Avsnitt
-
What does the day-to-day reality of a conceptual art studio actually look like?
In this bonus episode of Compelling, host Katy Wellesley-Wesley asks Noémie Goudal to pull back the curtain on her Paris studio and the team behind the illusions. Noémie describes a lean permanent setup, a studio manager, rotating interns and a deep bench of freelance specialists that scales to meet each project. From the optical engineer who calculates the precise dimensions of her paper backdrops, to the pyrotechnician who stages controlled explosions, to the iconographer who brought order to years of chaotic research, each collaborator opens a new field of knowledge that feeds back into the work.
Katy also asks whether the number of women among Noémie's key collaborators is deliberate. The balance, she says, is organic rather than engineered. A quick, candid glimpse into how large-scale art is actually made.
Noémie Goudal: Noémie Goudal is a French conceptual artist whose photographs, films, performances and sculptures construct illusionistic interventions in the landscape, underpinned by research at the intersection of ecology, anthropology and paleoclimatology. She graduated with an MA in Photography from the Royal College of Art in 2010, after studying graphic design at Central Saint Martins. Goudal was shortlisted for the Prix Marcel Duchamp 2024 at Centre Pompidou, where she premiered the films Grand Vide and Supra Strata. Her Artangel-commissioned installation The Story of Fixity is touring to Le Portique in Le Havre for Normandie Impressionniste 2026, with further exhibitions at the Pola Foundation in Japan and a major monographic survey opening at the Norton Museum of Art, West Palm Beach, in 2027.
Visit Noémie Goudal
Katy Wellesley Wesley: With over 18 years of leadership across galleries, foundations, and startups, Katy has built a career shaped by curiosity and a drive to explore new ideas. She spent a decade at leading commercial galleries—first at Gagosian, then at Pace, where she was Director of Exhibitions in London. She went on to lead the Villa Lena Foundation in Italy as Director, before joining the founding team of ROKBOX, a pioneering environmentally focused art logistics startup, as Sales Director. After relocating to Paris six years ago, Katy developed a strong interest in the intersection of art and luxury. To deepen this focus, she recently completed an Executive Master’s in Luxury Management and Design Innovation, a joint program between ESSEC Business School and Parsons School of Design. She now works as a consultant to brands, artists, foundations, and collectors. Among her clients is the legendary art publisher Cahiers d’Art, where she heads Commercial Partnerships.
Compelling is proudly in partnership with Cahiers d’Art.
Compelling is produced in collaboration with Cahiers d’Art, the iconic Paris-based art publisher founded in 1926, home of the Catalogue Raisonné of Picasso and most recently the Frank Gehry Drawings Catalogue Raisonné. At the heart of it's publishing program is the Cahiers d'Art Revue, one of the most significant and longest-standing annual art publications of the last century. This year, Cahiers d’Art will celebrate its 100th anniversary with a series of major publications, projects and exhibitions in collaboration with leading global institutions, including the Peggy Guggenheim Collection in Venice, the MoMA in New York City and the Musée Picasso in Paris.Visit Cahiers d’Art
Art direction by Eddie Harrop Studio
Website and Production by Story Ninety-Four -
What drives an artist to build vast illusions in real landscapes only to film them as they burn, melt and dissolve?
In this episode of Compelling, host Katy Wellesley-Wesley sits down in Paris with French conceptual artist Noémie Goudal, whose photographs, films and performances probe how landscapes are formed, transformed and imagined. They trace her path from a darkroom hobby in late-1990s Paris, to Central Saint Martins and the Royal College of Art, and to her shortlisting for the Prix Marcel Duchamp 2024 at Centre Pompidou.
Noémie unpacks the rigour behind series such as Cascade, Phoenix, Anima and the Artangel-commissioned The Story of Fixity, currently touring to Le Portique in Le Havre for the 2026 Normandie Impressionniste festival. She reflects on collaboration with director Maëlle Poésy and aerial artist Chloé Moglia, the role of paleoclimatology and the water cycle in her research, and what it means to build a first monograph spanning 17 years of practice ahead of her 2027 Norton Museum survey.
(00:00) - Welcome to Compelling(02:07) - Growing up between Architecture and Theatre(04:56) - St Martin's, the Royal College and Finding Space in London(06:20) - Cascade and the Birth of Constructed Photography(10:34) - Why Real-Time Illusions Matter More than Photoshop(13:59) - Building Anima with Maëlle Poésy and Chloé Moglia(20:28) - Paleoclimatology, Water and Letting Research Click(26:45) - Building a First Monograph across 17 Years(33:52) - Inside the Prix Marcel Duchamp 2024(39:56) - Influences from Theatre to Marfa and Las Pozas(42:46) - Hard Work over Talent and the Discipline of Finishing(51:15) - Le Portique, Pola Foundation and What Comes NextNoémie Goudal: Noémie Goudal is a French conceptual artist whose photographs, films, performances and sculptures construct illusionistic interventions in the landscape, underpinned by research at the intersection of ecology, anthropology and paleoclimatology. She graduated with an MA in Photography from the Royal College of Art in 2010, after studying graphic design at Central Saint Martins. Goudal was shortlisted for the Prix Marcel Duchamp 2024 at Centre Pompidou, where she premiered the films Grand Vide and Supra Strata. Her Artangel-commissioned installation The Story of Fixity is touring to Le Portique in Le Havre for Normandie Impressionniste 2026, with further exhibitions at the Pola Foundation in Japan and a major monographic survey opening at the Norton Museum of Art, West Palm Beach, in 2027.
Visit Noémie Goudal
Katy Wellesley Wesley: With over 18 years of leadership across galleries, foundations, and startups, Katy has built a career shaped by curiosity and a drive to explore new ideas. She spent a decade at leading commercial galleries—first at Gagosian, then at Pace, where she was Director of Exhibitions in London. She went on to lead the Villa Lena Foundation in Italy as Director, before joining the founding team of ROKBOX, a pioneering environmentally focused art logistics startup, as Sales Director. After relocating to Paris six years ago, Katy developed a strong interest in the intersection of art and luxury. To deepen this focus, she recently completed an Executive Master’s in Luxury Management and Design Innovation, a joint program between ESSEC Business School and Parsons School of Design. She now works as a consultant to brands, artists, foundations, and collectors. Among her clients is the legendary art publisher Cahiers d’Art, where she heads Commercial Partnerships.
Compelling is proudly in partnership with Cahiers d’Art.
Compelling is produced in collaboration with Cahiers d’Art, the iconic Paris-based art publisher founded in 1926, home of the Catalogue Raisonné of Picasso and most recently the Frank Gehry Drawings Catalogue Raisonné. At the heart of it's publishing program is the Cahiers d'Art Revue, one of the most significant and longest-standing annual art publications of the last century. This year, Cahiers d’Art will celebrate its 100th anniversary with a series of major publications, projects and exhibitions in collaboration with leading global institutions, including the Peggy Guggenheim Collection in Venice, the MoMA in New York City and the Musée Picasso in Paris.Visit Cahiers d’Art
Art direction by Eddie Harrop Studio
Website and Production by Story Ninety-Four -
Saknas det avsnitt?
-
What would you keep perfectly preserved in a bottle if it could be anything other than perfume?
In this bonus episode of Compelling, host Katy Wellesley-Wesley returns to her conversation with Marc Chaya, co-founder and CEO of Maison Francis Kurkdjian, for a more philosophical exchange on creativity, perception and the legitimacy of scent as art.
Marc argues that we have been taught to appreciate art through sight and sound, yet rarely through the nose. He unpacks the long technical training behind perfumery, the difference between mastering a craft and being a true creator, and Kant's idea of the genius of creativity, where imagination and reasoning fall into spontaneous harmony.
He closes with a striking answer to Katy's question, choosing to bottle the feeling of transcendence — that universal, intangible emotion great art provokes.
Marc Chaya: Marc Chaya is the co-founder and CEO (President) of Maison Francis Kurkdjian, the Paris fragrance house he launched with perfumer Francis Kurkdjian in 2009. Before co-founding the Maison, Marc built a fast-tracked career at Ernst & Young in Paris, where he made partner in under ten years and later served as Global Telecoms Markets Leader, before leaving to pursue entrepreneurship and a creativity-led approach to luxury perfumery. He is known for advocating for perfumers’ authorship and for expanding fragrance into wider artistic forms, including the Palais de Tokyo retrospective celebrating 30 years of Francis Kurkdjian’s work beyond the bottle.
Visit Maison Francis Kurkdjian
Katy Wellesley Wesley: With over 18 years of leadership across galleries, foundations, and startups, Katy has built a career shaped by curiosity and a drive to explore new ideas. She spent a decade at leading commercial galleries—first at Gagosian, then at Pace, where she was Director of Exhibitions in London. She went on to lead the Villa Lena Foundation in Italy as Director, before joining the founding team of ROKBOX, a pioneering environmentally focused art logistics startup, as Sales Director. After relocating to Paris six years ago, Katy developed a strong interest in the intersection of art and luxury. To deepen this focus, she recently completed an Executive Master’s in Luxury Management and Design Innovation, a joint program between ESSEC Business School and Parsons School of Design. She now works as a consultant to brands, artists, foundations, and collectors. Among her clients is the legendary art publisher Cahiers d’Art, where she heads Commercial Partnerships.
Compelling is proudly in partnership with Cahiers d’Art.
Compelling is produced in collaboration with Cahiers d’Art, the iconic Paris-based art publisher founded in 1926, home of the Catalogue Raisonné of Picasso and most recently the Frank Gehry Drawings Catalogue Raisonné. At the heart of it's publishing program is the Cahiers d'Art Revue, one of the most significant and longest-standing annual art publications of the last century. In 2026, Cahiers d’Art will celebrate its 100th anniversary with a series of major publications, projects and exhibitions in collaboration with leading global institutions, including the Peggy Guggenheim Collection in Venice, the MoMA in New York City and the Musée Picasso in Paris.Visit Cahiers d’Art
Art direction by Eddie Harrop Studio
Website and Production by Story Ninety-Four -
What happens when a luxury industry built on marketing starts putting the creator back at the centre?
In this episode of Compelling, host Katy Wellesley-Wesley speaks with Marc Chaya, co-founder and CEO of Maison Francis Kurkdjian, about building a modern fragrance house where strategy exists to protect creative freedom, not constrain it. Marc traces his journey from growing up in Beirut during the civil war to becoming Ernst & Young’s youngest ever partner, and explains why beauty, reading, and the arts became both refuge and fuel for an entrepreneurial life.
(00:00) - Welcome to Compelling(01:51) - Meet Marc Chaya and the Conversation Setup(04:32) - Urgency, Impact, and a Drive to Build Something That Matters(05:21) - From Ernst & Young to Entrepreneurship(08:58) - The Dinner Party That Sparked a 22-Year Partnership(09:20) - Putting the Perfumer at the Centre of the Maison(15:29) - What It Really Takes to Build a Luxury House(23:30) - Perfume Beyond the Bottle: Art, Installations, and Scents as Sculpture(33:18) - ICON(S) and The Alchemy of the Senses Documentary(40:57) - Dupes, Aspiration, and the Case for IP Protection in Fragrance(58:25) - Sustainability, Packaging, and the Future of Refills
The conversation goes deep on authorship: why perfumers stay invisible, why copying a scent is treated differently from copying a song, and what it would take to secure meaningful intellectual property protection for fragrance formulas. Marc also unpacks the origin story of Baccarat Rouge 540 and why it became a cultural phenomenon without traditional advertising. Along the way, we touch on sustainability, the future of gifting, and the challenge of scaling without compromising craft, as the global fragrance market continues to expand.Marc Chaya: Marc Chaya is the co-founder and CEO (President) of Maison Francis Kurkdjian, the Paris fragrance house he launched with perfumer Francis Kurkdjian in 2009. Before co-founding the Maison, Marc built a fast-tracked career at Ernst & Young in Paris, where he made partner in under ten years and later served as Global Telecoms Markets Leader, before leaving to pursue entrepreneurship and a creativity-led approach to luxury perfumery. He is known for advocating for perfumers’ authorship and for expanding fragrance into wider artistic forms, including the Palais de Tokyo retrospective celebrating 30 years of Francis Kurkdjian’s work beyond the bottle.
Visit Maison Francis Kurkdjian
Katy Wellesley Wesley: With over 18 years of leadership across galleries, foundations, and startups, Katy has built a career shaped by curiosity and a drive to explore new ideas. She spent a decade at leading commercial galleries—first at Gagosian, then at Pace, where she was Director of Exhibitions in London. She went on to lead the Villa Lena Foundation in Italy as Director, before joining the founding team of ROKBOX, a pioneering environmentally focused art logistics startup, as Sales Director. After relocating to Paris six years ago, Katy developed a strong interest in the intersection of art and luxury. To deepen this focus, she recently completed an Executive Master’s in Luxury Management and Design Innovation, a joint program between ESSEC Business School and Parsons School of Design. She now works as a consultant to brands, artists, foundations, and collectors. Among her clients is the legendary art publisher Cahiers d’Art, where she heads Commercial Partnerships.
Compelling is proudly in partnership with Cahiers d’Art.
Compelling is produced in collaboration with Cahiers d’Art, the iconic Paris-based art publisher founded in 1926, home of the Catalogue Raisonné of Picasso and most recently the Frank Gehry Drawings Catalogue Raisonné. At the heart of it's publishing program is the Cahiers d'Art Revue, one of the most significant and longest-standing annual art publications of the last century. In 2026, Cahiers d’Art will celebrate its 100th anniversary with a series of major publications, projects and exhibitions in collaboration with leading global institutions, including the Peggy Guggenheim Collection in Venice, the MoMA in New York City and the Musée Picasso in Paris.Visit Cahiers d’Art
Art direction by Eddie Harrop Studio
Website and Production by Story Ninety-Four -
How does an art fair grow from 5,000 visitors into the defining cultural moment for an entire country?
In this bonus clip from Compelling, host Katy Wellesley Wesley speaks with Tokini Peterside-Schwebig, founder of ART X Lagos, about the ten-year journey from a bold idea to a multidisciplinary platform that has activated an entire city. Tokini traces the evolution of ART X Lagos edition by edition. From integrating live music on day one, to launching ART X Cinema, establishing the country's leading emerging artist prize, and building an education programme that brings hundreds of school children into the fair each year.
By its tenth edition in November 2025, ART X Lagos had sparked close to 50 satellite events across Lagos, drawn collaborators including Yinka Shonibare and his artist residency programme, and positioned the city as a fixture on the global arts calendar. This is a conversation about what happens when a platform stops being an event and becomes a movement.
Tokini Peterside-Schwebig: Tokini is the founder and CEO of ART X Collective, the cultural enterprise behind ART X Lagos — West Africa's first and leading international art fair. Launched in 2016, the fair has grown into an anchor event on the global arts calendar, welcoming galleries from over 70 countries and establishing Lagos as a dynamic cultural capital. Under her leadership, ART X has expanded into a year-round ecosystem encompassing ART X Live! (a platform for emerging musicians), the ART X Prize (an annual award for emerging artists across Africa and its diaspora), and ART X Cinema (a showcase for independent African filmmaking).
Visit ART X Lagos
Katy Wellesley Wesley: With over 18 years of leadership across galleries, foundations, and startups, Katy has built a career shaped by curiosity and a drive to explore new ideas. She spent a decade at leading commercial galleries—first at Gagosian, then at Pace, where she was Director of Exhibitions in London. She went on to lead the Villa Lena Foundation in Italy as Director, before joining the founding team of ROKBOX, a pioneering environmentally focused art logistics startup, as Sales Director. After relocating to Paris six years ago, Katy developed a strong interest in the intersection of art and luxury. To deepen this focus, she recently completed an Executive Master’s in Luxury Management and Design Innovation, a joint program between ESSEC Business School and Parsons School of Design. She now works as a consultant to brands, artists, foundations, and collectors. Among her clients is the legendary art publisher Cahiers d’Art, where she heads Commercial Partnerships.
Compelling is proudly in partnership with Cahiers d’Art.
Compelling is produced in collaboration with Cahiers d’Art, the iconic Paris-based art publisher founded in 1926, home of the Catalogue Raisonné of Picasso and most recently the Frank Gehry Drawings Catalogue Raisonné. At the heart of it's publishing program is the Cahiers d'Art Revue, one of the most significant and longest-standing annual art publications of the last century. In 2026, Cahiers d’Art will celebrate its 100th anniversary with a series of major publications, projects and exhibitions in collaboration with leading global institutions, including the Peggy Guggenheim Collection in Venice, the MoMA in New York City and the Musée Picasso in Paris.Visit Cahiers d’Art
Art direction by Eddie Harrop Studio
Website and Production by Story Ninety-Four -
What does it take to build cultural infrastructure in a country where the state will not do it for you?
In this episode of Compelling, host Katy Wellesley Wesley speaks with Tokini Peterside-Schwebig, entrepreneur and founder of ART X Lagos — West Africa's leading international art fair — about a career defined by creative conviction and strategic clarity. From her childhood in Lagos, through a law degree at the LSE and an MBA at INSEAD, to a pivotal visit to the 2015 Venice Biennale that crystallised her vision, Tokini traces the journey that led her to launch ART X in 2016.
The conversation spans identity, access, and the power of art to reshape perception. ART X Lagos marked its landmark tenth edition in November 2025 under the theme Imagining Otherwise, No Matter the Tide, welcoming galleries from over 70 countries and participants from 170 nations. Tokini reflects on what the next decade demands of a platform that has already achieved what it set out to do.
(00:00) - Welcome to Compelling(02:45) - A Creative Childhood in Lagos(06:09) - Boarding School, Britain, and Nigerian Pride(10:16) - From Law Graduate to Luxury Brand Builder(13:21) - Discovering the Intersection of Culture and Commerce(20:36) - The Vision Behind ART X Lagos(25:39) - Building the First Edition Against the Odds(30:16) - Convincing Galleries and Sponsors to Believe(36:15) - Navigating COVID, Social Unrest, and Renewed Purpose(41:05) - Openness, Access, and the Culture of Looking(46:56) - The Next Frontier for ART X Lagos(49:15) - Trust Yourself: Advice, Mentors, and HabitsTokini Peterside-Schwebig: Tokini is the founder and CEO of ART X Collective, the cultural enterprise behind ART X Lagos — West Africa's first and leading international art fair. Launched in 2016, the fair has grown into an anchor event on the global arts calendar, welcoming galleries from over 70 countries and establishing Lagos as a dynamic cultural capital. Under her leadership, ART X has expanded into a year-round ecosystem encompassing ART X Live! (a platform for emerging musicians), the ART X Prize (an annual award for emerging artists across Africa and its diaspora), and ART X Cinema (a showcase for independent African filmmaking).
Visit ART X Lagos
Katy Wellesley Wesley: With over 18 years of leadership across galleries, foundations, and startups, Katy has built a career shaped by curiosity and a drive to explore new ideas. She spent a decade at leading commercial galleries—first at Gagosian, then at Pace, where she was Director of Exhibitions in London. She went on to lead the Villa Lena Foundation in Italy as Director, before joining the founding team of ROKBOX, a pioneering environmentally focused art logistics startup, as Sales Director. After relocating to Paris six years ago, Katy developed a strong interest in the intersection of art and luxury. To deepen this focus, she recently completed an Executive Master’s in Luxury Management and Design Innovation, a joint program between ESSEC Business School and Parsons School of Design. She now works as a consultant to brands, artists, foundations, and collectors. Among her clients is the legendary art publisher Cahiers d’Art, where she heads Commercial Partnerships.
Compelling is proudly in partnership with Cahiers d’Art.
Compelling is produced in collaboration with Cahiers d’Art, the iconic Paris-based art publisher founded in 1926, home of the Catalogue Raisonné of Picasso and most recently the Frank Gehry Drawings Catalogue Raisonné. At the heart of it's publishing program is the Cahiers d'Art Revue, one of the most significant and longest-standing annual art publications of the last century. In 2026, Cahiers d’Art will celebrate its 100th anniversary with a series of major publications, projects and exhibitions in collaboration with leading global institutions, including the Peggy Guggenheim Collection in Venice, the MoMA in New York City and the Musée Picasso in Paris.Visit Cahiers d’Art
Art direction by Eddie Harrop Studio
Website and Production by Story Ninety-Four -
What happens to taste when algorithms stop us discovering anything unexpected?
In this episode of Compelling, host Katy Wellesley-Wesley sits down with New York-based designer and creative director Rafael de Cárdenas for a wide-ranging conversation on the forces shaping culture, luxury, and design right now. Rafael traces a non-linear path from Calvin Klein to architecture school and, ultimately, a multidisciplinary studio practice spanning interiors, architecture, art advisory, and brand work. Along the way, they discuss everything from pop culture to the development of personal identity.
(00:00) - Welcome to Compelling(02:54) - Growing Up in New York and Finding Subculture(07:44) - Calvin Klein, Fashion, and Learning Brand Precision(09:24) - Architecture School and the Pull of Alternative Worlds(11:00) - Accidental Beginnings and Early Projects(12:56) - Interior Design as Drag and Reinventing Space(21:16) - Gen X, JFK, and the Shift to Postmodern Culture(24:15) - Algorithms, Aspiration, and the Culture of the Lowest Common Denominator(27:43) - Europe, America, and Making Sense of Politics and Identity(36:06) - The Hoffman Process and Leading with Vulnerability(54:04) - Dream Projects, Flash Mobs, and Wonder as a Way of Living
They also chat about The Hoffman Process and what it changed in Rafael’s leadership, alongside a frank look at politics, Americanness, and how the ‘no rules’ philosophy of America can give rise to both Warhol and Trump.Rafael de Cárdenas: Rafael de Cárdenas is a New York-based designer and creative director, and the founder of Rafael de Cárdenas, Ltd., an interdisciplinary studio working across architectural and interior design and creative direction. Since 2006, Rafael’s practice has spanned residential and commercial projects as well as brand-led work, with recent coverage including a 2025 Architectural Digest feature on a six-storey Manhattan townhouse renovation.
Visit Rafael de Cárdenas, Ltd
Katy Wellesley Wesley: With over 18 years of leadership across galleries, foundations, and startups, Katy has built a career shaped by curiosity and a drive to explore new ideas. She spent a decade at leading commercial galleries—first at Gagosian, then at Pace, where she was Director of Exhibitions in London. She went on to lead the Villa Lena Foundation in Italy as Director, before joining the founding team of ROKBOX, a pioneering environmentally focused art logistics startup, as Sales Director. After relocating to Paris six years ago, Katy developed a strong interest in the intersection of art and luxury. To deepen this focus, she recently completed an Executive Master’s in Luxury Management and Design Innovation, a joint program between ESSEC Business School and Parsons School of Design. She now works as a consultant to brands, artists, foundations, and collectors. Among her clients is the legendary art publisher Cahiers d’Art, where she heads Commercial Partnerships.
Compelling is proudly in partnership with Cahiers d’Art.
Compelling is produced in collaboration with Cahiers d’Art, the iconic Paris-based art publisher founded in 1926, home of the Catalogue Raisonné of Picasso and most recently the Frank Gehry Drawings Catalogue Raisonné. At the heart of it's publishing program is the Cahiers d'Art Revue, one of the most significant and longest-standing annual art publications of the last century. In 2026, Cahiers d’Art will celebrate its 100th anniversary with a series of major publications, projects and exhibitions in collaboration with leading global institutions, including the Peggy Guggenheim Collection in Venice, the MoMA in New York City and the Musée Picasso in Paris.Visit Cahiers d’Art
Art direction by Eddie Harrop Studio
Website and Production by Story Ninety-Four -
What happens when a luxury business makes decisions based on people, not spreadsheets?
In this bonus episode of Compelling, Katy Wellesley-Wesley speaks with Vitalie Taittinger about the human logic that sits behind a family-owned Champagne house: choosing distributors for fit and friendship, building long-term relationships, and treating fun and ease of collaboration as real business signals.
The conversation also turns to British wine and Domaine Evremond, Taittinger’s English sparkling wine project in Kent. Vitalie describes the mix of Champagne heritage and local culture, and why doing something slightly disruptive can be a strength when it is grounded in craft and clarity.Vitalie Taittinger: Vitalie Taittinger is President and CEO of Champagne Taittinger, one of the few major Champagne houses that remains family-owned. Based in Reims, she helps lead the house’s long-term strategy across brand, culture, and international growth, with a focus on stewardship of place and craft. Her background in art and design informs a leadership style rooted in collaboration, experience, and emotional resonance.
Visit Taittinger
Katy Wellesley Wesley: With over 18 years of leadership across galleries, foundations, and startups, Katy has built a career shaped by curiosity and a drive to explore new ideas. She spent a decade at leading commercial galleries—first at Gagosian, then at Pace, where she was Director of Exhibitions in London. She went on to lead the Villa Lena Foundation in Italy as Director, before joining the founding team of ROKBOX, a pioneering environmentally focused art logistics startup, as Sales Director. After relocating to Paris six years ago, Katy developed a strong interest in the intersection of art and luxury. To deepen this focus, she recently completed an Executive Master’s in Luxury Management and Design Innovation, a joint program between ESSEC Business School and Parsons School of Design. She now works as a consultant to brands, artists, foundations, and collectors. Among her clients is the legendary art publisher Cahiers d’Art, where she heads Commercial Partnerships.
Compelling is proudly in partnership with Cahiers d’Art.
Compelling is produced in collaboration with Cahiers d’Art, the iconic Paris-based art publisher founded in 1926, home of the Catalogue Raisonné of Picasso and most recently the Frank Gehry Drawings Catalogue Raisonné. At the heart of it's publishing program is the Cahiers d'Art Revue, one of the most significant and longest-standing annual art publications of the last century. In 2026, Cahiers d’Art will celebrate its 100th anniversary with a series of major publications, projects and exhibitions in collaboration with leading global institutions, including the Peggy Guggenheim Collection in Venice, the MoMA in New York City and the Musée Picasso in Paris.Visit Cahiers d’Art
Art direction by Eddie Harrop Studio
Website and Production by Story Ninety-Four -
What does it take to lead a centuries-old Champagne house like a startup, without losing what makes it special?
In this episode of Compelling, host Katy Wellesley-Wesley speaks with Vitalie Taittinger, President and CEO of Champagne Taittinger, about independence, legacy, and the long-term thinking that comes with family stewardship. Vitalie reflects on her early ambition to become a painter, the turning point of the 2005 sale of the wider Taittinger group, and why her father’s determination to buy the house back reshaped her own path.
They discuss what it means to build an experience around a brand, from Polychrome, Taittinger’s cultural restaurant concept, to ArsNova, a philanthropic project designed to widen access to beauty, culture, and shared experiences.
(00:00) - Welcome to Compelling(02:53) - The 2005 Sale and a Family Turning Point(04:53) - Buying Back the House and Finding Meaning(08:02) - Independence, Long-Term Thinking, and Leadership(12:12) - Working With Family(17:30) - Differentiation and Brand Identity in Champagne(20:14) - Polychrome: Culture as Visitor Experience(24:29) - ArsNova: Philanthropy, Beauty, and Access(31:15) - Drinking Habits, No-and-Low, and Celebration(34:14) - Sustainability as Measurement and Change Management(37:16) - Advice, Leadership, and the Meaning of LuxuryVitalie Taittinger: Vitalie Taittinger is President and CEO of Champagne Taittinger, one of the few major Champagne houses that remains family-owned. Based in Reims, she helps lead the house’s long-term strategy across brand, culture, and international growth, with a focus on stewardship of place and craft. Her background in art and design informs a leadership style rooted in collaboration, experience, and emotional resonance.
Visit Taittinger
Katy Wellesley Wesley: With over 18 years of leadership across galleries, foundations, and startups, Katy has built a career shaped by curiosity and a drive to explore new ideas. She spent a decade at leading commercial galleries—first at Gagosian, then at Pace, where she was Director of Exhibitions in London. She went on to lead the Villa Lena Foundation in Italy as Director, before joining the founding team of ROKBOX, a pioneering environmentally focused art logistics startup, as Sales Director. After relocating to Paris six years ago, Katy developed a strong interest in the intersection of art and luxury. To deepen this focus, she recently completed an Executive Master’s in Luxury Management and Design Innovation, a joint program between ESSEC Business School and Parsons School of Design. She now works as a consultant to brands, artists, foundations, and collectors. Among her clients is the legendary art publisher Cahiers d’Art, where she heads Commercial Partnerships.
Compelling is proudly in partnership with Cahiers d’Art.
Compelling is produced in collaboration with Cahiers d’Art, the iconic Paris-based art publisher founded in 1926, home of the Catalogue Raisonné of Picasso and most recently the Frank Gehry Drawings Catalogue Raisonné. At the heart of it's publishing program is the Cahiers d'Art Revue, one of the most significant and longest-standing annual art publications of the last century. In 2026, Cahiers d’Art will celebrate its 100th anniversary with a series of major publications, projects and exhibitions in collaboration with leading global institutions, including the Peggy Guggenheim Collection in Venice, the MoMA in New York City and the Musée Picasso in Paris.Visit Cahiers d’Art
Art direction by Eddie Harrop Studio
Website and Production by Story Ninety-Four -
What makes people pay attention to a fabric house founded in 1935, in a world full of fast trends and louder brands?
In this bonus episode of Compelling, host Katy Wellesley Wesley speaks with Patrick Frey of Maison Pierre Frey about why authenticity, roots, and a tangible connection to history still carry real weight with clients around the world. Patrick explains how provenance can feel almost sacred to buyers, and why the creative challenge begins after acquisition: adapting heritage through colour, taste, and modern creation without losing the soul of what you own.
Patrick Frey: Patrick Frey is the Creative Director and President Emeritus of La Maison Pierre Frey, the Paris-based family house founded in 1935 and known worldwide for fabrics, wallpapers, rugs, carpets, and furniture of the highest quality and most refined taste. He became artistic director in 1969 and expanded the company’s global reach while keeping a strong commitment to craft, quality and design-led experimentation.
Visit Pierre Frey
Katy Wellesley Wesley: With over 18 years of leadership across galleries, foundations, and startups, Katy has built a career shaped by curiosity and a drive to explore new ideas. She spent a decade at leading commercial galleries—first at Gagosian, then at Pace, where she was Director of Exhibitions in London. She went on to lead the Villa Lena Foundation in Italy as Director, before joining the founding team of ROKBOX, a pioneering environmentally focused art logistics startup, as Sales Director. After relocating to Paris six years ago, Katy developed a strong interest in the intersection of art and luxury. To deepen this focus, she recently completed an Executive Master’s in Luxury Management and Design Innovation, a joint program between ESSEC Business School and Parsons School of Design. She now works as a consultant to brands, artists, foundations, and collectors. Among her clients is the legendary art publisher Cahiers d’Art, where she heads Commercial Partnerships.
Compelling is proudly in partnership with Cahiers d’Art.
Compelling is produced in collaboration with Cahiers d’Art, the iconic Paris-based art publisher founded in 1926, home of the Catalogue Raisonné of Picasso and most recently the Frank Gehry Drawings Catalogue Raisonné. At the heart of it's publishing program is the Cahiers d'Art Revue, one of the most significant and longest-standing annual art publications of the last century. In 2026, Cahiers d’Art will celebrate its 100th anniversary with a series of major publications, projects and exhibitions in collaboration with leading global institutions, including the Peggy Guggenheim Collection in Venice, the MoMA in New York City and the Musée Picasso in Paris.Visit Cahiers d’Art
Art direction by Eddie Harrop Studio
Website and Production by Story Ninety-Four -
What does it take to protect a legacy?
In this episode of Compelling, host Katy Wellesley Wesley speaks with Patrick Frey, Creative Director and President Emeritus of La Maison Pierre Frey, about the unpredictable, joyful mystery of creation. Patrick shares how he grew up learning to see: travelling through Europe with his interior‑designer mother, absorbing architecture, landscapes, and museums, and developing an instinct for beauty that later shaped a global design house.
They explore how a company rooted in 1935 Paris remains nimble and continues to surprise: making decisive creative calls with instinct, thinking globally and looking back at heritage design as well as thinking about innovation. Patrick discusses the continuation of the business as control passes to the third generation, the importance of stopping to really look, and why there is no reliable formula for what becomes a bestseller.
(00:00) - Welcome to Compelling(00:56) - Introducing Patrick Frey and Maison Pierre Frey(02:58) - Founding Pierre Frey and the Early Export Mindset(04:40) - Learning to See: Travel, Architecture, and Taste(07:22) - Apprenticeship and Starting From Scratch in the US(09:27) - Leadership, Succession, and Working With Family(12:16) - Export, National Style, and Growing Beyond France(17:15) - Heritage as Fuel for Modern Creation(19:30) - Why You Never Know What Will Sell(24:00) - Inspiration, Streets, and Staying Open to the World(31:00) - The Future of InteriorsPatrick Frey: Patrick Frey is the Creative Director and President Emeritus of La Maison Pierre Frey, the Paris-based family house founded in 1935 and known worldwide for fabrics, wallpapers, rugs, carpets, and furniture of the highest quality and most refined taste. He became artistic director in 1969 and expanded the company’s global reach while keeping a strong commitment to craft, quality and design-led experimentation.
Visit Pierre Frey
Katy Wellesley Wesley: With over 18 years of leadership across galleries, foundations, and startups, Katy has built a career shaped by curiosity and a drive to explore new ideas. She spent a decade at leading commercial galleries—first at Gagosian, then at Pace, where she was Director of Exhibitions in London. She went on to lead the Villa Lena Foundation in Italy as Director, before joining the founding team of ROKBOX, a pioneering environmentally focused art logistics startup, as Sales Director. After relocating to Paris six years ago, Katy developed a strong interest in the intersection of art and luxury. To deepen this focus, she recently completed an Executive Master’s in Luxury Management and Design Innovation, a joint program between ESSEC Business School and Parsons School of Design. She now works as a consultant to brands, artists, foundations, and collectors. Among her clients is the legendary art publisher Cahiers d’Art, where she heads Commercial Partnerships.
Compelling is proudly in partnership with Cahiers d’Art.
Compelling is produced in collaboration with Cahiers d’Art, the iconic Paris-based art publisher founded in 1926, home of the Catalogue Raisonné of Picasso and most recently the Frank Gehry Drawings Catalogue Raisonné. At the heart of it's publishing program is the Cahiers d'Art Revue, one of the most significant and longest-standing annual art publications of the last century. In 2026, Cahiers d’Art will celebrate its 100th anniversary with a series of major publications, projects and exhibitions in collaboration with leading global institutions, including the Peggy Guggenheim Collection in Venice, the MoMA in New York City and the Musée Picasso in Paris.Visit Cahiers d’Art
Art direction by Eddie Harrop Studio
Website and Production by Story Ninety-Four -
In memory of Martin Parr (23 May 1952 - 6 December 2025). This interview was recorded before his death.
How does a chance encounter on a doorstep evolve into one of the most compelling collaborations?
In this bonus episode of Compelling, we go behind the scenes with Lee Shulman on a year-long filmmaking journey that saw Lee kidnap the legendary Martin Parr to revisit the locations of his early career. We explore the making of I am Martin Parr and the book Deja Vu, uncovering the raw, sometimes brutal honesty that defines their friendship.
Lee Shulman: Lee Shulman is the Founder and Creative Director of The Anonymous Project, containing nearly a million Kodachrome slides. A London-born, Paris-based visual artist and award-winning filmmaker, his expertise lies in curating and recontextualising amateur photography through immersive installations, books, and collaborative art projects. His recent work includes the collaboration Being There with Omar Victor Diop and directing the documentary film I Am Martin Parr.
Visit the Anonymous Project
Katy Wellesley Wesley: With over 18 years of leadership across galleries, foundations, and startups, Katy has built a career shaped by curiosity and a drive to explore new ideas. She spent a decade at leading commercial galleries—first at Gagosian, then at Pace, where she was Director of Exhibitions in London. She went on to lead the Villa Lena Foundation in Italy as Director, before joining the founding team of ROKBOX, a pioneering environmentally focused art logistics startup, as Sales Director. After relocating to Paris six years ago, Katy developed a strong interest in the intersection of art and luxury. To deepen this focus, she recently completed an Executive Master’s in Luxury Management and Design Innovation, a joint program between ESSEC Business School and Parsons School of Design. She now works as a consultant to brands, artists, foundations, and collectors. Among her clients is the legendary art publisher Cahiers d’Art, where she heads Commercial Partnerships.
Compelling is proudly in partnership with Cahiers d’Art.
Compelling is produced in collaboration with Cahiers d’Art, the iconic Paris-based art publisher founded in 1926, home of the Catalogue Raisonné of Picasso and most recently the Frank Gehry Drawings Catalogue Raisonné. At the heart of it's publishing program is the Cahiers d'Art Revue, one of the most significant and longest-standing annual art publications of the last century. In 2026, Cahiers d’Art will celebrate its 100th anniversary with a series of major publications, projects and exhibitions in collaboration with leading global institutions, including the Peggy Guggenheim Collection in Venice, the MoMA in New York City and the Musée Picasso in Paris.
Visit Cahiers d’Art
Art direction by Eddie Harrop Studio
Website and Production by Story Ninety-Four -
What role do books play in shaping a life devoted to art?
In this bonus episode of Compelling, host Katy Wellesley Wesley speaks with Staffan Ahrenberg, owner and publisher of Cahiers d'Art, for a quick-fire conversation about the books, habits and dreams that define his approach to art and life. He discusses the formative impact of Malevich's The Non-Objective World and Kandinsky's Concerning the Spiritual in Art, as well as novels such as Camus's L'Étranger and García Márquez's One Hundred Years of Solitude.
Staffan also reveals his unrealised architectural ambitions, including building the Le Corbusier museum originally commissioned by his father in 1962 but never constructed due to political opposition in Stockholm, and creating a library designed by Thomas Schütte in a Swedish forest. He explains his daily practice of rewriting handwritten notes as a mnemonic device, why physical movement matters, and offers powerful advice: be curious and act on that curiosity without hesitation, even when asking provocative questions to Nobel Prize winners or major artists.
Staffan Ahrenberg: Swedish art collector, entrepreneur and film producer, Staffan Ahrenberg is the owner and publisher of Cahiers d’Art, the historic Parisian publishing house and gallery he relaunched in 2012. He has revitalised its revered revue, book and limited‑edition programmes, and co‑founded the nonprofit Cahiers d’Art Institute to publish catalogues raisonnés for leading 20th‑ and 21st‑century artists.
Katy Wellesley Wesley: With over 18 years of leadership across galleries, foundations, and startups, Katy has built a career shaped by curiosity and a drive to explore new ideas. She spent a decade at leading commercial galleries—first at Gagosian, then at Pace, where she was Director of Exhibitions in London. She went on to lead the Villa Lena Foundation in Italy as Director, before joining the founding team of ROKBOX, a pioneering environmentally focused art logistics startup, as Sales Director. After relocating to Paris six years ago, Katy developed a strong interest in the intersection of art and luxury. To deepen this focus, she recently completed an Executive Master’s in Luxury Management and Design Innovation, a joint program between ESSEC Business School and Parsons School of Design. She now works as a consultant to brands, artists, foundations, and collectors. Among her clients is the legendary art publisher Cahiers d’Art, where she heads Commercial Partnerships.Compelling is proudly in partnership with Cahiers d’Art.
Compelling is produced in collaboration with Cahiers d’Art, the iconic Paris-based art publisher founded in 1926, home of the Catalogue Raisonné of Picasso and most recently the Frank Gehry Drawings Catalogue Raisonné. At the heart of it's publishing program is the Cahiers d'Art Revue, one of the most significant and longest-standing annual art publications of the last century. In 2026, Cahiers d’Art will celebrate its 100th anniversary with a series of major publications, projects and exhibitions in collaboration with leading global institutions, including the Peggy Guggenheim Collection in Venice, the MoMA in New York City and the Musée Picasso in Paris.Visit Cahiers d’Art
Art direction by Eddie Harrop Studio
Website and Production by Story Ninety-Four
Filmed and recorded by Marque Page Studio -
What role should books and digital experiences play in the future of art institutions?
In this bonus episode of Compelling, host Katy Wellesley Wesley sits down with Daniel Birnbaum, director of Acute Art and former director of Moderna Museet, for a quick-fire conversation about life, art and ambition. They explore the books and writers that shaped his thinking—particularly Italo Calvino—and discuss his dream of creating a digital home for major VR and AR artworks commissioned with artists such as Mark Leckey, Cao Fei and Jeff Koons.
With immersive art experiences expanding globally, Daniel explains why the future will be a hybrid mixed-reality world where physical objects and digital tools coexist. He also addresses the risks of living in a post-truth era where fiction and reality merge in political spheres, and why artists have always navigated this terrain. Above all, he offers simple but powerful advice: do only what you find interesting, because if you don't find it compelling, nobody else will.
Daniel Birnbaum: Daniel Birnbaum is a writer and curator based in Paris and Stockholm. From 2000 to 2010 he was rector of the Städelschule in Frankfurt and director of its Portikus gallery. Between 2010 and 2018 he was director of Moderna Museet in Stockholm. In 2009 he curated the the 53rd Venice Biennial. His most recent exhibition is Wassily Kandinsky and Hilma af Klint. Dreams of the Future at K20 in Düsseldorf (with Julia Voss) and Dream Machines at DESTE Foundation (with Massimiliano Gioni). Recent publications include Exhibition, Academy, Museum: Notes on the Frames of Art (Walther König, 2022) and the novel Dr B (Gallimard, 2022). In 2024 Birnbaum joined the Warburg Institute’s Visionary Circle.
Katy Wellesley Wesley: With over 18 years of leadership across galleries, foundations, and startups, Katy has built a career shaped by curiosity and a drive to explore new ideas. She spent a decade at leading commercial galleries—first at Gagosian, then at Pace, where she was Director of Exhibitions in London. She went on to lead the Villa Lena Foundation in Italy as Director, before joining the founding team of ROKBOX, a pioneering environmentally focused art logistics startup, as Sales Director. After relocating to Paris six years ago, Katy developed a strong interest in the intersection of art and luxury. To deepen this focus, she recently completed an Executive Master’s in Luxury Management and Design Innovation, a joint program between ESSEC Business School and Parsons School of Design. She now works as a consultant to brands, artists, foundations, and collectors. Among her clients is the legendary art publisher Cahiers d’Art, where she heads Commercial Partnerships.
Compelling is proudly in partnership with Cahiers d’Art.
Compelling is produced in collaboration with Cahiers d’Art, the iconic Paris-based art publisher founded in 1926, home of the Catalogue Raisonné of Picasso and most recently the Frank Gehry Drawings Catalogue Raisonné. At the heart of it's publishing program is the Cahiers d'Art Revue, one of the most significant and longest-standing annual art publications of the last century. In 2026, Cahiers d’Art will celebrate its 100th anniversary with a series of major publications, projects and exhibitions in collaboration with leading global institutions, including the Peggy Guggenheim Collection in Venice, the MoMA in New York City and the Musée Picasso in Paris.Visit Cahiers d’Art
Art direction by Eddie Harrop Studio
Website and Production by Story Ninety-Four
Filmed and recorded by Marque Page Studio -
Happy holidays! Thank you for listening to Compelling.
I've really enjoyed the first six episodes and I hope you have too.
A huge thank you to my early guests on the podcast for their trust, time and inspiring conversations: Lena Evstafieva, Lee Shulman, Clemente Boisseau, Charlotte Bouygues, Staffan Arhenberg, Daniel Birnbaum, Hans Ulrich Obrist and Camille Miceli.
If you've enjoyed what you've heard, please do share, like and subscribe. I'm also really happy to hear thoughts, suggestions, or ways to improve so please get in touch with me at [email protected].
Additionally, you can find out all the latest news on the website and you can also find Compelling on Instagram at @TheCompellingPodcast and on LinkedIn.
Happy holidays, thank you very much, and I look forward to starting the conversation again in 2026.
-
What does it really take to reinvent an icon without erasing its history?
In this episode of Compelling, host Katy Wellesley Wesley speaks to Camille Miceli, Artistic Director at Pucci, about how she is reimagining one of Italy’s most recognisable maisons for new generations. From a childhood spent between fashion shoots with her stylist mother, to observing glamorous dinners that her parents hosted; to formative years at Chanel with Karl Lagerfeld and then Louis Vuitton with Marc Jacobs, Camille traces a career shaped by curiosity, mentorship and risk‑taking rather than rigid planning.
She explains why she insists Pucci’s prints be redrawn by hand, how she has reduced the calendar to two tightly edited collections a year, and why “Pucci imperfection is perfection” when it comes to human touch in design. With luxury fashion under increasing scrutiny for its environmental impact and overproduction, her choice to focus on made‑in‑Italy craftsmanship, small circuits and minimal waste offers a quietly mindful model for sustainability at the top end of the market. This is a generous, candid conversation about joy, discipline and building a living archive that still feels irresistibly new.
“Yvan’s dinner” as mentioned by Camille and Katy as the place they had recently met, was at their mutual friend Yvan Benbanaste’s at Society Room - Yvan is a sensational designer of men and women’s wear - offering fully or semi-tailored clothes.
(00:00) - Welcome to Compelling(00:52) - Introducing Camille Miceli and Pucci(02:21) - Growing Up Between Fashion and Art(04:08) - First Internships and Lessons from Azzedine Alaïa(07:00) - Chanel, Press Offices and Learning the Business(13:01) - Moving to Louis Vuitton and Discovering Creative Direction(22:20) - Returning to the Pucci Archive(23:31) - Why Pucci Imperfection Is Perfection(26:00) - Rethinking Seasons, Waste and Sustainability(29:46) - Understanding the Pucci Client and Resort Life(37:09) - Building Collections Through Prints, Colour and Silhouette(38:53) - Community, Teamwork and Leadership at PucciCamille Miceli: After an internship with Alaïa at the end of her studies, Camille began her career in 1989 working in public relations at Chanel. In 1997, Camille joined Louis Vuitton as RIW Communication Director, and 2002, she became Fashion Jewelry Creative Director & Fine Jewelry Consultant. In 2009, she was appointed as Creative Director for Fashion Jewelry and Creative Consultant for Leather Goods at Christian Dior Couture. Since 2014, Camille has held the position of Accessories Creative Director at Louis Vuitton. In 2021 she joined as Artistic Director at PUCCI. "A new journey" is how Camille Miceli defines the House's new direction, focusing on a modern way of thinking, living, and moving - well beyond style. She reinvents an ultra-contemporary way of dressing in the spirit of the House.
Visit Pucci
Katy Wellesley Wesley: With over 18 years of leadership across galleries, foundations, and startups, Katy has built a career shaped by curiosity and a drive to explore new ideas. She spent a decade at leading commercial galleries—first at Gagosian, then at Pace, where she was Director of Exhibitions in London. She went on to lead the Villa Lena Foundation in Italy as Director, before joining the founding team of ROKBOX, a pioneering environmentally focused art logistics startup, as Sales Director. After relocating to Paris six years ago, Katy developed a strong interest in the intersection of art and luxury. To deepen this focus, she recently completed an Executive Master’s in Luxury Management and Design Innovation, a joint program between ESSEC Business School and Parsons School of Design. She now works as a consultant to brands, artists, foundations, and collectors. Among her clients is the legendary art publisher Cahiers d’Art, where she heads Commercial Partnerships.
Compelling is proudly in partnership with Cahiers d’Art.
Compelling is produced in collaboration with Cahiers d’Art, the iconic Paris-based art publisher founded in 1926, home of the Catalogue Raisonné of Picasso and most recently the Frank Gehry Drawings Catalogue Raisonné. At the heart of it's publishing program is the Cahiers d'Art Revue, one of the most significant and longest-standing annual art publications of the last century. In 2026, Cahiers d’Art will celebrate its 100th anniversary with a series of major publications, projects and exhibitions in collaboration with leading global institutions, including the Peggy Guggenheim Collection in Venice, the MoMA in New York City and the Musée Picasso in Paris.Visit Cahiers d’Art
Art direction by Eddie Harrop Studio
Website and Production by Story Ninety-Four -
What does it mean to keep an art institution alive for a hundred years – and why do books still matter in a digital age?
In this episode of Compelling, host Katy Wellesley Wesley sits down at Cahiers d’Art in Saint‑Germain‑des‑Prés with publisher Staffan Ahrenberg, curator Daniel Birnbaum and Serpentine artistic director Hans Ulrich Obrist. Together they trace their personal journeys into art, from teenage encounters with Giacometti and jazz to families steeped in museums and collecting.
The conversation centres on the rebirth and centenary of Cahiers d’Art, exploring how the revue links Picasso, Duchamp and Goya to contemporary artists such as Gabriel Orozco, Arthur Jafa and Rosemarie Trockel. They discuss the idea of a “living archive”, connecting past to present through the eyes of artists, the role of catalogues raisonnés and the tension between physical books and new mixed‑reality experiences, echoing current experiments with VR and immersive exhibitions in leading institutions. Throughout, they argue that the future of art will be built from ‘fragments of the past’, constantly reactivated by new artists, new media and new readers.
(00:00) - Welcome to Compelling(01:25) - Hans Ulrich Obrist’s Childhood Encounters with Art and Books(06:54) - Daniel Birnbaum’s Path from Philosophy to Criticism and Curation(15:29) - Staffan Ahrenberg’s Family Collection and Discovery of Cahiers d’Art(24:30) - Reviving a Legendary Publishing House(33:41) - Preparing the Cahiers d’Art Centennial(39:15) - Polaroid Cameras, Objects and New Artist Commissions(43:49) - Why Art Books Endure in an Instagram world(49:35) - VR, Mixed Reality and Re‑Framing Exhibitions(51:07) - Memory and Connecting Past and Present(56:26) - The Future for ArtStaffan Ahrenberg: Swedish art collector, entrepreneur and film producer, Staffan Ahrenberg is the owner and publisher of Cahiers d’Art, the historic Parisian publishing house and gallery he relaunched in 2012. He has revitalised its revered revue, book and limited‑edition programmes, and co‑founded the nonprofit Cahiers d’Art Institute to publish catalogues raisonnés for leading 20th‑ and 21st‑century artists.
Daniel Birnbaum: Daniel Birnbaum is a writer and curator based in Paris and Stockholm. From 2000 to 2010 he was rector of the Städelschule in Frankfurt and director of its Portikus gallery. Between 2010 and 2018 he was director of Moderna Museet in Stockholm. In 2009 he curated the the 53rd Venice Biennial. His most recent exhibition is Wassily Kandinsky and Hilma af Klint. Dreams of the Future at K20 in Düsseldorf (with Julia Voss) and Dream Machines at DESTE Foundation (with Massimiliano Gioni). Recent publications include Exhibition, Academy, Museum: Notes on the Frames of Art (Walther König, 2022) and the novel Dr B (Gallimard, 2022). In 2024 Birnbaum joined the Warburg Institute’s Visionary Circle.
Hans Ulrich Obrist: Hans Ulrich Obrist is Artistic Director of Serpentine in London, and Senior Advisor at LUMA Arles. Prior to this, he was the Curator of the Musée d’Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris. Since his first show ‘World Soup (The Kitchen Show)’ in 1991, he has curated more than 350 exhibitions. In 2011 Obrist received the CCS Bard Award for Curatorial Excellence, in 2015 he was awarded the International Folkwang Prize, and in 2025 he received the Prix François Morellet. Obrist’s recent publications include 140 Ideas for Planet Earth (2021), Edouard Glissant: Archipelago (2021), James Lovelock: Ever Gaia (2023), Remember to Dream (2023), Worldbuilding: Gaming and Art in The Digital Age (2024) and A Life In Progress (2025).
Katy Wellesley Wesley: With over 18 years of leadership across galleries, foundations, and startups, Katy has built a career shaped by curiosity and a drive to explore new ideas. She spent a decade at leading commercial galleries—first at Gagosian, then at Pace, where she was Director of Exhibitions in London. She went on to lead the Villa Lena Foundation in Italy as Director, before joining the founding team of ROKBOX, a pioneering environmentally focused art logistics startup, as Sales Director. After relocating to Paris six years ago, Katy developed a strong interest in the intersection of art and luxury. To deepen this focus, she recently completed an Executive Master’s in Luxury Management and Design Innovation, a joint program between ESSEC Business School and Parsons School of Design. She now works as a consultant to brands, artists, foundations, and collectors. Among her clients is the legendary art publisher Cahiers d’Art, where she heads Commercial Partnerships.Compelling is proudly in partnership with Cahiers d’Art.
Compelling is produced in collaboration with Cahiers d’Art, the iconic Paris-based art publisher founded in 1926, home of the Catalogue Raisonné of Picasso and most recently the Frank Gehry Drawings Catalogue Raisonné. At the heart of it's publishing program is the Cahiers d'Art Revue, one of the most significant and longest-standing annual art publications of the last century. In 2026, Cahiers d’Art will celebrate its 100th anniversary with a series of major publications, projects and exhibitions in collaboration with leading global institutions, including the Peggy Guggenheim Collection in Venice, the MoMA in New York City and the Musée Picasso in Paris.Visit Cahiers d’Art
Art direction by Eddie Harrop Studio
Website and Production by Story Ninety-Four
Filmed and recorded by Marque Page Studio -
How do you launch a luxury beauty brand that remains absolutely true to its "love of the soil" DNA while navigating the brutal practicalities of industrial manufacturing?
In this bonus content, host Katy Wellesley Wesley speaks with Charlotte Bouygues, founder of the new beauty line Dix Hectares, about her journey to find "unobvious collaborators" and materials that would not compromise her vision. Dorothee Meilichzon was the fierce and talented designer she found. Charlotte details the challenging two-year quest for the perfect, marble-look lid. A seemingly small component that became the "bane of her existence" until the well-timed discovery of a brand new sustainable material.
The discussion reveals the tension between aesthetic goals and uncompromising ethical standards. You'll hear the dramatic moment when her designer threatened to walk away, a crisis that ultimately led to the discovery of a groundbreaking, sustainable bioresin.
(00:00) - Collaboration between Unobvious Partners(00:54) - The DNA of the Project(01:51) - The Challenge of the Lid Design(03:35) - The Turning Point: Commitment to Sustainable Material(04:47) - Partnership and Achieving a World First in PackagingCharlotte Bouygues: Founder of the regenerative skincare line Dix Hectares, and Chairwoman of Eutopia Estates, the Bouygues family’s wine group. She is a third-generation leader with a background in strategic management from Babson College and extensive experience in marketing and media, including roles at L’Oréal in New York and as Director of E-Commerce at TF1’s Aufeminin Group. Her current work focuses on building a purpose-led brand that connects soil health and beauty for a new vision of luxury.
Visit Dix Hectares
Katy Wellesley Wesley: With over 18 years of leadership across galleries, foundations, and startups, Katy has built a career shaped by curiosity and a drive to explore new ideas. She spent a decade at leading commercial galleries—first at Gagosian, then at Pace, where she was Director of Exhibitions in London. She went on to lead the Villa Lena Foundation in Italy as Director, before joining the founding team of ROKBOX, a pioneering environmentally focused art logistics startup, as Sales Director. After relocating to Paris six years ago, Katy developed a strong interest in the intersection of art and luxury. To deepen this focus, she recently completed an Executive Master’s in Luxury Management and Design Innovation, a joint program between ESSEC Business School and Parsons School of Design. She now works as a consultant to brands, artists, foundations, and collectors. Among her clients is the legendary art publisher Cahiers d’Art, where she heads Commercial Partnerships.
Compelling is proudly in partnership with Cahiers d’Art.
Compelling is produced in collaboration with Cahiers d’Art, the iconic Paris-based art publisher founded in 1926, home of the Catalogue Raisonné of Picasso and most recently the Frank Gehry Drawings Catalogue Raisonné. At the heart of it's publishing program is the Cahiers d'Art Revue, one of the most significant and longest-standing annual art publications of the last century. In 2026, Cahiers d’Art will celebrate its 100th anniversary with a series of major publications, projects and exhibitions in collaboration with leading global institutions, including the Peggy Guggenheim Collection in Venice, the MoMA in New York City and the Musée Picasso in Paris.
Visit Cahiers d’Art
Art direction by Eddie Harrop Studio
Website and Production by Story Ninety-Four -
How do you build a successful luxury brand that operates with a positive impact?
Host Katy Wellesley Wesley sits down with entrepreneur Charlotte Bouygues, founder of the seasonal, regenerative skincare line, Dix Hectares. Charlotte's journey is a modern evolution of the powerful Bouygues family legacy, which began with the foundation of a global construction and infrastructure company and expanded into major French media (TF1) and telecoms.
Charlotte shares her unique career path, from sharpening her marketing skills at L'Oréal in New York and working in media at TF1, to joining the family’s wine businesses at Château Montrose. This experience ultimately inspired the creation of Dix Hectares, a beauty line uniquely rooted in sustainable agriculture and the rhythms of the seasons, using plants grown on a 10-hectare plot in the vineyard's heart.
The conversation delves into the concept of regenerative luxury, where Charlotte passionately discusses the power of soil health, noting it is the world's second-largest carbon sink. This philosophy, inspired by the patient, long-term vision of the wine industry, is a "new way of seeing luxury," demanding a commitment that transcends immediate returns.
(00:00) - Welcome to Compelling(02:27) - Early Life, Education, and Entrepreneurial Mindset(04:58) - Navigating the Family Legacy and Views on Failure(07:39) - Learning from Experience at L'Oréal(10:25) - Transitioning to TF1 and Running Beauty Box(14:13) - The Decision to Become an Entrepreneur(17:37) - The Genesis of Dix Hectares(22:15) - Regenerative Agriculture, Soil Health, and Seasonality in Skincare(26:08) - The Science Behind Seasonal Blends and Proteomic Testing(31:27) - Product Experience, Design, and The Future of Regenerative Luxury(36:14) - The Relationship Between Dix Hectares and Château Montrose, and the Value of TimeCharlotte Bouygues: Founder of the regenerative skincare line Dix Hectares, and Chairwoman of Eutopia Estates, the Bouygues family’s wine group. She is a third-generation leader with a background in strategic management from Babson College and extensive experience in marketing and media, including roles at L’Oréal in New York and as Director of E-Commerce at TF1’s Aufeminin Group. Her current work focuses on building a purpose-led brand that connects soil health and beauty for a new vision of luxury.
Visit Dix Hectares
Katy Wellesley Wesley: With over 18 years of leadership across galleries, foundations, and startups, Katy has built a career shaped by curiosity and a drive to explore new ideas. She spent a decade at leading commercial galleries—first at Gagosian, then at Pace, where she was Director of Exhibitions in London. She went on to lead the Villa Lena Foundation in Italy as Director, before joining the founding team of ROKBOX, a pioneering environmentally focused art logistics startup, as Sales Director. After relocating to Paris six years ago, Katy developed a strong interest in the intersection of art and luxury. To deepen this focus, she recently completed an Executive Master’s in Luxury Management and Design Innovation, a joint program between ESSEC Business School and Parsons School of Design. She now works as a consultant to brands, artists, foundations, and collectors. Among her clients is the legendary art publisher Cahiers d’Art, where she heads Commercial Partnerships.
Compelling is proudly in partnership with Cahiers d’Art.
Compelling is produced in collaboration with Cahiers d’Art, the iconic Paris-based art publisher founded in 1926, home of the Catalogue Raisonné of Picasso and most recently the Frank Gehry Drawings Catalogue Raisonné. At the heart of it's publishing program is the Cahiers d'Art Revue, one of the most significant and longest-standing annual art publications of the last century. In 2026, Cahiers d’Art will celebrate its 100th anniversary with a series of major publications, projects and exhibitions in collaboration with leading global institutions, including the Peggy Guggenheim Collection in Venice, the MoMA in New York City and the Musée Picasso in Paris.
Visit Cahiers d’Art
Art direction by Eddie Harrop Studio
Website and Production by Story Ninety-Four -
How do you twist an 85-year-old logo and have it generate a record number of customers in stores?
This bonus discussion with Clément Boisseau, CEO of Maison BETC, dives into the genius of combining brand DNA with cultural timeliness. Using the iconic Lacoste crocodile as a case study, Clément reveals the strategy behind highly successful campaigns, including the one that replaced the logo with endangered species—an effort that generated "outstanding media exposure" and drove a record number of customers in stores. He explains the "magical recipe" of entwining the rational with the emotional and the power of finding a true universal symbol that transcends generations.
Clément Boisseau: Clément Boisseau is the CEO of Maison BETC, a luxury micro-network operating in Paris, New York, and Shanghai, and Global Chief Strategy Officer for the BETC Group. With a dual background in Humanities and Strategic Marketing, he has worked on landmark campaigns for brands including Lacoste, Chanel, and Dom Pérignon. He is a recognised expert in translating luxury heritage into authentic brand stories that resonate globally, serving as a Luxury Jury member at Cannes Lions.
Visit Maison BETC
Katy Wellesley Wesley: With over 18 years of leadership across galleries, foundations, and startups, Katy has built a career shaped by curiosity and a drive to explore new ideas. She spent a decade at leading commercial galleries—first at Gagosian, then at Pace, where she was Director of Exhibitions in London. She went on to lead the Villa Lena Foundation in Italy as Director, before joining the founding team of ROKBOX, a pioneering environmentally focused art logistics startup, as Sales Director. After relocating to Paris six years ago, Katy developed a strong interest in the intersection of art and luxury. To deepen this focus, she recently completed an Executive Master’s in Luxury Management and Design Innovation, a joint program between ESSEC Business School and Parsons School of Design. She now works as a consultant to brands, artists, foundations, and collectors. Among her clients is the legendary art publisher Cahiers d’Art, where she heads Commercial Partnerships.
Compelling is proudly in partnership with Cahiers d’Art.
Compelling is produced in collaboration with Cahiers d’Art, the iconic Paris-based art publisher founded in 1926, home of the Catalogue Raisonné of Picasso and most recently the Frank Gehry Drawings Catalogue Raisonné. At the heart of it's publishing program is the Cahiers d'Art Revue, one of the most significant and longest-standing annual art publications of the last century. In 2026, Cahiers d’Art will celebrate its 100th anniversary with a series of major publications, projects and exhibitions in collaboration with leading global institutions, including the Peggy Guggenheim Collection in Venice, the MoMA in New York City and the Musée Picasso in Paris.
Visit Cahiers d’Art
Art direction by Eddie Harrop Studio
Website and Production by Story Ninety-Four - Visa fler
