GEORGIAN FASHION FOUNDATION - Key Persons

Job Titles:

• Member of the Advisory Board
• International Director of Education at Accademia Costume & Moda, Rome & Milan Italy

British born and educated; Adrien Roberts started his career studying Fashion Design at St. Martin's School of Art (now known as Central St. Martin's). The menswear area of Fashion was always where Adrien wanted to research and experiment, recognizing the scope for change, and went on to study the subject at Master's Level at the Royal College of Art in London. On moving to Italy, following graduation, Adrien worked for many menswear brands, before setting up a knitwear label under own name. The Adrien Parry Roberts collections sold in London, New York, Hong Kong and Tokyo in some of the world's top stores. It was during this time Adrien began to teach fashion design, taking a variety of roles at many different institutes internationally.

Job Titles:

• Member of the Advisory Board

Alexandra Shulman was Editor-in-Chief of British Vogue from 1992-2017. Previous to that she edited British GQ and worked on The Sunday Telegraph and Tatler. She has recently published a non-fiction book Clothes…and other things that matter, which is her fourth book. She is a weekly columnist for The Mail on Sunday and known as a commentator and consultant on fashion, lifestyle, female leadership and the media. She was a Trustee of The National Portrait Gallery from 1999-2007 and of The Royal Marsden Cancer Charity from 2009-2014. She was a director of The Conde Nast International board and is currently Vice President of The London Library and Strategic Advisor to the online fashion retailer Atterley.com.

Job Titles:

• Member of the Advisory Board
• Senior Editor of Italian Marie Claire

Senior Editor of Italian Marie Claire, Antonio Mancinelli is considered one of the most influential fashion critic in his country. He is a professional journalist since 1991, but he began to write for the newspaper Il Corriere della Sera in the 1985. During his career, he wrote for many publications and magazines: from Italian Vogue to Italian Elle, including a long collaboration with the political magazine Diario. He wrote and kept some radio programs about cultural subjects and wrote eight books. Fashion Box has been translated in 11 languages, including japanese. Always careful to the links and to the connections between fashion, politics and society, he teaches in many University and private and public Institutes, like the University Faculty of Architecture in Milano and in Roma, the University Alma Mater Studiorum in Bologna, l'Accademia di Costume Moda in Roma, Polimoda in Florence, Accademia della Moda in Napoli, Marangoni and Domus in Milano. In 2019, the Italian governemen called him to participate at the Commission for Fashion as National Heritage for a project about a Museum of Fashion in Italy. He wrote some essays for many important fashion exhibitions, like Romanzo breve di moda maschile, at Palazzo Pitti in Florence (2019), Italiana. L'Italia vista dalla moda at Palazzo Reale in Milano (2018), and the first retrospective of Rick Owens Subhuman Inhuman Superhuman, at the Triennale di Milano (2017).

Job Titles:

• Member of the Advisory Board
• Designer, Director of Education at Accademia Costume & Moda

Barbara Trebitsch is a fashion designer, Director of Education at Accademia Costume & Moda. She has served as Senior Head of Academic Partnerships at Domus Academy and Naba and Chief Academic Officer at Global Art and Design Academy (GADA) in East China Normal University. She has headed the Fashion School at Domus Academy for 16 years. She has chaired the Study Commission for the identification of Policies for the protection, conservation, valorization and fruition of Italian Fashion as Cultural Heritage established by MIBAC (Ministry of Culture), she has been the ambassador of Italian Design appointed by Farnesina and La Triennale di Milano. She is also part of the ARTS THREAD's Education Board, of the Academic Council of Ixel Moda, and a member of the Expert Commission of MAM-Maestro d'Arte e Mestiere, (Fondazione Cologni dei Mestieri d'Arte). She is part of the Fashion Colloquia Series and a visiting lecturer and jury member across different institutions and events related to the fashion industry.

Job Titles:

• Member of the Advisory Board
• Director of IED Firenze

Danilo Venturi is the director of IED Firenze and author of the book Brand Persona: The Four-Step Method. Multidisciplinary, he studied political science and luxury management, entered the music industry, pioneered e-commerce, opened concept stores, and worked for La Perla lingerie. In his role as director of Polimoda, he involved brands and institutions such as LVMH, Richemont, Gucci, WGSN, CFDA and Pitti Immagine, as well as personalities such as Marina Abramovic, Alber Elbaz, Renzo Rosso, Waris Ahluwalia, Rick Owens, and Suzy Menkes. His educational model has been described by Forbes as The Reign of Error. After this experience, Danilo Venturi took a break in Miami, started his own consultancy firm, and finally returned to Florence, Italy as director of IED - Istituto Europeo di Design. Art to fashion, design to visual communication, he is currently focusing on the hybridization of different languages within the creative industry.

Job Titles:

• Member of the Advisory Board

Born in Tbilisi, Georgia, David Koma discovered his penchant for drawing and dress design at the young age of eight. To pursue his interests, David studied Fine Art in St Petersburg, taking part in design competitions from age 13 and showing his first collection at the age of 15. In 2003 David moved to London to take up a place at the prestigious Central Saint Martins College of Art and Design. It was here that he channeled his love of fashion and honed his design skills to create his signature look. After completing his BA in Fashion Design, David graduated with a distinction in MA Fashion in April 2009 under the mentorship of the late Professor Louise Wilson, OBE, winning Harrods Design Award at the Graduate Fashion Week. Straight after graduation David Koma launched his eponymous ready-to-wear brand and has been a participant of London Fashion Week ever since. Over the years, the brand has received numerous prizes including Vauxhall Fashion Scout in 2009, NEWGEN sponsorship in 2010 and Fashion Forward in 2013. In 2018 and 2019, David Koma was shortlisted for the British Fashion Council / Vogue Fashion Fund. From December 2013 until December 2017 David held the position of creative director at Mugler, sharing his time between London and Paris while simultaneously running his eponymous label. David Koma has become synonymous with the ultra body contouring silhouette, creating sculptural statement dresses inspired by the feminine form. The brand is often commended for couture like finishes of the garments, whether it is the gravity defying opulent hand embroidery or sleek and contemporary exemplary cut silhouette. Alongside the cocktail dresses that propelled the designer onto the international stage, David Koma ready-to-wear offering has over the years expanded to include full range of options from precise daywear separates in denim and leather, to beautifully tailored outerwear, showstopping red carpet gowns and impeccably cut jumpsuits. Often inspired by fashion forward 60's and sensual 80's, David always focuses on creating timeless designs that would be relevant for years to come. David Koma collections have graced pages of numerous magazines from around the world - from glossy commercial titles to independent style magazines. This year David Koma pieces have appeared on international covers of Elle US, Marie Claire China, Cosmopolitan UK, The Hollywood Reporter and Shape US. Internationally acclaimed celebrities often turn to the designer for red carpet looks. In 2019 the brand has been worn by Beyoncé, Kendal Jenner, Hailey Bieber, Jennifer Lopez, Camila Cabello, Cara Delavigne, Naomi Harris, Brie Larsson, Celine Dion, Kerry Washington, Ni Ni, Zendaya, Yao Chen, Rosie Huntington-Whitely, Sara Sampaio and Joan Smalls to mention a few.

Job Titles:

• Member of the Advisory Board
• CFDA Chairwoman

Along with pioneering the advent of fashion blogging via her blog ‘A Shaded View on Fashion' (ASVOF), celebrated fashion writer Diane Pernet is also credited with spearheading the fashion film genre, providing a new interactive medium through which artists, photographers and designers can collaborate on creative projects. In addition to launching A Shaded View On Fashion Film (ASVOFF) - an international travelling showcase holding competitions for short films within the fashion, style and beauty genres - Pernet has also curated film projects such as CineOpera, a series of films by the composer/director Michael Nyman, in 2010 held at the Corso Como in Milan, NOOVO in Santiago de Compostela in Spain. Prior to launching ASVOF in 2005, Pernet was a digital fashion reporter for Joyce,Elle France and Vogue Paris. The American, having initially designed for thirteen years under her namesake brand, had relocated to Paris in the end of 1990 landing her first role as a costume designer for the film Golem l'Esprit d'Exile in 1991. Pernet's first festival, entitled ‘You Wear it Well' debuted in Los Angeles at CineSpace in 2006, laying the foundations for the ASVOFF in 2008, with the festival's first edition launched in September in the Jeu de Paume national museum in Paris followed by seven years at Centre Pompidou in Paris. The festival showcases a short film competition, feature films, documentaries, conferences, performances and installations. Currently ASVOFF has its own branded channel on FNL Network available on smart tv's, the apple universe and google play https://linktr.ee/fnlnetwork. Pernet was recognized in 2008 for her pioneering spirit in digital media when she was chosen as one of there influential global bloggers to take part in a panel celebrating a seminal fashion exhibition at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. In 2012 she was the recipient of the distinguished FAD Medal from the Barcelona-based cultural institution devoted to the promotion of design and creativity, FAD (Fostering Arts and Design). Pernet is the recipient of the Felicidad Duce Fashion award in its 13th edition for her extraordinary career as a fashion editor , for pioneering writing about fashion on the internet and becoming a leader of bloggers. Also as being the godmother of the world's emerging fashion talent as well as her sensitivity to the film genre that combines art, film and fashion photography. In September 2014 Pernet was awarded by the President and Executive board of Asian Couture Federation the Award of Excellence for her outstanding contribution to fashion journalism. In 2015 Diane was awarded the Legend of Fashion by SAIC (School of the Art Institute of Chicago) celebrating industry leaders. In 2013 and again in 2014 she was selected as one of the BOF 500, the people shaping the global fashion industry and in 2015 she was chosen to be in the BOF Hall of Fame.As one of the world's most recognizable fashion people, Pernet was asked to make a cameo appearance in Robert Altman's film, Pret-a-Porter and in Roman Polanski's The Ninth Gate. Larry Clarke's The Smell of Us and Ben Stiller's Zoolander 2. The multi-talented creative holds a degree in filmmaking and communications from Temple University in America and has also attended both Parsons and FIT. In February 2015 she launched Diane Pernet Paris at Liberty London, a series of 5 perfumes: To Be Honest, Wanted, In Pursuit of Magic, Love Affair and Shaded. You can follow Pernet on IG: asvof and ASVOFF on asvoff_official.

Job Titles:

• Member of the Advisory Board

Born in 1977 in Warsaw, studied Fashion Promotion at The London College of Fashion. After finishing his studies worked for various Polish publications. In 2012 he was invited to help launch Harper's Bazaar in Poland as the fashion director, from there he went on to launch the Polish edition of Esquire in 2015 as editor-in-chief. In 2017 he was named editor-in-chief of Vogue Poland, which debuted in February 2018.

Job Titles:

• Head
• Member of the Advisory Board
• Senior Vice President of Human Resources
• Global Executive
• SVP, Human Resources

Gena Smith is the Senior Vice President of Human Resources and Head of Global Executive & Creative Recruitment for LVMH Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton. A highly experienced human resources executive, Gena ensures that LVMH is best in class at selecting, developing, and retaining senior executive and creative talent. During her tenure with LVMH she has helped to further develop talent at all levels of the organization, including through attracting accomplished senior-level executives, instituting learning and development programs to prepare executives to meet business needs, and promoting mobility for high performing executives across the LVMH brands. She led the first ever Diversity & Inclusion initiative for LVMH launching it across North America in 2012. She has also led the Group's regional gender diversity initiative, EllesVMH which included the Regional CEO's signing of the UN Women's Empowerment Principles. Prior to joining LVMH in September 2011, Gena was Global Managing Director at Karen Harvey Consulting, where she led the luxury & retail executive recruitment practice worldwide. She previously spent 10 years as an executive search consultant at Russell Reynolds Associates and Ray & Berndtson, working with many leading retail, luxury and consumer brands. Her earlier experience included several years in International Education.

Job Titles:

• Member of the Advisory Board
• Critic

Godfrey Deeny is an international fashion critic who was named the inaugural international editor-in-chief of FashionNetwork.com in February 2017. Prior to the appointment, he spent five years as Le Figaro's editor-at-large, responsible for covering the shows and writing features for one of Paris' most respected publications. He is known for the objectivity of his reviews, his sharp observation, and acerbic wit. A native of Ireland, Deeny is based in Paris but has retained his Irish charm and blunt sensibility. Deeny has conducted interviews with some of fashion's most important designers, including Karl Lagerfeld, Giorgio Armani, and Christopher Bailey. His interview style is much the same as the style of his prose: thoroughly informed, opinionated, direct, and sporadically merciless. But there is no doubt that Deeny has a deep appreciation for the industry. He is a fixture on the fashion week party set and revels in the diversity of fashion's cast of colourful characters. "Too many people think of style as a threat and are a bit scared or intimidated by that. But I like fashion freaks. I think they make the world a happier and better place" Deeny continues in his role as editor-in-chief of German magazine Achtung and Sepp concurrently with his work at Le Figaro. Prior to his appointment Deeny was editor-in-chief of Vogue Hommes International, and bureau chief of Women's Wear Daily in Paris when John Fairchild ran the publication. Deeny was instrumental in the launching of Fashion Wire Daily, acting in the role of European editor-at-large. His expansive career has also seen him write for Style.com, The Sunday Independent, Esquire, and The Financial Times.

Job Titles:

• Member of the Advisory Board

Job Titles:

• Member of the Advisory Board

Job Titles:

• Member of the Advisory Board

Job Titles:

• Member of the Advisory Board

Born in 1984 in Trento, after his initial studies in Economics and Business Management, Luca Rizzi completed a Master's degree in Management at the European School of Economics in Milan. Here, Luca acquired the knowledge needed to start his job-career in Futurenet Group (now Tomorrow Ltd), where he was involved both in the commercial developments and in the

Job Titles:

• Member of the Advisory Board

Marina Testino specializes in creative direction and sustainability consultation, providing expertise in marketing strategy for creative, organizations and brands alike. By identifying the goals of their partners and needs of their respective audiences, she personally or under her label Point Off View, develops brand awareness and conversion through social media campaigns and impact partnerships. In parallel, and as an intrinsic part of her work, Testino also develops ARTivism campaigns bringing together sustainability, creativity and innovation to instigate value-based change for both the planet and her partners.

Job Titles:

• Advisor
• Member of the Advisory Board

Mary Gehlhar is an advisor, educator and author of The Fashion Designer Survival Guide the best-selling book which guides aspiring and emerging fashion designers through the many challenges of starting and growing their own fashion brand.

Job Titles:

• Member of the Advisory Board
• Editorial Director of Paper Magazine

Mickey Boardman is Editorial Director of Paper Magazine where he's worked for 28 years. He writes a body positivity column called Fat and All That. He's worked on iconic covers with the likes of Kim Kardashian, Lady Gaga, Nicki Minaj, Christina Aguilera and more. He's worked for 10 years with Citta, a charity that builds schools, clinics and women's centers in India and Nepal. He's appeared as a pop culture and royal history expert on CNN, VH-1, A & E, Bravo and E! networks.

Job Titles:

• Member of the Advisory Board
• Deputy Director of Vogue Italia
• Head of Vogue Talents

As deputy director of Vogue Italia and head of Vogue Talents, Sara Maino oversees this important international project created with Franca Sozzani in 2009. Vogue Talents is both an editorial and online project; a network that scouts and supports the best emerging creative talents in womenswear, menswear, accessories as well as fashion photography around the world. A regular attendee at global talent spotting committees, Maino serves as a judge in several fashion competitions, including the LVMH prize, the International Talent Support (ITS), Woolmark Prize, Fashion Trust Arabia and many more. She also travels throughout local fashion weeks to scout up-and-coming designers. Since September 2018 she has been the International Brand Ambassador for Camera Nazionale Della moda Italiana while continuing her duties supporting a variety of initiatives dedicated to talents under the Vogue Italia umbrella.

Job Titles:

• Founder

Sofia Tchkonia - who established the BE NEXT Art and Fashion Foundation while acting as its Creative Director. The organizer of the BE NEXT International Art and Fashion Festival and Fashion Design Contest, as well as the author of the "Icons and Muses", "Legends of Fashion" and "Muse" projects whose heroes are famous fashion designers, writers, artists.

Job Titles:

• Member of the Advisory Board

Stefan Siegel, a native South Tyrolean - the German speaking part of the Triveneto region in Northern Italy, grew up in in an area responsible for over 40% of all high-end and luxury manufacturing, a surrounding where the ‘Made In Italy' label is really being defined. Following his high school career at Venice's prestigious military college, the Francesco Morosini Naval School, he kick-started his colorful career during his Economics studies in Vienna when he gained experience in the fashion and media industry working for prestigious design houses and advertising agencies. Following a successful modelling career that took him to five continents, he achieved his MA in International Business Administration in 2004 at the Vienna University of Economics. After graduation Stefan joined the world of finance, working for renowned companies such as Ernst & Young and Sal. Oppenheim in Switzerland, and finally the Merrill Lynch M&A Investment Banking group in New York and London specializing in the Consumer & Retail sector and advising publicly listed fashion powerhouses. Stefan used his gained experience to launch NOT JUST A LABEL (NJAL). Although launching the company on a shoestring in 2008, NJAL today is the leading global platform for emerging fashion designers and ranks among the most respected websites in the fashion industry. As the world's leading designer platform for showcasing and nurturing today's pioneers in contemporary fashion, it represents over 45,000 designers from 150 countries. It is an infinitely expanding destination devoted to facilitating growth in the fashion industry and has established itself as a distinctive creative hub fostering innovation.

Job Titles:

• Member of the Advisory Board
• Chief Executive Officer of the Council of Fashion Designers of America

Steven Kolb is Chief Executive Officer of the Council of Fashion Designers of America (CFDA). He oversees all operations for the American fashion industry's group of 500 designers, and manages CFDA's membership, activities and philanthropic efforts such as Fashion Targets Breast Cancer, disaster relief and HIV/AIDS. In his role, Kolb also helped cultivate emerging American fashion talent through programs such as the CFDA/Vogue Fashion Fund and the CFDA {Fashion Incubator}. Under his guidance, the annual CFDA Fashion Awards has become the preeminent spotlight on American fashion. Kolb also led the CFDA in the acquisition of the Fashion Calendar, spearheaded the launch of New York Fashion Week: Men's, and established CFDA's Strategic Partnerships Group. Additionally, he was instrumental in creating CFDA's Health Initiative to address health issues among models. He also helped develop Fashion Manufacturing Initiative to revitalize New York City's garment industry. Kolb works directly with CFDA Chairwoman Diane von Furstenberg and the Board of Directors comprised of America's foremost designers. He holds a Masters in Public Administration from New York University.

Job Titles:

• Member of the Advisory Board
• Is Director and Chief

Valerie Steele is director and chief curator of The Museum at the Fashion Institute of Technology, where she has organized more than two dozen exhibitions since 1997, including The Corset: Fashioning the Body; Gothic: Dark Glamour; A Queer History of Fashion: From the Closet to the Catwalk; Pink: The History of a Punk, Pretty, Powerful Color; and Paris, Capital of Fashion. She is also the author or editor of more than 25 books, including Paris Fashion, Women of Fashion, Fetish: Fashion, Sex and Power, The Corset, The Berg Companion to Fashion, and. Fashion Designers A-Z: The Collection of The Museum at FIT. Her books have been translated into Chinese, French, German, Italian, Portuguese, Russian, and Spanish. In addition, she is founder and editor in chief of Fashion Theory: The Journal of Dress, Body & Culture, the first scholarly journal in Fashion Studies. Steele combines serious scholarship (and a Yale PhD) with the rare ability to communicate with general audiences. As author, curator, editor, and public intellectual, Valerie Steele has been instrumental in creating the modern field of fashion studies and in raising awareness of the cultural significance of fashion. She has appeared on many television programs, including The Oprah Winfrey Show and Undressed: The Story of Fashion. Described in The Washington Post as one of "fashion's brainiest women" and by Suzy Menkes as "The Freud of Fashion," she was listed as one of "The People Shaping the Global Fashion Industry" in the Business of Fashion 500: (2014 to the present).

Yael Quint is a New York Based Fashion Stylist, Buyer, Consultant, and Producer. She has worked with Global Brands, Publications, and Celebrities. Yael specializes in helping emerging brands worldwide reach the global market in areas such as; Press, Sales, Global Exposure, and more.