Photo: Edouard Paturel via WWD

You may not know the name Mathilde Castello Branco, but the woman, who’s just been appointed Creative Director of Azzaro, has serious fashion cred. Branco’s first industry gig was at Hermès, under Martin Margiela. For the past ten years, she’s worked with Alber Elbaz at Lanvin and starting yesterday, she’s in charge at Azzaro. Though she tells WWD she started studying the brand this summer, her first collection won’t come out until January, for pre-fall 2012. Vanessa Seward, who took the reins when Mr. Azzaro left and just stepped down earlier this year, put the house back on Hollywood’s radar and landed one red carpet appearance after another.  Branco should have no difficulty keeping up that momentum. She says she wears dresses almost every single day of the year and notes “a lot of sensuality, a lot of glamour, and a lot of life in those dresses…I don’t want fashion to be only for women or only to please men. I want them both to be happy.” In the meantime, the house still plans to show its spring collection, which was designed by the studio, in its Rue du Faubourg atelier on October 2nd.