As reported on www.ragtrader.com.au, Pearce will continue his involvement with the consumer festival as a creative advisor, working in partnership with LMFF’s newly appointed chief executive officer Graeme Lewsey. While Pearce was credited with creating one of the most successful instalments of LMFF this year, News Ltd reports claimed his tenure was “dogged by drama”, including his decision to walk out of a fashion parade for being seated in third row.
LMFF chairman Laura Anderson confirmed Pearce would not only continue his involvement with the annual event, but was intergral to the appointment of Lewsey to the newly created position of CEO. Pearce introduced a number of initiatives this year including a public opening gala, a plus-size womenswear parade and an exclusive parade from Alex Perry.
“Grant stirred up this incredible creative energy and we felt the next stage was to bed that down with business acumen - Graeme fitted the bill and we like to think of him as our ‘orchestra conductor’,” Anderson said. “We had met with Graeme when we were looking for candidates [for the creative director position] but Grant was the one who actually identified him as a fantastic prospect for CEO.”
Anderson admitted that Pearce’s LMFF schedule, which saw him balance existing duties as an editorial director at Conde Nast Asia Pacific, meant solid onsite and offsite commitments.
“As an advisor he will have the same responsibilities but will spend less time in the office,” she said. “This is lifting him up and freeing him up to leverage his global network and actively bring new opportunities to the festival. He and Graeme are already creating new opportunities together.”
Anderson confirmed Lewsey, who was a longstanding senior executive at Rosemount Australian Fashion Week before accepting the LMFF post, has been contracted to the festival for three years. A recent “strategy session” between Lewsey and the LMFF board will see several new initiatives announced in coming months, Anderson said.
“We are so fortunate to have these links in place and see a lot of opportunities to seed our growth both in Australia and other markets, regionally, interstate and internationally.”
Assia Benmedjdoub