftsmanship and community. The men’s and women’s collections feature luxury essentials.

The other brands are Esenshel, a classic American headwear brand reimagined and re-proportioned for the 21st century; Shekudo, under the creative direction of Akudo (Amy) Iheakanwa, which offers footwear and accessories and produces in Lagos, and Dur Doux, a fashion label from the mom-and-daughter duo Majla and Cynthia Burt, who design ready-to-wear collections, drawing inspiration from their coastal upbringing in Florida.

In addition to these four brands headlining the showroom, throughout the week other brands will host pop-ins within the store.

During Black History Month, Áwet’s goal is to do its part to offer designers an opportunity to focus on their creativity, art and fashion. The company believes that having a space where brands can meet with buyers and boutiques will impact their businesses. This latest event comes after a consistent effort to uplift the Black community, including last year’s showroom event for Black-owned brands, hosting a dinner celebrating 17 other Black designers in 2022, and partnering with Kenneth Cole to host a holiday pop-up featuring 10 small Black-owned businesses in the Bowery in 2021.

Woldengebriel opened Áwet’s first flagship at 57 Bond Street called Livewear in September, featuring an evolving roster of luxury designers of color, a first of its kind in New York City as a permanent fixture in the neighborhood. — LISA LOCKWOOD