Jenne Lombardo, the former MAC & Milk (now called Made, Presented by MAC ) director and The Terminal Presents founder, has a new title to add to her résumé: W Hotels’ global fashion director. For the past 12 years, W Hotels has dipped its toes in various fashion initiatives, from collaborations with the likes of Simon Doonan, Michael Kors, and Diane von Furstenberg to its own program in support of rising designers, Fashion Next. The trendsetting hotel is now looking to Lombardo to elevate its fashion program to a whole new level.
“I’m walking into an incredible infrastructure,” Lombardo tells Style.com. “At an early stage in their brand, they were able to identify the need for support and funding in music, fashion, art, and design, and it’s continued to evolve with the right players who are really supporting this growth.”
Now, it’s Lombardo’s turn to make some noise. She hasn’t wasted time making moves. Already, she has selected a promising group of six designers for this year’s Fashion Next program, including Juan Carlos Obando, Nomia, Bibhu Mohapatra, Michael Angel, Rochambeau, and Electric Feathers.
“Right now, it’s in the infancy of what we are going to do,” she says of the W fashion program. “The important thing for us is to understand where the designers’ strengths lie and where they need additional support.”
Already, W Hotels is underwriting the entire cost for the designers’ runway shows, providing funding for hair and makeup and free catering. Lombardo also stressed using the hotels’ stores as distribution points and collaborating with the designers to create hotel staff uniforms, as “W Hotels has done in the past.”
W Hotels is leaning on Lombardo expand its global fashion presence, but the former MAC exec says it’s a symbiotic scenario. “A room at the W Hotel Union Square—it’s my ultimate fashion week survival tip,” she admits. “I have three kids, so it’s nice to have somewhere to go that is clean and quiet to go afterwards that doesn’t have peanut butter on it.”
—Kristin Studeman
Photo: Courtesy of W Hotels
No comments:
Post a Comment