Fern Mallis, a fashion and design consultant and the founder of New York Fashion Week, has been named a director of the FIT Foundation.
The FIT Foundation is a not-for-profit corporation that builds long-term support that furthers the purpose of the Fashion Institute of Technology.
As a director, Mallis will serve as a mentor, industry liaison, advocate and philanthropic adviser to advance the mission and vision of FIT.
Mallis is the creator and host of the Fashion Icons With Fern Mallis series at the 92nd Street Y. Earlier, she was senior vice president of IMG Fashion and former executive director of the Council of Fashion Designers of America. Currently president of her own international fashion and design consultancy, Mallis is the author of “Fashion Lives: Fashion Icons With Fern Mallis. In 2013, she received the President’s Lifetime Achievement Award from FIT.
In addition to Mallis, FIT Foundation directors include Jay Baker, Pamela Baxter, Joy Herfel Cronin, Diane D’Erasmo, Abbey Doneger, Morris Goldfarb, Jill Granoff, Sam Haddad, Jane Hertzmark Hudis, Laurence C. Leeds Jr., Kevin Mansell, Athanasios (Tom) Nastos, Elizabeth Peek, Roberto Ramos, Bruce P. Rockowitz, Peter G. Scotese, Gary Sheinbaum and J. Michael Stanley.

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MY PRECIOUS: Bewitching precious objects from Solange Azagury-Partridge’s “Secret Garden” and “Metamorphosis” lines will feature in an exhibition headed to Paris’ Museum of Modern Art next month themed around boundary-pushing jewelry creations. They include a green enamel dome filled with itsy-bitsy precious objects like a miniature Ming vase and a god’s head set on a water lily plinth carved from rose quartz.
Titled “Medusa, Jewels and Taboos,” and billed as an exploration of taboos surrounding decoration and ornamentation, and jewelry in the context of a broadened relationship with the body and the world, the show will gather over 400 pieces of jewelry by a range of contemporary designers, heritage jewelry houses and avant-garde 20th-century artists. They include Louise Bourgeois, Méret Oppenheim, Man Ray, Suzanne Belperron, Line Vautrin, Otto Künzli, Bless, René Lalique, Cartier and Buccellati.
Fifteen installations by contemporary artists including Mike Kelley, Leonor Antunes, Jean-Marie Appriou, Lucy McKenzie and Liz Craft will also feature in the exhibition which is set to run May 19 through Nov. 5.

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PEARL JAM: Heritage Japanese jeweler Tasaki’s European push continues to gather steam with the opening of a pop-up shop in the Printemps Haussmann store, marking its third point of sale in Paris.
The temporary store, which will stay open through to the fall but may be extended, is located in Printemps’ luxury department on the first floor and houses the brand’s “Danger” and “Refined Rebellion” collections as well as the modern “Balance” line designed by Tasaki’s creative director Thakoon Panichgul (think four-finger rings and graphic pearl-based designs).
The Akoya pearl specialist also has a corner in Le Bon Marché offering iconic pieces and Tasaki’s capsule collaboration with London-based Franco-Greek designer Melanie Georgacopoulos on exclusive. The house also opened a corner in the Knightsbridge branch of Harvey Nichols in London in January and is distributed in Dover Street Market in London and New York.
Housing men’s and women’s lines, the watch collection will be exclusive to the brand’s walled boutique located in the gallery of the Ritz hotel. Boasting a Japanese quartz movement, the women’s timepieces reflect themes from the house’s jewelry, such as the Serpentine jewelry watch inspired by Seventies glamour. The watches come in 18-karat white, yellow or sequoia gold, nodding to

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JURY’S OUT: Hollywood powerhouses Will Smith and Jessica Chastain are to make up the American contingent of the Cannes Film Festival jury, according to a statement from the festival. While Smith is more known for blockbusters than auteurs films, Chastain, an outspoken advocate for gender equality in Hollywood, is a festival regular. She opened last year’s edition on stage alongside French actor Vincent Lindon, and starred in Terrence Malik’s “Tree of Life,” which scooped the Palme d’Or in 2011.
Spanish director Pedro Almodóvar will preside over the eclectic, nine-strong jury whose other members include Chinese actress and producer Fan Bingbing; Italian director and screenwriter Paolo Sorrentino; German director, screenwriter and producer Maren Ade, and French composer Gabriel Yared.
As reported, Cannes regular Uma Thurman will preside over the jury of the Un Certain Regard section of the Cannes Film Festival‘s official selection, which presents films with a unique perspective and aesthetic and works by little-known directors.
Arnaud Desplechin’s “Ismael’s Ghosts,” starring Marion Cotillard and Charlotte Gainsbourg, will open this year’s festival, which will run May 17 to 28, and celebrate its 70th edition.

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