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THE ITALIAN JOB: Venice’s Palazzo Ducale museum, or Doge’s Palace, was robbed on Wednesday morning, during visiting hours.
The theft took place during the last day of the “Treasures of the Mughals and the Maharajas: the Al Thani collection” exhibition, which opened back in September. Retracing five centuries of Indian jewelry art, the exhibit was showcased for the first time in Italy displaying nearly 300 pieces from the precious collection assembled by His Highness Sheikh Hamad bin Abdullah Al Thani, a member of the Qatari royal family.
According to Italian media reports, two unidentified thieves stole a valuable brooch and a pair of earrings, forcing the glass display in which they were showcased. The duo blended in with the rest of the visitors and had about a minute to exit the venue after the robbery before the alarm went off. The space was then closed to permit further investigation, but the thieves were already on the go.
Italian authorities have started investigations, analyzing the images from the security cameras in the area, which show a person operating directly and putting the stolen jewelry in his pocket while another acted as the lookout, covering him.
The value of the robbery has not been quantified yet,

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PERFORMANCE: Andrea Crews founder Maroussia Rebecq is taking the concept of backstage access to new heights. The Paris-based designer, who launched her label in 2002 as an art project geared around upcycling vintage garments, plans to stage the preparations for her fall 2018 co-ed show as a performance, titled “How to Make a Great Fashion Show.”
From today through Jan. 17, Rebecq, along with the members of her collective, will hold castings and fittings, shoot the brand’s look book and hold the final hair and makeup tests in the Le Cœur gallery in Paris’ Marais district. The actual show will be held on Jan. 20 during Paris Men’s Collections, with the location yet to be confirmed.
“This period, from now through to the show, is a very intense period where we’re building the story of our collection. This year we wanted to make an event out of it,” said Rebecq. “It will also allow for some distance from what I do. Preparing for a show can be both a highly stressful and beautiful experience, and for me gathering everyone together in a performance will make it more of a joyful, playful event.”
The designer, who is 40 but sees herself “very much as a Millennial,”

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PARIS — Landing the top designer gig at a heritage fashion house may be the goal for many of the industries’ rising talents, but 21-year-old Canadian wunderkind Vejas Kruszewski has taken another tack by signing on as creative director of Pihakapi, a brand from Italian leather apparel producer Pellemoda.
A by-appointment presentation of the brand’s debut fall collection is set to take place during Paris men’s fashion week later this month.
Kruszewski, who has been working closely with Pellemoda for his own experimental label, Vejas, said accepting the role felt like “a natural progression, or at least a choice that made sense,” adding: “I liked that it was a little unconventional, the fact that a manufacturer wants to have its own brand….What I have always liked about making clothes is all of the processes related to the manufacturing, and they have the breadth of expertise because of the clients that they produce for.”
Founded in 1979, Pellemoda is said to produce leather apparel for brands including Dior, Coach, Céline, Balenciaga and Calvin Klein.
For now the self-taught designer is putting his brand — launched in 2015 at age 18 — on hold. The label counts around 30 wholesale clients including Browns and Harvey Nichols in

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Chip Kelly is reportedly set to add two more assistants to his coaching staff at UCLA, including a coach from another Pac-12 school.

Kelly will hire Washington State outside linebackers coach Roy Manning as the special teams coordinator and San Francisco 49ers assistant defensive line coach Vince Oghubaase for UCLA’s defensive line position, Sports Illustrated’s Bruce Feldman reported Wednesday.

Manning, a former Michigan linebacker, spent three years at Washington State where the Cougars ranked 16th nationally in total defense this season.

The Bruins have struggled on special teams in recent years and were ranked just 10th in the Pac-12 in kickoff coverage last year. UCLA was fifth in the conference in punting in 2017, but gave up the most yards per return (4.2) in the Pac-12.

Kelly’s staff is nearly complete with offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach being the only vacancies left. He currently has nine positions filled and can hire a 10th full-time assistant on Jan. 9 to take over the remaining duties. The head coach was reportedly targeting Washington Redskins quarterbacks coach Kevin O’Connell as UCLA’s offensive coordinator, but the 32-year-old assistant was instead promoted to the Redskins’ passing game coordinator Tuesday.

Kelly is expected to retain defensive line coach Angus McClure, but move the longtime UCLA assistant to tight ends, a position he coached earlier in his 11-year tenure in Westwood. Kelly will also keep wide receivers coach Jimmie Dougherty, running backs coach DeShaun Foster and offensive line coach Hank Fraley for his new staff.

Oghobaase will be the youngest of Kelly’s new defensive coaches as the 30-year-old Houston native is the only one without prior coordinating experience. After serving as a graduate assistant at his alma mater Duke and Ohio State, he worked under Kelly for one season in San Francisco and stayed with the 49ers after Kelly was fired.

The defense will be led by coordinator Jerry Azzinaro, who has coached defensive line at all of Kelly’s head coaching stops. Kelly has also hired former Oregon assistant Don Pellum for the linebackers spot and former Arkansas defensive coordinator Paul Rhoads to coach defensive backs.

Feldman also reported that former UCLA quarterback Jerry Neuheisel will return to Westwood as a graduate assistant and former NFL quarterback Thad Lewis will join as an offensive analyst. After a brief professional career in Japan, Neuheisel was a graduate assistant at Texas A&M under former UCLA offensive coordinator Noel Mazzone last year. Lewis played under Kelly in Philadelphia and San Francisco in 2015 and 2016, respectively.