Changing places After much speculation, Gucci Group announced Tom Ford's successors at Gucci and Yves Saint Laurent last week. Alessandra Facchinetti, John Ray and Frida Giannini will take over at Gucci as creative directors of womenswear, menswear and accessories, respectively. Stefano Pilati has been named creative director of the French house. Facchinetti joined Gucci in October 2000 as women's ready-to-wear design director. Ray joined Gucci's design team eight years ago as men's ready-to-wear designer and was later appointed design director. Both ready-to-wear creative directors will be responsible for development of their respective collection, including the seasonal runway shows. They will also work with the existing Gucci internal image department in developing the seasonal advertising campaign. Giannini will be responsible for leather goods, shoes, jewellery, gifts, timepieces and eyewear. In this new role Giannini, who joined Gucci in 2002 as design director of leather goods, will support both ready-to-wear creative directors in the development of the accessories for fashion show collections. She will also develop new accessory initiatives for the house. Prior to this appointment, Pilati had been design director for four years at Yves Saint Laurent, with responsibility for all product categories. In his new position, Pilati will continue to have creative responsibility for all product categories at Yves Saint Laurent, and will show his first women's collection in Paris in October. All about Yves Taking a trip to Paris? Legendary designer Yves Saint Laurent has unveiled his inaugural art exhibition, entitled 'Dialogue with Art', which runs until July 18 at the Pierre Berge/Yves Saint Laurent Foundation. It features an array of his iconic designs, from his geometric Pop Art dress, to his 1976 Ballet Russe collection and the gilded metallic breast-plated crepe gowns created for the artists Claude and Xavier Lalanne in 1969. Other rooms at the exhibition feature selected videos of the designer's previous shows. Viewers wanting access to archived collections for academic research purposes can make special appointments during the exhibition. The museum is at 3 rue Leyonce Reynaud, 16 arrondissement, Paris, and is open Wednesday to Sunday, from 11am to 6pm. Wearable art The Chouinard Gallery is hosting a fashion and art exhibition on Thursday from 6.30pm to 9pm, showcasing the works of the artist Sun Guangyi. The presentation, entitled 'Awake', features Sun's abstract and lyrical paintings, and the event is a collaborative project between the Chouinard and fashion boutique Sin Sin. For more information, tel: 2858 5072.
