Future//Forward Conversations

Biography

Matthieu Befve is head of fine fragrance for North America at Givaudan. He brings more than 16 years of global experience spanning fragrance and beauty, strategy, commercial leadership, marketing, and digital transformation across Europe, Asia, and the Americas. Drawing on his international perspective and passion for the emotional power of scent, he leads Givaudan’s North American Fine Fragrance business, driving growth, innovation, and strategic partnerships across luxury, specialty retail, and emerging brands.

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Ever wonder how a single scent can evoke powerful emotions, shape global culture, and drive a multi-billion dollar industry? Listen in as Befve reveals what it takes to innovate and lead in the fast-evolving world of fragrance and beauty.

RSVP coming once the date and time are announced.

RSVP for Tanner Fletcher with Fern Mallis

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Co-founders of the emerging New York–based genderless brand Tanner Fletcher, Richie and Kasell sit down with industry legend Fern Mallis to discuss modern gender-fluid fashion, multi-revenue-stream business models, viral culture, and building a distinct identity in today’s fashion landscape.

Biographies

New York–based label Tanner Fletcher is an emerging genderless brand. It specializes in ready-to-wear, handbags, home, and jewelry that push the boundaries between masculinity and femininity. Co-founders Tanner Richie and Fletcher Kasell launched their first collection in 2022, bringing a modern lens to past eras of interior design and fashion to form a style that is better suited to the 21st century. Their designs are worn by the likes of Ariana Grande, Bad Bunny, Troye Sivan, Alan Cumming, Julia Fox, Sophia Bush, Chris Perfetti, Kacey Musgraves, and Ethan Slater, and have been featured in top publications such as Vogue, WWD, and Hypebeast. Tanner Fletcher is an ongoing evolution of a person’s style and vision, without unnecessary labels.

Renowned as the award-winning creator of New York Fashion Week, Fern Mallis is an industry titan and fashion doyenne, often dubbed the “Godmother of Fashion.” After two decades of influential work at the Council of Fashion Designers of America (CFDA) and IMG Fashion, Mallis now presides over her own international consulting firm.

Mallis has garnered numerous prestigious accolades, among them the Pratt Institute 2012 Fashion Industry Lifetime Achievement Award, the 2013 FIT President’s Lifetime Achievement Award, and the 2022 Icon of Innovation Award from Fashion Group International. In 2014, she was inducted into Business of Fashion’s BoF 500 Hall of Fame, and currently serves on the board of the FIT Foundation. More recently, she received the Legend in the Fight Against AIDS Award from DIFFA Dallas and was named to Women in Retail Leadership Circle’s list of “25 Most Inspirational Women Leaders for 2024.” She has also been honored with the ACE Hall of Fame Award, Giving the Glam’s Making the Difference Award, Delivering Good’s Impact Speaker Award, and the Samuel Waxman Cancer Research Foundation’s Fashion Cares Award.

For the past 16 years, Mallis has been the esteemed host of the acclaimed, sold-out 92NY conversation series Fashion Icons with Fern Mallis. She is the author of a book series chronicling these conversations, published by Rizzoli. 

RSVP for Willy Chavarria with Vanessa Friedman

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Chavarria, former senior VP of design at Calvin Klein, in conversation with Friedman, fashion director for the Times. In a wide-ranging discussion, they explore cultural identity as inspiration, the challenges and joys of being an American designer today, developing brand identity, and the importance of “building the village.”

Biographies

Willy Chavarria, originally from California, began his creative journey with a focus on commercial art, studying graphic design at Academy of Art University. However, he ultimately found his passion in the world of fashion, where he decided to channel his talents to enhance human dignity. His mission is to uplift the underrepresented through the transformative power of art and design. 

The Willy Chavarria collections embody a sensitive and cinematic approach, seamlessly blending the emotional depth of art with contemporary political themes, telling a compelling story of the human spirit. Chavarria strives to be a voice for the voiceless, often collaborating with organizations to advocate for social justice. His inspiration is drawn from biographical elements, including nods to his Mexican American heritage, the beauty found in the streets, and the surrounding culture. 

The brand continues to gain recognition through provocative and thought-provoking runway presentations, catching the attention of world-renowned stores such as Dover Street Market, Bergdorf Goodman, Selfridges, Harrods, Printemps, and Galeries Lafayette.

Chavarria’s accolades include being a finalist for the International Woolmark Prize in 2018, one of the 10 winners of the CFDA/Vogue Fashion Fund in 2021, and a recipient of a small business grant from IMG and the State of New York in 2022. In September 2022, he was honored with the Cooper Hewitt Smithsonian National Design Award in Fashion Design. In 2023 and 2024, he was celebrated as the CFDA Menswear Designer of the Year. He wasDesigner of the Year at the  Latin American Fashion Awards in 2023 and 2025. In 2025, Chavarria was also named one of TIME100’s “Most Influential People of 2025” and nominated for the Designer of the Year award at The Fashion Awards in London. Most recently, Chavarria presented his SS27 collection, Comunión, at Paris Fashion Week.

Vanessa Friedman has been the fashion director and chief fashion critic of The New York Times since 2014. She focuses on fashion as an expression of political, social, and cultural identity at a specific moment in time, especially how it is used by those in the public eye to communicate values and influence opinion. She looks at how designers translate that into products for all, as well as the evolution of fashion into a part of pop culture. She also examines the way all of that influences the larger business of fashion, one of the world’s biggest industries.

Friedman joined The Times in 2014, after 11 years at the Financial Times, five of them in London. She was the FT’s first fashion editor, and the FT was her first all-fashion job. Before that, she focused on culture coverage at magazines such as InStyle, The Economist, and The New Yorker. She has won the Fashion Group International’s Media Award, the Front Page Award for fashion writing, and the Fashion/Beauty Monitor Award for Fashion Journalist of the Year. Friedman graduated from Princeton University with a BA in history and lives in Brooklyn with her family.