Anja Rubik, a Polish-born supermodel, has been a defining figure in the fashion world for over two decades. Known for her creative collaborations with Karl Lagerfeld, she has also been a muse and global ambassador for Saint Laurent’s Anthony Vaccarello. Recognized by Vogue Paris as one of the Top 30 models of the decade, she has consistently ranked among the world’s top models.

As the founder of 25 Magazine, published author and photojournalist Rubik continues to push boundaries in fashion and art, while her involvement in various humanitarian causes earned her universal respect for her moral courage and clarity of thought.

Beyond her modelling career, Rubik is a dedicated activist and philanthropist. She is the founder of SEXEDPL, Poland’s leading educational platform focused on comprehensive sexuality education. The platform has achieved unprecedented success, recognized by the United Nations and UNFPA. Her activism also extends to environmental causes where she promotes ocean sustainability. In 2019, Rubik addressed the United Nations during Parley’s World Ocean Day event, emphasizing the urgent need to combat marine pollution.

Her work in Poland underscores her commitment to using her platform for social change, particularly in promoting women’s rights and education globally.

The leading light in transdisciplinary approaches to cultural experience, Hans Ulrich Obrist is a global curator and artistic director based between London and Zurich. Consistently connecting the dots between emerging artists and art historical thought, the Swiss curator’s innovative practice and deep curiosity has made him one of the most influential creative tastemakers of the past two decades.

Known for his long-standing role as Artistic Director of the Serpentine, Obrist has curated over 300 shows in his career to date and written and edited numerous books, including 2015’s influential ‘Ways of Curating’ and, in 2021, ‘140 Artists’ Ideas for Planet Earth,’ a manifesto that also serves to demonstrate his ongoing dedication to sustainability and combating the climate crisis. Applying this spirit of expansiveness in his collaborations with brands, Obrist’s keen eye for cultural shifts makes him a kind of soothsayer for our time: creating experiences for global audiences that feel like a summons from the future.

Named by ArtReview as the number one most influential person in contemporary art twice, Obrist is a luminary who continues to push the art world forward by constantly questioning its outdated categories – and by applying his unique expertise to break the boundaries between fashion and technology, physical and digital culture.

Subodh Kerkar was born in a small picturesque village of Keri on the northern border of Goa. A qualified medical professional, he gave up medicine to pursue arts 30 years ago. He is an artist and an activist and uses art to comment on social, political, religious and other issues. His art practice includes paintings, drawings, sculptures, installations, videos, performances and land art. He has carved a niche for himself, especially in the field of conceptual art and land art. Subodh Kerkar’s installations are heavily washed by the ocean, both literally and metaphorically. He creates his ephemeral installations using thousands of mussel shells, pebbles, palm leaves, boats, fishermen and sand. The ocean is both inside and outside his works, his master and his muse. He has exhibited widely in galleries, museums and biennales around the world and is the Founding Director of Museum of Goa (MOG), which is one of the largest privately-owned contemporary art spaces in India. For the last 20 years, Subodh has been a serious student of Goa’s history. He has created and curated hundreds of works, where Goa’s history becomes a footnote. He specializes in presenting histories using contemporary idioms. He lives and works in Goa. Presently he is holding the Mario Miranda Chair as a Visiting Research Professor at Goa University.

After graduating from Parsons in Fashion Marketing in 2017, Marina established her career as a Creator, Connector and Strategist in the niche space of sustainable fashion and conscious consumerism. Marina is currently Director of Strategic Partnerships at Earth Partner.

Marina is uniquely tapped into the new generation of consumers who are holding brands to higher social and environmental standards. Her activations and connections help fashion brands, tech investors and consumers alike move towards a much needed reset for the fashion industry.

Marina has worked with brands such as Stella McCartney, Gucci, Davines; Organizations like Greenpeace, United Nations, Ellen MacArthur Foundation, and technology companies like Pentatonic, Oritain, and Pyratex.

Over the past few years, Ferdinando has been pioneering a new type of creativity for the fashion and luxury industry. His unique, concept driven process has shaped in-depth strategic and creative partnerships with Louis Vuitton, Prada, Versace, and Adidas Originals, each time tasked with the complete re-positioning of the house’s voice and image.

From 2019 – 2021, Ferdinando focused on the publishing world by re-thinking the iconic Vogue Italia publication, with the aim to bring it closer to its original position of industry challenger, creating in the first year a few unprecedented cases in the magazine’s history, including the first ever completely illustrated issue, involving no photographic production as an ecological statement, the first completely blank cover as a symbol of silence during the height of the pandemic in Italy, and covers drawn by children of 2 to 9 years old to introduce a discussion on the topic of youth during the pandemic. In September 2020, he conceived an issue with 100 covers, each dedicated to one person, each telling the story of their lives in 1 minute and most recently, an issue dedicated to animals in which no fur or leather were featured in the editorials.

His current collaboration with Prada has seen the same progressive mindset come to life with ideas such as that of premiering the 2020 resort campaign wrapped around flowers to be found in flower shops around the world, and later, turning the campaign into a Sotheby’s benefit auction selling unique pieces from the fashion show to benefit Unesco.

Ferdinando’s work has been awarded with some of the highest honors in the creative industry, including the Grand Prix at the Cannes International Festival of Creativity, Gold Lions, as well as D&AD and Grand Clio Awards, where he has been the most awarded creative in the fashion and beauty category. 

Ferdinando lives and works in New York.

Shaway Yeh is one of China’s key opinion leaders in Fashion and Culture. Under Yeh’s editorial direction Modern Weekly reaches China’s elite readers with the latest international news, trends, and cultural discussion and became China’s most influential lifestyle publication.

In 2017 she also became co-creative director of the global video channel NOWNESS. Yeh is an advisor to Copenhagen Fashion Summit and Green Carpet Fashion Award and has been using her media outreach to advocate issues related to sustainability and innovation.

She founded the consultancy agency yehyehyeh to push forward the sustainability agenda among Chinese brands and designers, bringing together sustainability, creativity and innovation to instigate value-based change.

Since 1992, Art Partner co-founder Giovanni Testino has led the agency known for its roster of fashion creatives and production. With nearly 30 years at the helm, Testino has grown the agency from a core focus on fashion photography to include styling and creative direction as well as hair and make-up divisions – ultimately becoming an important source of creative talent and content development across fashion, luxury, beauty and technology.

Testino studied Economics in California before travelling to Peru to pursue work in the shipping industry in the 1980s. Excelling at his work and quickly building robust shipping business relationships, Mario Testino urged his brother to swap ores and concentrates for photography. With an aim to start their own business venture, the siblings opened the first Art Partner office in New York, capitalising on the city’s explosive creative scene.

Art Partner offers a fully integrated approach to its brand collaborations, which includes creative development and image consulting, as well as film and production, in-house digital content strategy and distribution, fashion consultation, image syndication, and production services from the agency’s offices in New York, London, and Paris.

Today, the roster of creatives includes Mert Alas and Marcus Piggott, Mario Sorrenti, Glen Luchford, Harley Weir, Alasdair McLellan, David Sims, Hans Ulrich Obrist, Tyler Mitchell, Marie Chaix, Lucia Pica, Ezra Petronio, and Ferdinando Verderi, among others.

Among the agency’s many advertising clients, Art Partner frequently works with the likes of Gucci, Chloé, Burberry, Versace, Prada, Puig, Valentino, and Lancôme. Art Partner has also worked on campaigns in the technology and the food and beverage industries, teaming up with clients such as Apple, Samsung, and The Macallan among others.