In a major surprise, Francesca Amfitheatrof, the acclaimed jewelry designer of Louis Vuitton, has quit the Paris-based luxury house—just six months after Amfitheatrof herself unveiled a new building in central Paris destined to be Louis Vuitton’s jewelry global headquarters.

“I am incredibly grateful to have been given the opportunity to create the jewelry and high jewelry collections for Louis Vuitton. After seven wonderful and intense years, I am so proud of these collections and the legacy I leave behind as I embark on exciting new endeavors, which I will be announcing soon,” Amfitheatrof said in a brief statement.

Vuitton declined to comment on the departure of Amfitheatrof, who is very much a superstar designer in the world of fine jewelry. Her tenure at Vuitton has been a huge critical success, like her most recent collection, Damier, inspired by the brand’s famed monogram print. The collection includes a line of checkerboard bracelets and rings, designed in slimline forms with raised centers—surprisingly light and almost snake-like around the wrist.

“We developed one Damier ring a year ago, and people went crazy for it, so I thought, let’s do a whole collection. Sometimes the wisest decisions are right in front of your eyes,” chuckled Amfitheatrof at its launch in the new HQ.

Last year, while in high jewelry, she presented an exceptional new collection entitled “Awakened Hands, Awakened Minds,” inspired by Louis Vuitton’s spirit of travel and the mechanization of railways through interlaced V-shaped links. The collection mirrors the marvels of the Industrial Revolution in a symphony of platinum and yellow gold, diamonds, and golden yellow sapphires.

Amfitheatrof joined Vuitton in April 2018, an appointment that underlined how much Vuitton saw jewelry and watches as major growth areas for the luxury marque. Vuitton had begun inviting scores of major well-heeled clients to exotic locations like Hawaii and Courchevel in the Alps for several days of private viewing and shopping at jewelry galas.

At the time, then CEO Michael Burke noted that Vuitton had amassed a treasure trove of 200 million euros worth of precious stones. Upon her arrival, Vuitton devoted increasing amounts of retail space to her designs in its huge flagship in Place Vendôme, the most important retail center of luxury jewelry on the planet.

Very much a citizen of the world, Francesca Amfitheatrof was born in Tokyo and studied at three London institutions—Central Saint Martins, Chelsea College of Arts, and the Royal College of Art—yet speaks English with a slight Italian accent. Amfitheatrof’s first silverware collection was presented by Jay Jopling of London’s White Cube gallery in 1993. Her designs have been sold by Colette, Browns of London, Luisa Via Roma in Florence, Jeffreys in New York, and Joyce Hong Kong.

Her most important position prior to Vuitton was leading the jewelry design team at Tiffany, where, in 2013, she became the first woman to hold that position. Amfitheatrof quit that job in January 2018 when Tiffany announced that Reed Krakoff had been named the brand’s artistic director.

Previously, she had been a senior jewelry designer for UK royal jeweler Asprey & Garrard and designed for Chanel, Balenciaga, Fendi, and Marni. She also spent three years as curator of the Gucci Museo in Florence.

While at Tiffany, she developed a partnership with fashion-forward retailer Dover Street Market and featured Lady Gaga in the brand’s advertising campaigns, seen in a Super Bowl commercial.

During her time at Vuitton, Amfitheatrof continued to design for other brands. Earlier this month, her Instagram account featured a post of A$AP Rocky “wearing Psyche and Cupid, my first necklace for Maison Codognato,” the legendary Venetian jewelry brand.

Next is consistently one of the top performers in UK (and increasingly global) retail and Thursday saw it delivering more evidence of that as the firm reported its results for the year to January.

Next full-price sales rose 5.8% with total group sales including its subsidies rising 8.2% to £6.321 billion. Group profit before tax was up 10.1% to £1.011 billion and profit after tax rose 8.5% to £761 million.

And more good news was that full-price sales in the first eight weeks of its new financial year have been ahead of its expectations. As a result it’s upgrading it’s full-price sales guidance for the first half to an increase of 6.5% compared to the 3.5% previously expected. Sales for the full year should also be up 5% rather than 3.5% as previously guided. And group pre-tax profit should be £1.066 billion. That’s £20 million higher than it had expected and would represent a rise of 5.4%.

In the latest year, not all of the figures were positive but the overall result was a strong one for the company. For instance, within ‘UK Retail’ (that is, UK retail stores), full-price sales for the Next brand were down 2% but wholly-owned brands and licenses (WOBL) were up 2%, with third-party brands up 31%. The overall UK Retail total was down 1% at £1.849 billion.

Looking at e-commerce, UK Online was up 3% and WOBL online up 4%, with third-party brands up 10% for a total of a 5% increase to £2.54 billion. 

Combined, UK Retail and UK Online was flat for the Next brand, while for WOBL it rose 4%, third-party brands rose 11% and the total rose 3%.

Sales via international Next websites rose 14% for the signature brand and 28% for WOBL, while third-party brands rose 50% for a total of 20%. 

Via international third-party aggregators the Next brand rose 19% while WOBL surged over 200% and third-party brands more than doubled for a total sales rise of 25%. 

And when taking the international Next websites and international third-party aggregators figures together, total Next brand sales internationally jumped 19%, while WOBL rose 61%, third-party brands rose 51% and international sales as a whole rose 25%.

Reaching out to the world

The company said the Next brand is “growing beyond the constraints of its own infrastructure”. It’s no longer limited by the reach of its UK infrastructure and customer base with the ability to tap into overseas third-party distribution networks having allowed its international websites to grow their sales by 350% in the last 10 years. 

The Next brand has also gained traction through international platforms such as Zalando in Europe and Nordstrom in the US. In fact sales through third-party platforms grew 36% last year and now account for 30% of the company’s international business.

The firm is clearly growing fast beyond its UK base and said that while it’s wary of “grand visions”, if global fashion tastes continue to converge then it’s likely that, online at least, “a small number of increasingly global brands will serve more and more of the worlds fashion needs”. It’s aiming to create ranges that are strong enough for it to earn its place as one of those brands. 

But the group also cautioned that this isn’t just about having a grand ambition, it’s about building a business that can be hugely profitable and it knows that it’s success isn’t predestined.

Tariffs not a problem

Given its international plans, Next also addressed the current situation with tariffs and planned changes to the de-minimus rule in multiple countries that aim to close import duty-free loopholes exploited by global fast-fashion firms.

It said the introduction of new tariffs in the USA, along with the removal of de-minimis customs thresholds in the US and EU (the latter planned for 2028), are “currently anticipated to have relatively little impact on the overall group’s sales or profits”. 

In the EU, 71% of its business is currently sold by an EU domiciled subsidiary and won’t be affected by the removal of the de-minimis rule. The balance is sold from a UK company and imported by the consumer, which will attract additional duties in 2028. But the estimated net cost of these additional EU duty liabilities is estimated to be less than £1m. 

And it added: “As a group, Next has very little business in the USA. However, we and our subsidiaries are making arrangements to trade through a US entity, which we believe will eliminate the net cost of the removal of de-minimis thresholds. The volume of goods the group imports to the US from China is negligible.”

Carter’s, Inc., the U.S. apparel maker for babies and young children, announced on Wednesday that Douglas Palladini has been appointed to the role of chief executive officer and president, effective April 3.

​“Carter’s is a storied company with a powerful legacy and iconic brands that have long been trusted by families with young children for its quality, value, and style,” said Palladini.

“I am eager to continue to advance the important work underway in our retail and wholesale businesses, further build upon Carter’s brand equity, and create lasting connections with our customers through accelerated relevance, inspiring products, and meaningful storytelling.”

With over three decades of senior leadership experience within brand and direct-to-consumer strategy, Palladini joined Carter’s from V.F. Corporation, where he served as global brand president of Vans. In this role, he is credited for more than doubling global revenue to over $4.2 billion in less than six years, while also growing profitability and brand equity, among other achievements. 

With Palladini, Carter’s said it will continue to prioritize innovation and customer engagement to strengthen its connection with families with young children worldwide, according to the Atlanta-based company in a press release.

“After a comprehensive search, we are thrilled to appoint Doug Palladini as CEO of Carter’s,” said William Montgoris, non-executive chairman of the board.

“Doug’s remarkable track record of growing brands, his deep understanding of consumer-driven strategies, and his expertise in creating global brand connections will be invaluable as we continue to build upon Carter’s strong foundation. Under Doug’s leadership, Carter’s will continue to innovate, strengthen our unique, multi-channel business model, and stay true to our mission of providing high-quality, affordable apparel for young children.”