Driving Force
Barneys Fêtes Tod's Potentate Diego Della Valle
Tod's founder Diego Della Valle owns an accessories powerhouse, a soccer team, and a pair of mega-yachts, along with interests in a newspaper, a bank, and a film studio; as of last week, he's the top shareholder at Saks Fifth Avenue. Also among his sizable holdings are numerous friends and admirers in the fashion industry, many of whom (including Maria Cornejo, Padma Lakshmi, and L'Wren Scott) were at Barneys last night to raise a glass to the high-flying mogul.
"He's a powerhouse," Mary Alice Stephenson said. "Mr. Della Valle talks, people listen. And every move he makes is studied by everyone in the business." Recently, those moves have included re-signing creative director Derek Lam to a two-year contract and launching an ad campaign that uses to-the-manner-born society fixtures in lieu of models. "It's really about capturing a life, not an image, so we wanted people who already have great personal style," explained Amanda Brooks, who put India Hicks, Lauren Remington Platt, Jamie Johnson, and herself in front of Elliott Erwitt's camera for the campaign, alongside some unusual co-stars. "There's pigs, there's horses, there's croquet," she said. "But there's a sense of humor." Platt, who was circulating with her King Charles puppy in one of the brand's buttery leather totes, seemed to be on that wavelength.
Standing under a colorful, rigginglike installation of his iconic driving shoes, Della Valle said, "I feel like I'm at home." Did he have a little Champagne celebration like this one after pulling off the big Saks buy? All Della Valle had to say about that: "I was in my jet."
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