The Business of Fashion is pleased to announce that Valentino’s creative director Alessandro Michele and chief executive Jacopo Venturini will join us on stage at BoF VOICES 2024 to discuss their creative revamp of the iconic Roman fashion brand. Michele’s first fashion show will take place on September 29 during Paris Fashion Week.
Also added to the speaker lineup are the editor-in-chief of Foreign Policy Ravi Agrawal, Josephine Philips, founder and CEO of clothing alteration and repairs company Sojo; Bohan Qiu founder and director of China-based brand consultancy BOH Project, Brandon Wen, creative director of the famed fashion department at the Royal Academy of Fine Arts in Antwerp and Clover Hogan, climate activist and founder of youth non-profit Force of Nature.
They join an already outstanding line-up of industry speakers including designer Simon Porte Jacquemus, David Allemann of Swiss sports company On, Jens Grede of viral lingerie and loungewear brand Skims, fashion advocate and documentarian Bethann Hardison, and luxury e-commerce leaders Lauren Santo Domingo of Moda Operandi and Michael Kliger of MyTheresa.
Taking place from November 12 to 15, 2024 at Soho Farmhouse in Oxfordshire, UK, the unique three-day gathering will bring together leaders and disruptors from the worlds of science, technology, health and wellness, food, film, politics, the arts, philosophy and philanthropy – and, of course, fashion, luxury and beauty – to promote cross-industry discourse and spark innovation.
A limited number of invitation-only tickets remain to join us in person at Soho Farmhouse. To request an invitation, please complete this form.
Other BoF VOICES 2024 speakers confirmed so far include:
- Salman Toor, visual artist
- Sven Smit, senior partner and chair of the McKinsey Global Institute
- Jeremy Jauncey, founder and chief executive, Beautiful Destinations
- Gemma D’Auria, senior partner, global leader of apparel, fashion and luxury, McKinsey & Company
- Ravi Thakran, founder and managing partner, Turmeric Capital Holdings
For the full list of confirmed speakers click here.
BoF VOICES 2024 is made possible in part by our partners Google Shopping, Amazon Fashion, McKinsey & Company, Getty Images and Soho House. If you are interested in learning about partnership opportunities, please contact us here.
Alessandro Michele is the creative director of Maison Valentino, a role he has held since his appointment in May 2024. Michele began his career at knitwear label Les Copain and has worked under the creative leadership of Karl Lagerfeld and Silvia Venturini at Fendi. At Fendi, Michele was responsible for the growth of the accessories collection. In 2002, he was tapped by Tom Ford to design for Gucci. Over two decades at Gucci, Michele held a number of positions including creative director of the brand, which he assumed in 2015. In that role, Michele shaped Gucci’s creative vision and built on its brand identity.
Jacopo Venturini is Maison Valentino’s chief executive officer, a role he has held since 2020. Venturini began his career at La Rinascente, an Italian department store, as a buyer in 1995. He has held positions across large fashion houses including merchandising coordinator at Prada Group as well as executive vice president and chief merchandising and licensing officer at Gucci. Prior to assuming the role of chief executive at Valentino, Venturini served as womenswear and menswear brand manager and as the house’s ready-to-wear collection and retail image director. Venturini holds a degree in economics and business from Bocconi University in Milan.
Josephine Philips is the founder and CEO of Sojo, the UK based B-Corp certified repairs and alterations platform. Philips founded the fashion tech start-up in January 2021 with the mission of helping to make the fashion industry more circular by modernising the clothing repair sector. Sojo delivers door-to-door repair and alterations service to customers via their London-based tailoring studio. It offers an integrated and scalable solution for e-commerce retailers and fashion brands to help reduce returns and increase circularity within their businesses. Sojo launched its first B2B partnership with Ganni in 2021 and today counts 25 brands and retailers including Marks and Spencer, Vestiaire Collective and Peachy Den as clients.
Bohan Qiu is the founder and director of BOH Project, a communications and creative production agency located in Shanghai, China and Seoul, South Korea. The agency hopes to bridge the creativity gap between Eastern and Western cultures. BOH Project has a client roster of global brands including Amiri, Balenciaga, Calvin Klein and Gucci. It also partners with emerging designers in China such as Louis Shengtao Chen, Mark Gong, and Rui, among others. The agency recently expanded into South Korea with the the goal tapping into the influence of Korean fashion and foster meaningful connections between the Chinese and Korean markets
Ravi Agrawal is the editor-in-chief of Foreign Policy, a magazine covering American and international current affairs and public policy. Agrawal is also the host of FP Live, the magazine’s video channel and podcast, on which he regularly interviews world leaders and policymakers. Before joining FP in 2018, Agrawal worked at CNN for more than a decade in roles that took him to three continents, including as the network’s New Delhi bureau chief and correspondent. He has won a Peabody Award and garnered three Emmy nominations for his work as a TV producer. His writing for FP was part of a series nominated for a 2020 National Magazine Award for columns and commentary. Agrawal is also the author of India Connected: How the Smartphone Is Transforming the World’s Largest Democracy.
Brandon Wen is the creative director of the fashion department of the Royal Academy of Fine Arts in Antwerp, Belgium. He teaches design and guides the department through a focus on creativity and connection with the goal of developing Antwerp’s artistic community. Wen is also a fashion designer and performance artist working on projects based on personal themes around identity.
Clover Hogan is a climate activist and the founder of Force of Nature, a non-profit organisation advocating for greater urgency around the climate crisis. Hogan is also a public speaker; her TED Talk, “What to do when climate change feels unstoppable,” has been viewed 2 million times. At 22 she was recognised on the Forbes 30 Under 30 list for her work with Force of Nature. Hogan leads a 12-person team researching climate anxiety, which has delivered programmes to young people in 50+ countries to help them take action in their locales. Her organisation works with businesses, policy-makers and educators to place young people at the heart of decisions affecting their future.
