Portman Plays Godmother, Casta Fronts Calzedonia, Ralph’s Fashion Scholarship
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PICKING PORTMAN: Natalie Portman could win an award at the upcoming Cannes Film Festival, but she’ll certainly be giving one.
The “Thor” and “Black Swan” star, who will be in competition for Todd Haynes’ “May December,” in which she stars with Julianne Moore, has been named godmother of the Trophée Chopard, which highlights two talents that had a successful debut.
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Choosing Portman as godmother recognizes not only a “cinema legend” whose career spans nearly three decades, a number of distinctions in acting as well as direction and production, but also “her commitment as a woman of strong convictions,” according to Chopard copresident and artistic director Caroline Scheufele.
The actress “pours her entire heart into her projects, and it is with strong emotional engagement and a caring attitude that she will present their awards to the winners of the 2023 Trophée Chopard,” the jewelry executive said.
Launched in 2001, the prize is considered to be a particularly auspicious distinction, with previous winners including Léa Seydoux, Diane Kruger, Florence Pugh, Anya Taylor-Joy, James McAvoy and John Boyega.
The year’s female and male winners will be selected by the Académie du Trophée Chopard, which is composed of past winners as well as previous editions’ godmothers and godfathers.
Its presenters have been no less distinguished as Portman succeeds Julia Roberts, Jessica Chastain, Cate Blanchett, Julianne Moore and Charlize Theron in the role.
Winners will receive the award on May 19 at a dinner presided over by Scheufele and festival executives Iris Knobloch, its president, and Thierry Frémaux, its general delegate.
Swedish director Ruben Östlund, of “Triangle of Sadness” fame, will serve as jury president for the upcoming edition, which will take place from May 16 to 27, while the rest of the jury has not yet been revealed.
Chopard, which celebrated last year its 25th anniversary as official sponsor of the Cannes Film Festival, is the maker of the Palme d’Or and all other trophies handed out at the competition. The Swiss jeweler will also unveil its annual Red Carpet high jewelry collection, which will count 76 pieces, in a nod to the number of editions of the festival. — LILY TEMPLETON
SIREN CALL: Gruppo Calzedonia has tapped French model and actress Laetitia Casta as the face of its spring-summer 2023 Calzedonia swimwear collection.
She appears in a campaign set to break Wednesday in tandem with the launch of a 10-piece capsule line of one-piece swimsuits available exclusively in France, the Italian innerwear, hosiery and swimwear group said.
“The actress immediately appeared as the ideal face for this European campaign. A French icon, she shares the same values as the brand, among them audacity and femininity,” Calzedonia said in a statement.
Calzedonia previously tapped Julia Roberts for a series of television ad campaigns, but this marks the first time it is working with a French personality.
The group has been stepping up its activities in France, home to around 10 percent of its global network of 2,193 stores in 55 countries.
In September it staged a showcase event for its legwear during Paris Fashion Week, where group general manager Marcello Veronesi revealed that it had signed Jennifer Lopez as the new face of its Intimissimi brand.
Swimwear represents around 30 percent of Calzedonia’s sales, and one-piece swimsuits are especially popular in France. In a Q&A, Casta said her favorite styles included the red Lione with a cutout back, and the black Dallas with a sweetheart neckline.
Having appeared in several Guess campaigns in the ’90s, Casta was a Victoria’s Secret Angel from 1998 to 2000 and has subsequently appeared in campaigns for brands including Saint Laurent, Chanel and Louis Vuitton. Casta said she liked the positioning of Calzedonia, which offers bikinis for as little as $30.
“I appreciate the idea of making fashion accessible. When I was younger, having access to this type of brand was very important to me. Today I like to switch between luxury and more affordable brands,” she said.
Casta hinted that she may soon dip her toes into fashion design herself.
“I could be tempted to create a product under my name, provided of course that it brings added value to what’s already on the market and that it’s respectful of the environment. To date, it’s still a very confidential project that I can’t talk about,” she teased. — JOELLE DIDERICH
RALPH’S NEW SCHOLARSHIP: Ralph Lauren is extending its commitment to the next generation of fashion students.
The company is establishing a new design scholarship program at Marist College in Poughkeepsie, New York, that will award a fashion student $100,000 in scholarship funds over four years.
The Ralph Lauren Design Scholars Program is intended to provide opportunity and access for underrepresented design students at the college starting with the 2024-25 academic year.
In addition to the scholarship, the student will receive mentorship and development opportunities as part of the summer internship program held at Ralph Lauren’s corporate offices.
This program builds on a previous collaboration between Marist and Ralph Lauren that allowed underrepresented high school students to take pre-college classes at Marist’s Poughkeepsie campus. Four New York City high school students received full scholarships to attend the classes during the summer months.
“This pledge from one of the world’s most influential fashion companies will give a new student each year a unique and invaluable opportunity,” said designer John Bartlett, who serves as fashion program director at Marist. “Marist’s fashion program has established a national reputation for providing students with cutting-edge, hands-on learning experiences and convenient access and career connections to the global fashion hub of New York City.”
“Diversity and inclusivity are not only important values, but they are also essential for driving innovation and progress,” said Dr. Edward Antonio, vice president of diversity, equity and inclusion at Marist. “This scholarship opportunity represents two important things — access to a Marist education and a significant step toward creating a more equitable and diverse fashion industry. We are thrilled to offer this opportunity to students facing financial barriers.”
Marist’s fashion program, within the School of Communication and the Arts, prepares students for a wide range of fashion careers, including merchandising, product development, retailing, operations, fashion promotion and event production. — JEAN E. PALMIERI
ALL ABOUT KARL: France’s former first lady Carla Bruni and Roger Federer turned up Monday at the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s unveiling of the Costume Institute’s “Karl Lagerfeld: A Line of Beauty.”
The museum’s director Max Hollein, the Wendy Yu chief curator in charge Andrew Bolton and Condé Nast’s global content officer Anna Wintour headlined the morning press preview. After their remarks, many of the few hundred members of the media flooded into the exhibition, which highlights the confluence of the late designer’s designs for Chloé, Fendi, Chanel and the Karl Lagerfeld label. The designer died in 2019 at the age of 85.
Tory Burch, Thom Browne and Philip Treacy were among the designers in the crowd. Although Bruni was not doing interviews, she told a few videographers how fashion is a gift that can make people feel better in trying times.
That gift appeared to have already been given, based on the dozens of smartphone-wielding people camped out on Fifth Avenue in front of The Met’s main entrance. Some speculated about which pathway Met Gala guests will use to enter the celebrity-studded affair. The event’s “in honor of Karl” dress code is expected to translate into lots of Chanel, Fendi, Chloé and Karl Lagerfeld choices. That black-and-white-centric style was embraced by many of the media types that poured into the Met’s Temple of Dendur.
Browne, whose partner is Bolton, has been living the exhibition for a while. “I think you can really feel the personal connection between Andrew and Karl. Of course, I saw throughout the year as he put it together, the care and attention that he put into it. You really see it in the show,” Browne said.
What some might not appreciate is the amount of intellect and thought that go into Bolton’s shows, the designer said. “I often say to so many people that Andrew is the most important person in fashion because he elevates fashion to a level of being worthy of being at The Met. The work he does is so important. The energy that Andrew’s work generates is overwhelming. It’s amazing to see how excited people are to see his shows. It’s a testament to the importance of his work and the amount that people love seeing his shows,” Browne said.
Kaleidoscope Consulting’s Miki Higasi agreed, saying, “It’s never just a costume exhibit or a historical show. It’s extremely analytical yet still fulfilling too. Of course, in the end like any other exhibit at a museum, it’s extremely educational. I like the fact that it’s not too black-and-white or too narrow. It’s based on a strong concept. It’s visually and intellectually compelling. How you present things, whether it’s an exhibit or a book, is so important. Andrew really nails it down.”
Karl fever’s peripheral economic effect can be seen in the black-and-white portraits of Lagerfeld in Bergdorf Goodman’s Fifth Avenue windows, and Lagerfeld’s sketches in Fendi’s Madison Avenue store windows. On Friday, 20 to 30 people were lined up outside of Chanel’s Fifth Avenue store. Winding through the galleries, Karl Lagerfeld chief executive officer Pier Paolo Righi said that he knew the exhibition would be great, “but was surprised by how stunning it is and how emotionally impactful it is.” As someone who worked very closely with Lagerfeld for more than a decade, Righi said, “It really feels like as he was, when he was in the room. It’s amazing to see and very touching.”
The replica of Lagerfeld’s beyond-messy desk is dead-on, according to Righi. “To see the desk, it looks as if he had left it the day before. It really was like how he used the desk.”
As for what all of the Lagerfeld-laden publicity will mean for Lagerfeld’s namesake company, Righi said beyond the exposure, it will have an emotional impact on the company’s team. “Karl never was one to look back at the achievements, because he always wanted to look forward to create the future. This is the first that we can actually gift him somehow, the homage that he did not allow himself to give to himself. That is an emotional moment, particularly for us. As the sole house that carries his name on the door and the only ones that are taking his legacy into the future, it’s an amazing milestone for us to integrate into the future.” — ROSEMARY FEITELBERG
RENT A RING: Signet Jewelers, through its Zales division, is piloting a jewelry rental business for the first time.
The 36-piece collection of necklaces, earrings, bracelets, rings and sets available for rental launches this week at 28 Zales stores. The rental jewelry features lab-created diamonds that are hand-set in 10-karat white gold. Rocksbox technology, which facilitates the selection, buying, renting and returning of jewelry, is being utilized.
“Zales plans to expand to more stores throughout the summer and fall. The program is in beta throughout the summer before it officially expands,” a spokesperson indicated.
Customers can rent jewelry for 14 days for 10 percent of the retail price of an item, which ranges from $1,000 to $9,000. The assortment targets mainly weddings and special occasions. Renters have the option to buy the piece, and the rental fee will go toward the total cost. To rent an item of jewelry, customers should go online at www.zales.com/jewelry-rental, to schedule an appointment at a Zales store.
According to the representative, “After a rental piece is returned, a team of experts is used to restore the piece to like-new condition. It will then be returned to the distribution center and offered for a future rental, extending the lifecycle of the product and contributing to the circular economy.” The program is called Zales x Rocksbox Fine Jewelry Rental. — DAVID MOIN
MISSING THE TARGET: Brian Cornell, chairman and chief executive officer of Target Corp., saw his compensation package decrease by 10.6 percent to $17.7 million last year from $19.8 million in 2021 as his bonus and incentive pay declined.
As is typical for CEOs at major retailers, most of Cornell’s compensation — $14.5 million — came in the form of stock awards, the true value of which will depend on how the company’s shares perform on Wall Street. The idea is to tie the fortunes of the CEO to those of investors.
Cornell received a $1.4 million salary. However, his bonus and incentive pay fell by 71 percent to a combined $1.1 million from $4 million in 2021 — reflecting the difficult consumer environment last year, which pressured Target and its competitors.
The compensation was reported in the company’s proxy statement to regulators, which included a letter to shareholders from lead independent director Monica Lozano, who said 2022 proved to be “even more unpredictable than expected.”
“On one hand, families began to emerge from the pandemic, resuming traditions and routines that had been delayed or diminished for two years,” Lazano said. “At the same time, families were confronted with new challenges, most notably high inflation. This complicated the return to pre-pandemic norms and forced millions to focus on necessities and alter their shopping habits accordingly.”
The director lauded Target’s leadership team and said they “adjusted quickly with the best interests of stakeholders at heart.”
The company’s workers, among those stakeholders, saw their starting wage rise to a range of $15 to $24 an hour as Target also expanded “eligibility for health and retirement benefits to another 20 percent of the Target team by reducing wait times and work hours required for enrollment,” Lozano said.
A shareholder also proposed the company adopt a policy to have an independent chairman, putting the matter up to a vote at the company’s annual meeting on June 14.
“The roles of chairman and CEO are fundamentally different and should be held by two directors, a CEO and a chairman who is completely independent of the CEO,” said the proposal, from shareholder John Chevedden. “The job of the CEO is to manage the company. The job of the chairman is to oversee the CEO and management.”
Target’s board recommended the proposal be voted down and said “any decision to maintain a combined chair of the board and CEO role or to separate these roles should be based on Target’s specific circumstances, the independence and capabilities of its directors, and the leadership provided by its CEO.” — EVAN CLARK
CUCKOO FOR COCOA: Two young entrepreneurs, heirs of Piedmontese families that have made history, have teamed to add a new, unexpected and tasty twist to vermouth: Cocoa beans.
Ettore Fila, son of Giansevero Fila, who established the Fila Sport fashion brand in 1969, has partnered with Orsolani 1894, helmed by Gianluigi Orsolani, for a new version of the fortified wine.
Fila has been leading the Wool and Chocolate confectionery brand, aimed at preserving — and updating — the pastry-making tradition of the Piedmont region in northern Italy, where he was born and raised. The reference to wool also reflects the region’s storied expertise in processing the fabric — hence the name for the first Wool and Chocolate Vermouth, where clearly there is no trace of any yarn.
The entrepreneur has been making a business out of the signature canestrello Biellese, a biscuit made of two layers of wafer enveloping a stuffing of dark chocolate.
The royal Savoia family began to promote the vermouth industry from the end of the 18th century, turning Piedmont into a key producer of the drink.
“My idea was to combine two Piedmontese excellences in food and beverage to offer consumers an unprecedented experience with two traditional specialties: the Biella canestrellino, which Wool and Chocolate for the first time presented in the mignon and dark chocolate format, and the Turin vermouth,” Fila explained. In Gianluigi Orsolani, he said he found “the same values of absolute quality and respect for the tradition in innovation.”
Orsolani’s grandfather Giovanni Orsolani returned from America and founded in 1894 the winery that specializes in the production of dry white wines and desserts made from the Erbaluce grape in the Canavese area of Piedmont.
The Wool and Chocolate Vermouth, produced with the Erbaluce grape variety, with 21 percent alcohol content, is obtained through a combination of herbs and aromatic spices, including wormwood, artemisia, cinchona, citrus fruits and cocoa beans according to a formulation created to accompany the canestrellini, handcrafted by Wool and Chocolate according to the original 19th century recipe.
This is the first time that the concept of a “gastronomic vermouth,” combined with a food type, has been launched, according to Fila.
Orsolani said that the preview of the vermouth at Vinitaly, the largest wine exhibition in the world that was held in Verona last month, was “a success, appreciated by both Italians and foreigners. We expect a very positive response to our made-in-Piedmont match.”
The limited-edition vermouth was produced in 400 bottles that retail at 25 euros each. Starting this month, they will be available on the Wool and Chocolate website. — LUISA ZARGANI
TALKING IMPACT: Delivering Good will host its inaugural Women of Impact Summit on June 7 at 583 Park Avenue in New York.
The event is targeted to a community of leaders determined to create ways for business to become a force for good. It will recognize the role women play in making sustainable and measurable impact. The women are expected to share stories and actionable ways to link business innovation, philanthropy and community to address pressing issues.
“We are thrilled to be launching the Women of Impact Summit, which is an evolution of our Women of Inspiration Luncheon that honored women leaders for more than 15 years,” said Carole Postal, event co-chair, Delivering Good board member and president of Spotlight Licensing.
“The time has come to recognize impact. We will acknowledge the substantial and powerful legacies women are making personally, professionally and philanthropically. And, through a revised, more interactive format, attendees will leave both motivated and with a roadmap to create their own impact journey,” Postal said.
Special guest speaker is Lizanne Kindler, executive chair of Ann Taylor, Loft and Lane Bryant, and chief executive officer at Talbots. The moderator will be Lisa Kaplowitz, founder and executive director of the Center for Women in Business at Rutgers University. Impact speakers will be Jill Beraud, independent director, Levi Strauss & Co. and chair of Fashion for Good; Gisel Ruiz, former executive vice president, chief operating officer, Sam’s Club and independent director of Ulta Beauty, and Theresa Strickland, executive leader and digital/brand transformation expert. A keynote is slated to be given by Lauren Gibbs, 2018 Olympic medalist and 2020 World Champion. Delivering Good brand ambassador, model, philanthropist and wellness ambassador Daiane Sodre is also set to attend the event.
The event is co-chaired by Postal and Amber Mundinger, chief operating officer and head of strategic partnerships at Artists Den Entertainment.
In addition to a program of speakers, the event will feature a “gallery walk” and networking small late lunch, where attendees will have the opportunity to interact with four of Delivering Good’s community partners and learn about the impact they create with product received from Delivering Good.
Delivering Good provides people impacted by poverty and tragedy with new merchandise donated by retailers and manufacturers. Since 1985, Delivering Good has distributed more than $3 billion of new clothing, home goods, toys, furniture, books and other consumer products through its network of more than 800 community partners. — LISA LOCKWOOD
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