Global Art Director: Between Spaces, Objects, and Emotions
Saturday 6 September —
16:00
- 16:45
The Talks — Hall 6
Description
Design, art, fashion, interior architecture, video, hospitality, and restaurants… Some art directors showcase their talents across diverse fields, capturing the spirit of the times through a variety of projects.
Blending keen observation, 360° creativity, and the crafting of a desirable future, meet Olivier Leone, founder of the agency Pragma.
Participants
Olivier LeoneCreative Director
Danièle GerkensJournalist
Olivier Leone
Creative Director
Olivier Leone is a Paris-based creative director and brand strategist with a distinct ability to bridge creative excellence and strategic clarity. A graduate of EDHEC Business School, the École du Louvre, and the Institut Français de la Mode, where he now lectures, he brings a unique multidisciplinary perspective to every project he leads. He is the founder of Pragma, a creative practice rooted in the belief that strategy and aesthetics should serve one another, a philosophy expressed in its very name. Positioned at the intersection of branding, design, fashion and hospitality, Pragmais known for its precise yet emotionally resonant work. Its ambition: to build enduring value through artful thinking and business-minded execution. Over the past decade, Olivier has launched and shaped several influential ventures. He was an early and exiting partner in the acclaimed footwear brand Nodaleto (exited November 2023), contributed to the repositioning of heritage house Christofle, and now leads the image and brand strategy of the Silencio Group. His consulting portfolio includes long-term collaborations with LVMH and Puig, supporting brands such as Dries Van Noten, Bottega Veneta Parfums and L’Artisan Parfumeur. He has executed global campaigns for Louis Vuitton and Givenchy, and advised leading hospitality players on identity and guest experience. Currently, he also curates and directs the artistic vision of the gallery Sceners, and develops projects in collaboration with Gagosian and Maison Rocher. Favoring influence over exposure, Olivier cultivates relevance through substance and a carefully chosen presence. A portrait was recently dedicated to him in M Le Monde (February 2025), and a full double-page spread on his restaurant Ojii was featured in the most recent Vogue under the title “The Place to Be.” He is currently working on a photographic monograph titled Salarymen, to be published by Saint Laurent Rive Droite, exploring uniformity, identity and transformation in modern Japan. Both strategist and artist, Olivier Leone is part of a new generation of polymath creatives, fluent in the codes of luxury, anchored in business acumen, and committed to building narratives that last.
Danièle Gerkens
Journalist
Editor-in-chief of ELLE Décoration, ELLE à table and Art & Décoration, Danièle Gerkens has a degree in Economics and in the History of Art and Religions. Born and raised in Africa, she has worked as a journalist for ELLE magazine after various experiences: copywriter at Publicis, consultant at UNESCO, cook at l'Arpège with Alain Passard... She is also the author of several books including "Zero Sugar", an investigation published by Les Arènes.