Pucci picks Matthew Williamson as new designer
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masquerade
God Save McQueen
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thats a good match. besides the color, i think a lot of the chiffon and airy cuts that williamson does is very similar to what lacroix did for pucci
hi! new here and my first post..
i'm having my doubts about this arrangement though .imo their signature uses of color is a rather superficial similarity.pucci reminds me of fake tans and old school jetset decadence and glamour whereas williamson is more of the boho relax-chic. seems to me like vastly different conceptual style but i'd like to see what it churns out
i'm having my doubts about this arrangement though .imo their signature uses of color is a rather superficial similarity.pucci reminds me of fake tans and old school jetset decadence and glamour whereas williamson is more of the boho relax-chic. seems to me like vastly different conceptual style but i'd like to see what it churns out
what pucci needed was a great designer with a poweful vision to lead the house into the 21st century, i am willing to bet anyone who takes me up on the challenge that this will not work. i know matthew is a media darling but he doesnt have the skills neccessary to handle two collections (he is already struggling to design one) the sad reality now is that there arent a lot of really talented designers coming out to the industry today, (the last really great talent to come about was olivier theyskens, and i know a lot of ppl hate him but zac pozen has shown some promise, if he settle down he could be great) other than that only tisci seems like he is going to be great (i am personally rooting for him.
all the others i have seen (with the exception of someone named braganza, from london that i need to see more of before i know) all the others are just stars that are manufactured on hype or connections with average to good talent.
it is a sad day in fashion.
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all the others i have seen (with the exception of someone named braganza, from london that i need to see more of before i know) all the others are just stars that are manufactured on hype or connections with average to good talent.
it is a sad day in fashion.
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Williamson Signs On at Pucci
By Miles Socha
Matthew Williamson
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PARIS — Emilio Pucci said Monday that Matthew Williamson would become its new artistic director, showing his first collection for the Florentine house next February.
WWD first reported Sept. 28 that Pucci was courting Williamson, a Londoner known for colorful, bohemian frocks and a celebrity following. He succeeds Christian Lacroix, who showed his swan song for the LVMH Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton-owned house last week in Milan.
"We liked the soft, glamorous kind of attitude that Matthew developed for his own line, and his sense of color and femininity," said Pucci chief executive Catherine Vautrin.
She declined to give details of the contract, but characterized it as a long-term relationship, given Williamson's "energy and motivation" during the negotiations.
But Vautrin said the designer change would not alter the direction of the historic brand, famous for its jet-set image and brilliant heraldic prints on silk jersey. "Christian [Lacroix] brought sophistication, and his imagination with prints and colors," she said. "Matthew will bring his own interpretation."
Williamson was traveling Monday and could not be reached for comment. However, he will continue to produce his signature collection, which he shows in New York.
Williamson has one freestanding store, in London; several shop-in-shops in Harvey Nichols stores and about 160 wholesale clients. His celebrity pals include Sienna Miller, Keira Knightley, Jade Jagger and Helena Christensen.
"I think Matthew was a very interesting idea and choice," said Laudomia Pucci, the daughter of founder Emilio Pucci and image director of the house. "We loved his colors, prints, his freshness and also his jet-set-y lifestyle. I think that really complements Pucci. Also, he's English but he shows in the U.S. and has an American approach to business. We're hoping he'll be a part of our ongoing growth strategy and we're really happy and excited to have him."
That said, she added, "I have to give a big thank you to Christian. He left Pucci on a high note."
Indeed, sales at Pucci have quadrupled over the past four years, totaling 45 million euros, or about $55 million, last year. Before Lacroix joined Pucci in 2002, the creative director was American Julio Espada. The Pucci family has also collaborated with Antonio Berardi and Stephan Janson.
Lacroix said he plans to focus on developing his signature brand, which LVMH sold to Florida-based Falic Group earlier this year.
By Miles Socha
Matthew Williamson
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PARIS — Emilio Pucci said Monday that Matthew Williamson would become its new artistic director, showing his first collection for the Florentine house next February.
WWD first reported Sept. 28 that Pucci was courting Williamson, a Londoner known for colorful, bohemian frocks and a celebrity following. He succeeds Christian Lacroix, who showed his swan song for the LVMH Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton-owned house last week in Milan.
"We liked the soft, glamorous kind of attitude that Matthew developed for his own line, and his sense of color and femininity," said Pucci chief executive Catherine Vautrin.
She declined to give details of the contract, but characterized it as a long-term relationship, given Williamson's "energy and motivation" during the negotiations.
But Vautrin said the designer change would not alter the direction of the historic brand, famous for its jet-set image and brilliant heraldic prints on silk jersey. "Christian [Lacroix] brought sophistication, and his imagination with prints and colors," she said. "Matthew will bring his own interpretation."
Williamson was traveling Monday and could not be reached for comment. However, he will continue to produce his signature collection, which he shows in New York.
Williamson has one freestanding store, in London; several shop-in-shops in Harvey Nichols stores and about 160 wholesale clients. His celebrity pals include Sienna Miller, Keira Knightley, Jade Jagger and Helena Christensen.
"I think Matthew was a very interesting idea and choice," said Laudomia Pucci, the daughter of founder Emilio Pucci and image director of the house. "We loved his colors, prints, his freshness and also his jet-set-y lifestyle. I think that really complements Pucci. Also, he's English but he shows in the U.S. and has an American approach to business. We're hoping he'll be a part of our ongoing growth strategy and we're really happy and excited to have him."
That said, she added, "I have to give a big thank you to Christian. He left Pucci on a high note."
Indeed, sales at Pucci have quadrupled over the past four years, totaling 45 million euros, or about $55 million, last year. Before Lacroix joined Pucci in 2002, the creative director was American Julio Espada. The Pucci family has also collaborated with Antonio Berardi and Stephan Janson.
Lacroix said he plans to focus on developing his signature brand, which LVMH sold to Florida-based Falic Group earlier this year.
Wouldn't you have "energy and motivation" during negotiations when they're planning on giving you millions to churn out another garish collection every season?
Anyways, I kinda saw this coming, why would LaCroix want to stay and make more money for LVMH when they sold his namesake house? A completely moronic move on LVMH's part, so LaCroix's house makes no money, but eventually Pucci will balance out what he loses. Fendi has been losing money since LVMH has bought them, they all lose money but Dior, Vuitton and MJ. Doesnt make sense why they'd out LaCroix.
Quite frankly, someone as garish and tasteless as Williamson can only make Pucci a drag-queen's fantasy. He may surprise us though. If I see a Pucci print peasant skirt, Ill ***********.
Anyways, I kinda saw this coming, why would LaCroix want to stay and make more money for LVMH when they sold his namesake house? A completely moronic move on LVMH's part, so LaCroix's house makes no money, but eventually Pucci will balance out what he loses. Fendi has been losing money since LVMH has bought them, they all lose money but Dior, Vuitton and MJ. Doesnt make sense why they'd out LaCroix.
Quite frankly, someone as garish and tasteless as Williamson can only make Pucci a drag-queen's fantasy. He may surprise us though. If I see a Pucci print peasant skirt, Ill ***********.
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peacelover142002
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yay! i love matthew and i know he'll do a great job at pucci. 
JuiceMajor
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This spell disaster to me!!
Pucci's new man: Williamson
By Suzy Menkes International Herald Tribune
Matthew Williamson, who will take over as designer at Emilio Pucci, is one of those rare zero to hero stories. Eight years ago, he was a Saint Martins student with silver-screen lounge lizard looks and a penchant for color and joie de vivre in a minimalist world.
He lured his mom, an optician's assistant, and his dad, owner of a television and electrical store, to abandon their jobs in the family's home city of Manchester in order to support the Matthew Williamson label he set up with his partner Joseph Velosa.
With a little help from his best friend, Jade Jagger, who sat front row among the black pants in Indian embroidered Boho skirts, the self-financed label thrived and is now a £7 million, or $12.3 million, a year business employing 25 people. A London shop, opened in 2004, has graphic rugs and a tank of tropical plants to express the fresh colorful spirit which Williamson is now taking to Pucci.
The Italian company's parent, LVMH Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton, on Monday confirmed Williamson's appointment.
"I have admired Emilio Pucci for as long as I can remember and I am extremely flattered," said Williamson, who goes to the Pucci palazzo in Florence this week to study the archives of the designer, who died in 1992. His colorful swirls on sporty clothes that re-vivified postwar fashion have been kept alive by his daughter Laudomia Pucci and various designers, most recently Christian Lacroix.
"It's the only label I have ever really looked at," says Williamson. "It is always important that there is synergy between designer and house, and he is one of few I feel a link with. I even went to Capri for the weekend and saw the whole lifestyle. I have done my research and feel up to speed with the heritage of the brand."
Williamson says that he and the Marchese Pucci share a design philosophy: "He believed in making women look beautiful in simple pieces of clothing."
How would the British designer describe his own style? He says that the signature of his line is "embroidery and textiles" and calls it "feminine, sexy, decorative and uplifting."
"The most obvious link is color and print," says the designer. "Print is an area I specialized in at Saint Martins on a four-year print and textile course. Technically I feel very confident. I don't feel out of my depth. I feel very excited."
But what about the Pucci heritage as part of historic Italian nobility, with medieval pennants in his background, as well sunny prints for the emerging jet set?
"I am trying to digest what made him what he was - and how Pucci can evolve," says the designer. "I need to take what he was about and apply it to a modern wardrobe."
Celebrities have been drawn to Williamson in his brief career, from Jagger through Gwyneth Paltrow and Sienna Miller. But he insists that he has never courted the famous.
"I don't actively tout for them - it has been a natural organic process," he says. "Sienna is high profile - but she just gets it."
Williamson admits that it is unique in his British generation to have "started with pennies" and progressed so quickly. He pays tribute to Velosa, whom he calls his "backbone." But he says that it is not the classic "suit" versus creator, because "I have a business brain so we work very well together."
That commercial savvy should endear him to Bernard Arnault, president of LVMH, who will be meeting up with his latest recruit for the first time this week, according to Paris sources. Like other LVMH designers, most notably John Galliano at Dior, Williamson will run Pucci and his own label in tandem.
"This is going to absorb my every waking hour," he says of this challenge, which has obliged him to put plans for opening a New York store on hold. "But I am not going to do Pucci half-heartedly. This is a dream come true. The problem is to balance it all."
What about his parents, who did everything from pressing clothes to delivering dresses to help their son? They have retired and gone back to Manchester while Williamson is off to Italy to take his first step: a 14-day crash course in Italian.
Pucci's new man: Williamson
By Suzy Menkes International Herald Tribune
Matthew Williamson, who will take over as designer at Emilio Pucci, is one of those rare zero to hero stories. Eight years ago, he was a Saint Martins student with silver-screen lounge lizard looks and a penchant for color and joie de vivre in a minimalist world.
He lured his mom, an optician's assistant, and his dad, owner of a television and electrical store, to abandon their jobs in the family's home city of Manchester in order to support the Matthew Williamson label he set up with his partner Joseph Velosa.
With a little help from his best friend, Jade Jagger, who sat front row among the black pants in Indian embroidered Boho skirts, the self-financed label thrived and is now a £7 million, or $12.3 million, a year business employing 25 people. A London shop, opened in 2004, has graphic rugs and a tank of tropical plants to express the fresh colorful spirit which Williamson is now taking to Pucci.
The Italian company's parent, LVMH Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton, on Monday confirmed Williamson's appointment.
"I have admired Emilio Pucci for as long as I can remember and I am extremely flattered," said Williamson, who goes to the Pucci palazzo in Florence this week to study the archives of the designer, who died in 1992. His colorful swirls on sporty clothes that re-vivified postwar fashion have been kept alive by his daughter Laudomia Pucci and various designers, most recently Christian Lacroix.
"It's the only label I have ever really looked at," says Williamson. "It is always important that there is synergy between designer and house, and he is one of few I feel a link with. I even went to Capri for the weekend and saw the whole lifestyle. I have done my research and feel up to speed with the heritage of the brand."
Williamson says that he and the Marchese Pucci share a design philosophy: "He believed in making women look beautiful in simple pieces of clothing."
How would the British designer describe his own style? He says that the signature of his line is "embroidery and textiles" and calls it "feminine, sexy, decorative and uplifting."
"The most obvious link is color and print," says the designer. "Print is an area I specialized in at Saint Martins on a four-year print and textile course. Technically I feel very confident. I don't feel out of my depth. I feel very excited."
But what about the Pucci heritage as part of historic Italian nobility, with medieval pennants in his background, as well sunny prints for the emerging jet set?
"I am trying to digest what made him what he was - and how Pucci can evolve," says the designer. "I need to take what he was about and apply it to a modern wardrobe."
Celebrities have been drawn to Williamson in his brief career, from Jagger through Gwyneth Paltrow and Sienna Miller. But he insists that he has never courted the famous.
"I don't actively tout for them - it has been a natural organic process," he says. "Sienna is high profile - but she just gets it."
Williamson admits that it is unique in his British generation to have "started with pennies" and progressed so quickly. He pays tribute to Velosa, whom he calls his "backbone." But he says that it is not the classic "suit" versus creator, because "I have a business brain so we work very well together."
That commercial savvy should endear him to Bernard Arnault, president of LVMH, who will be meeting up with his latest recruit for the first time this week, according to Paris sources. Like other LVMH designers, most notably John Galliano at Dior, Williamson will run Pucci and his own label in tandem.
"This is going to absorb my every waking hour," he says of this challenge, which has obliged him to put plans for opening a New York store on hold. "But I am not going to do Pucci half-heartedly. This is a dream come true. The problem is to balance it all."
What about his parents, who did everything from pressing clothes to delivering dresses to help their son? They have retired and gone back to Manchester while Williamson is off to Italy to take his first step: a 14-day crash course in Italian.
helena
Swim Upstream
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Williamson for Pucci
MATTHEW'S NEW JOB
LVMH confirmed this morning that Matthew Williamson has taken over as creative director at the house of Emilio Pucci. "I have admired Emilio Pucci for as long as I can remember and I am extremely flattered," the British designer, who has been studying the house archives this week, told reporters. "It is the only label I have ever really looked at. It is always important that there is synergy between designer and house, and he is one of few I feel a link with. I even went to Capri for the weekend and saw the whole lifestyle. I have done my research and feel up to speed with the heritage of the brand." Williamson's own company, which makes £7 million-a-year and employs a team of 25, will continue to run as usual, though this latest development in his career has forced him to postpone the opening of a New York store. "This is going to absorb my every waking hour," said the self-confessed workaholic. "But I am not going to do Pucci half-heartedly. This is a dream come true. The problem is to balance it all." Inspiration, however, is likely to be no problem, since Williamson says he shares a design philosophy with the Marchese Pucci, whose label has been kept alive since his death in 1992 by his daughter Laudomia and various other designers including, until last week, Christian Lacroix. "He believed in making women look beautiful in simple pieces of clothing," he said. "I am trying to digest what made him what he was – and how Pucci can evolve. I need to take what he was about and apply it to a modern wardrobe." (October 4 2005, AM)
from vogue.co.uk
MATTHEW'S NEW JOB
from vogue.co.uk
mikeijames
no tom ford, no thanks.
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i'll reserve judgement, but i don't think that matthew williamson has the same passion for color that lacroix does. but since pucci survives on ski supplies and beach wear, it shouldn't effect their bottom line.
