PARIS — Francesca Bellettini knows all about the importance of mentoring. A regular member of the ANDAM jury, the Yves Saint Laurent chief executive officer last year hired Anthony Vaccarello, a former winner of the annual fashion competition, to helm the Paris-based fashion house.
Now in its 28th edition, ANDAM will today name Bellettini as the designated mentor of this year’s winner of the main Fashion Award, and reveal that Hermès and Matchesfashion.com are joining the consortium of sponsors of the prize.
Nathalie Dufour, ANDAM founder and director, said the award has a track record of fostering European success stories. Vaccarello, who won in 2011, was mentored by Ralph Toledano, president of the fashion division at Puig, and executives such as François-Henri Pinault and Renzo Rosso have helped other winners.
Dufour noted that Bellettini would be the first female executive to take on the role. “She will bring a huge amount of prestige to this mentoring role, because people have a lot of admiration for Saint Laurent’s trajectory, both in image and commercial terms,” Dufour told WWD.
The mentorship spans one year of guidance on matters including financial, legal, marketing, communications and production.
“I am honored to be the official mentor of the 2017
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