ICICLE
ICICLE has appointed Sabato De Sarno as Creative Director.
From early 2023 to early 2025, he served as Creative Director of Gucci, the flagship brand of French luxury giant Kering Group.
It is worth noting that in April this year, Kering Group had just officially announced its acquisition of a minority stake in ICCF Group, the parent company of ICICLE, to help the brand advance its international expansion and extend its product matrix into new categories.
In his new role, Sabato De Sarno will fully oversee the creative direction of ICICLE's women's and men's ready-to-wear, accessories and eyewear collections. His first collection for ICICLE will be unveiled for the Fall/Winter 2027–2028 season.
Sabato De Sarno was born in 1983 in the Naples region of Italy. In 2003, he began his career at Italian luxury brand Prada (Prada), and later worked at another Italian luxury brand, Dolce & Gabbana. In 2009, he joined Italian luxury brand Valentino (Valentino), where he worked for more than a decade and was promoted to Fashion Director, overseeing women's and men's ready-to-wear collections.
De Sarno is known for his refined aesthetic vision, exceptional tailoring skills and product-first creative approach. His work has a clear style and reflects a commitment to exquisite materials and timeless design.
Since 2013, French designer Bénédicte Laloux has played a central role in shaping ICICLE's women's creative image and its Paris design studio. She will continue to serve as Design Director of Women's Runway Collections and will work under the creative direction of Sabato De Sarno.
Exemplar Luxury Group
U.S. luxury department store group Exemplar Luxury Group (formerly Saks Global), which owns Neiman Marcus, Saks Fifth Avenue and Bergdorf Goodman, has appointed Gretchen Koback Pursel as Chief People Officer.
In her new role, Gretchen Koback Pursel will be responsible for developing and implementing the people strategy, building a performance-driven culture, fully mobilizing the energy of individuals and teams, and driving business outcomes.
Gretchen Koback Pursel has extensive experience in luxury, beauty and wellness. Before joining Exemplar, Koback Pursel worked at luxury fitness chain Equinox and previously served as Chief People Officer at Tiffany & Co. and The Wella Company.
Iicombined
Iicombined, the parent company of Korean trendy eyewear brand Gentle Monster, has appointed Renaud Divisia as General Manager of Europe.
In his new role, Renaud Divisia will be responsible for driving the continued growth of Iicombined's European business (including Gentle Monster), overseeing regional internal operations, store expansion and the overall commercial strategy.
Renaud Divisia is a seasoned international luxury industry executive with experience in business development, commercial strategy and brand management at multiple luxury groups and brands. Before joining Iicombined, he served as General Manager of the Korean subsidiary of Spanish fashion and beauty fragrance giant Puig and as International Business Director of its niche fragrance brand Byredo. He also spent many years at Dior Parfums under LVMH Group, holding various international management positions in Europe and the Middle East.
Founded in 2011, Iicombined's brand portfolio, in addition to eyewear brand Gentle Monster, also includes fragrance and skincare brand Tamburins, creative experience café Nudake, headwear brand Atiissu and kitchenware brand Nuflaat.
| Source: Official press release
| Image credit: Provided by brands, personal social media accounts
| Editor: LuxeCO
