OF GRACE AND LIGHT

Nick Knight is among the world’s most influential and visionary photographers, and founder and director of award-winning fashion website SHOWstudio.com. As a fashion photographer, he has consistently challenged conventional notions of beauty and is fêted for his groundbreaking creative collaborations with leading designers including Yohji Yamamoto, John Galliano, Alexander McQueen. Advertising campaigns for the most prestigious clients such as Christian Dior, Lancôme, Swarovski, Tom Ford, Calvin Klein or Yves Saint Laurent as well as award-winning editorial for W, British Vogue, Paris Vogue, Dazed & Confused, Another, Another Man and i-D magazines have consistently kept Knight at the vanguard of progressive image-making for the past three decades. He has directed award winning music videos for Bjork, Lady Gaga and Kanye West. His first book of photographs, Skinheads, was published in 1982, winning a DandAD award in 1996. He has since produced Nicknight, a twelve year retrospective, and Flora, a series of flower pictures, both published by Schirmer Mosel. His latest book entitled Nick Knight was published by Harper Collins in 2009 .His work has been exhibited at such international art institutions as the Tate Modern, Victoria & Albert Museum, Saatchi Gallery, the Photographers' Gallery, Hayward Gallery and the Gagosian Gallery. In 1993, he also produced a permanent installation, Plant Power, for the Natural History Museum in London. A long-standing commitment to experimenting with the latest technologies led to Knight launching his fashion website SHOWstudio in 2000, with an aim, in Knight's own words, of 'showing the entire creative process from conception to completion.' SHOWstudio has pioneered fashion film and is now recognised as the leading force behind this new medium, offering a unique platform to nurture and encourage fashion to engage with moving image in the digital age. Since its inception, SHOWstudio has worked with the world’s most sought-after filmmakers, writers and influential cultural figures to create visionary online content, exploring every facet of fashion through moving image, illustration, photography and the written word. Knight lives with his wife and three children in London. He was awarded the OBE in 2010 for his services to the arts. He is an honorary professor of the University of the Arts London and was awarded an honorary PHD by the same university.

With his long-time creative partner Maria Grazia Chiuri , Pierpaolo Piccioli has overseen Valentino’s creative direction for eight years, during which time they modernised its couture DNA to fit the contemporary consumer and boosted annual revenue to $1 billion in 2015. As of July 2016, when Chiuri decamped to Dior, Piccioli is Valentino’s sole creative director. An alumnus of Rome’s Istituto Europeo di Design , Piccioli first met Chiuri through a mutual friend in the early 1980s. In 1989, he began working alongside her in Fendi’s accessories department, marking the beginning of a two-decade creative partnership. In 1999 the pair moved to Valentino as accessory designers. They revamped the luxury brand’s handbag and eyewear collections, were put in charge of designing the brand's diffusion line Red Valentino in 2003, and later oversaw its entire accessories range. Then, shortly after Valentino Garavani ’s retirement in 2008, and following Alessandra Facchinetti 's year-long tenure as creative director, Chiuri and Piccioli were appointed co-creative directors. Though still a red carpet favourite, Valentino was struggling to reclaim the international cachet it once had. Chiuri and Piccioli pushed Valentino back to the forefront of fashion, breathing new creative energy into the brand, revitalising its menswear business and growing its accessories division with blockbuster styles like the Rockstud. In 2015, Chiuri and Piccioli received the CFDA International Award. In July 2016, when Chiuri was appointed artistic director of Dior, Piccioli became Valentino’s sole creative director. Since heading up the fashion house solo the brand has seen large success — his Autumn/Winter 2018 haute couture for the house received a standing ovation.