The lowdown on fashion and luxury industry’s movers and shakers
Manish Mishra
Their name spells incredible power, formidable authority and immeasurable influence. They run billion-dollar businesses and launch thousands of careers in glamour, luxury and fashion industries. Moreover, they’ve stayed on top of their game for several decades and their popularity and relevance refuses to wane. The Peacock Magazine chronicles the fifteen fashion greats from the business of luxury and journalism.
Bernard Arnault, Chairman and CEO – LVMH
The billionaire’s name spells unparalleled luxury. With a $211 billion fortune, the Chairman and CEO of LVMH Moët Hennessy owns Louis Vuitton, Christian Dior, Tiffany, Sephora, Givenchy, Marc Jacobs and more. Over a period of three decades since Arnault took the reins at LVMH, he’s transformed it into the world’s largest luxury goods company, with more than 70 brands. He has been awarded the honorary titles of Grand Officier de la Légion d’Honneur and Commandeur des Arts et des Lettres. Arnault is also President of the Board of Directors of Groupe Arnault S.E. (his family holding company). He is married with five children.
François-Henri Pinault, Chairman and CEO – Kering
In 1987, François-Henri Pinault (married to actress Salma Hayek) joined the Pinault Group. After holding senior positions in several of the Group’s operating subsidiaries, he went on to become an Executive Board member. 2000 was a remarkable year when he was appointed Deputy CEO of PPR (which became Kering) and he took charge of the Group’s digital strategy. In a matter of three years, he was named Chairman of Artemis, Kering’s controlling shareholding firm. In 2005, François-Henri Pinault was appointed Chairman and CEO of Kering, which he gradually transformed into a global Luxury group. A visionary, he developed Kering into a pioneer in sustainability with a deep commitment to women – two causes that are particularly close to his heart. He also chairs the Kering Foundation, founded in 2008 to combat violence against women.
Anna Wintour, CH DBE, Editor-in-Chief of American Vogue and the chief content officer of Condé Nast
She’s easily the most admired and feared fashion icon. Hiding behind her signature Chanel sunglasses and a precise bob, she’s been the epitome of power and influence in fashion for decades. In 1988, Wintour replaced Grace Mirabella as editor-in-chief at American Vogue. She was made an Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in 2008 and advanced to Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire (DBE) in 2017. In a move that reflected her wide-ranging influence, in 2013 Wintour became artistic director at Condé Nast. Seven years later she was named the company’s global chief content officer. Editors at Conde Nast get hired and fired at an unfailing regularity but Anna’s influence on the fashion world refuses to fade out.
Tim Blanks – Fashion journalist, broadcaster and writer
Tim Blanks has been eclipsing the fashion world since 1985 with his inimitable and incisive writing. From 1989, he hosted the CBC’s globally syndicated show Fashion File, just as cable television and the fashion industry were discovering each other. Then he spent ten years as editor-at-large for Style.com, the Condé Nast website that helped fuel fashion interest over the past few decades. With his most recent role as editor-at-large of Business of Fashion, Tim’s critical voice remains as relevant as ever. He has been often lauded with awards, but he has always maintained that it is context rather than critique that inspires his writing.
Carine Roitfeld – Fashion editor, former model and writer
A tight pencil skirt worn with sky-high heels, stockings and slightly messed up smokey eyes has remained Carine’s signature look for years. The former French Vogue editor and stylist was a longtime collaborator with the likes of Karl Lagerfeld and Tom Ford, as well as a principal architect of the subversive-meets-indulgent aesthetic that defined late 1990s fashion. After leaving French Vogue in 2011, she founded her own biannual publication, CR Fashion Book. Recently she also collaborated with Matthew M Williams styling Givenchy’s show in September. Lately, Roitfeld has made inroads into perfumes and housewares besides launching a new coffee-table book, Fantasies, published by Rizzoli (with a cover also featuring Ms. Kardashian).
Cathy Horyn – Fashion critic and journalist
Cathy Horyn, who’s currently the Cut’s fashion critic-at-large was previously with The New York Times (from 1988-2014). In 2002, she received the Eugenia Sheppard Award from the Council of Fashion Designers of America for questioning the work and exposing the deal-making of Vogue editor-in-chief Anna Wintour. In September 2012, Horyn’s review of Oscar de la Renta’s spring/summer 2013 collection, in which she referred to him as a “hotdog of American fashion”, garnered a great deal of negative press. Getting into controversies is nothing new to her but she remains unfazed in her writing. She recently walked for Balenciaga last October.
Suzy Menkes OBE – Fashion critic and journalist
Suzy Menkes is easily the world’s most respected and admired fashion journalist known for her original point of view. She brings to her worldwide audience a profound knowledge and love of fashion and the wealth of decades of experience – she has known all the greats of couture and charted the careers of fashion luminaries from their graduate shows to their current creative directorships. Besides being a prolific journalist and the author of several books on fashion and jewellery design, Suzy is also an acclaimed podcaster with her podcast titled, Creative Conversations with Suzy Menkes. Here she airs in-depth interviews with the fashion industry’s most influential designers, thinkers and executives, including Duro Olowu, Giancarlo Giammetti, Maria Grazia Chiuri of Dior, Marine Serre, Michael Kors and Natalia Vodianova. In her previous role as Editor, Vogue International (2014-2020), she reported for 26 print and digital editions of Vogue in 18 languages, reaching an audience of over 74 million.
Imran Amed – Founder, CEO and Editor-in-Chief, Business of Fashion
Imran Amed is one of fashion’s leading forces and is the founder, CEO and editor-in-chief of The Business of Fashion (BoF), a modern media company and the authoritative voice of the $2.5 trillion global fashion and luxury industries. Headquartered in London, BoF receives more than 1.5 million unique visitors per month and has more than 6 million followers on social media. He began his career as a management consultant and started writing a blog about the fashion business in London in 2007. In 2013, Imran raised $2.5 million in seed funding, led by Index Ventures, alongside a wide range of respected investors from the worlds of fashion, technology, and media, followed by a Series A investment round in 2015 led by Felix Capital.
Alexander Fury – Fashion journalist, author and critic
Alexander Fury is the Fashion Features Director of AnOther magazine and the Men’s Critic of the Financial Times newspaper. As a curator, Fury worked alongside Massimiliano Gioni, director of the New Museum, New York, to curate the 2022-23 exhibition ‘Forever Valentino’, alongside the Maison’s Creative Director Pierpaolo Piccioli. His debut as curator, this ‘perspective’ exhibition examined 60 years of Valentino’s history and work and the couture house’s intimate ties to Rome. In 2023, Fury curated ‘Swarovski–Master of Light’, a retrospective examining the heritage of the Austrian crystal company, at the Museum of Contemporary Art, Shanghai. This included major fashion pieces from Alexander McQueen, Balenciaga, Christian Lacroix, Daniel Roseberry for Schiaparelli, John Galliano for Christian Dior, Pierpaolo Piccioli for Valentino, Tom Ford for Gucci, and Vivienne Westwood.
José Neves – Founder, Chairman and CEO, Farfetch
Farfetch CEO and chairman José Neves, who founded the luxury online marketplace in 2008 has had several accolades, including the Visionary Award at Decoded Fashion Futures Awards (2017), Financial Times and ArcelorMittal Boldness in Business Smaller Company Award (2016), Business of Fashion’s 500 People Shaping the Fashion Industry (2017, 2016 & 2015) and Vogue’s DirectorsOf.COM Top Entrepreneur in 2011.
Neves founded his first tech company, Grey Matter while studying at university. The company provided software for clothing manufacturers. In the same year, he founded a software firm called Platforme for small fashion brands in 1996. Later he went on to launch a footwear brand named Swear and opened a store in London. The brand sold to other shops. He started a retail fashion store named B Store (which won the British Fashion Award for Retailer of the Year in 2006) on Savile Row in London in 2001. In 2008, Neves founded Farfetch. In June 2017, Farfetch sold a minority stake to JD.com, for US$397 million, prior to launching in China. In September 2018, following the IPO of Farfetch on the New York Stock Exchange, Neves’ stake in the company was valued at US$1.4 billion.
Loïc Prigent – Filmmaker, Journalist
Loïc Prigent brings exclusive, behind-the-scenes footage and interviews from the rarefied world of haute couture on his much-loved YouTube and Instagram channels. From front-row celebrity interviews to one-on-one interactions with creative directors of some of the world’s biggest luxury houses to his famous bag reports–Prigent’s command over Paris couture is impeccable. He takes you backstage at Chanel and Dior couture shows, offering insights into the savoir-faire and stories behind the collections with an unfailing regularity. Prigent’s documentaries, including the acclaimed Signé Chanel and Marc Jacobs and Louis Vuitton, delve deep into the fashion industry, showcasing the intense preparation, creativity and drama behind high-end offerings. His footage of Karl Lagerfeld was prominently featured in the 2023 Met exhibition, further cementing his influence.
Alex Badia – Style director, WWD
Alex Badia is a Spanish stylist and the style director of WWD. Widely respected for his editorials, which feature the key fashion trends and leading men’s designers, Badia’s Instagram account is full of his incisive and irreverent take on runway shows. Moreover, Badia’s work includes brands such as GUESS, Balenciaga, Calvin Klein, and POLO Ralph Lauren. He’s also been a contributor at Rolling Stone, Variety, Robb Report and Muse Magazine. He started his career at Daily News Record in 1999. In 2001, he left to work at O, The Oprah Magazine for a year before returning to DNR. Badia is originally from Barcelona, Spain. He earned his B.B.A. degree from the European University in Paris and Geneva and earned an M.B.S. from the University of London. In 1996, he moved to New York to study buying and merchandising at the Fashion Institute of Technology.
Eugénie Trochu – Head of editorial content, Vogue Paris
Eugénie first joined Condé Nast a decade ago and was said to have been instrumental in developing strong relationships within the fashion community, and in building Vogue’s digital presence in the market. Having graduated from the Sorbonne with a degree in literature and journalism, Trochu joined Condé Nast as an intern in 2011. She went on to work at Vogue Paris, where she most recently served as fashion editor of Vogue.fr and market editor of Vogue Paris. Based in Paris, Trochu works under the direction of Anna Wintour.
Manuel Arnaut – Editor-in-chief, Vogue Arabia
After starting his career at Vogue Portugal, Arnaut held the position of Editor at GQ Portugal. His work was also published in Vogue and GQ Brazil. Since April 2017, Arnaut took over the direction of Vogue Arabia’s editorial team featuring the likes of Gigi Hadid and more recently Bollywood actor Rekha. Under his aegis, the magazine has profiled some of the most inspirational women in the region and celebrated the cultural ethos of Arabia. Moreover, he’s also lent support to a strong group of Arab designers, thus honouring his ongoing commitment towards the project #buyarabdesigners. Manuel also heads Vogue Man Arabia and Vogue Living Arabia.
Edward Enninful – Editorial advisor of British Vogue, and global creative and cultural advisor of Vogue
Six years after being named editor-in-chief of British Vogue, Edward Enninful may have stepped down from the position but his impact on the fashion industry hasn’t been decimated. Enninful was named Alexandra Shulman’s successor in 2017 when she departed the British title after 25 years at the helm. Prior to this, he worked as the fashion director of W magazine (another Condé Nast title) since 2011 and has contributed to Italian Vogue since 1998 and American Vogue since 2006. His appointment at British Vogue made him the first man, and first black editor, to hold the title. Since his appointment, he has received wide applause for championing diversity and inclusivity. Cover stars have included global pop stars such as Rihanna, activists including Greta Thunberg, the football player Marcus Rashford, an 85-year-old Judi Dench, and – most recently – a vanguard of disabled talent.