Italian Fashion Watch

Recently, it’s been rumored that Emporio Armani plans to open its largest store in the Nordic region of Europe.

The store will be occupying an area of the new Vertigo building in Tallinn, Estonia. In the same building, you will fin the Vertigo Restaurant, probably the best known in Estonia at this moment. Not for its culinary merits but rather for the negative publicity caused by repeated delays of the building’s finish.

Nevertheless, being placed in one of Tallinn’s best locations, both the Armani store and Vertigo Restaurant will definitely enjoy great customers, who will enjoy his fantastic fashion accessories.

Both Missoni and Roberto Cavalli got their inspiration for the collections they presented at Milan’s Fashion Week from the ‘60s fashion.

They didn’t go for anything too stiff or to shiny.

In fact, what they presented were classics which will still look good when a new trend will come up.

Some of Cavalli’s dresses remind you of Gypsy dresses, which look so chic right  now.

Missoni’s collection was designed by Angela Missoni.

Questioned about her new designs, she said “You know me - I like anything easy. The shapes and the softness came easily.”

In a season where every designer tried to present as many flashy items as possible, Gianfranco Ferre kept its traditional style without being influenced by this new trend.

The show took place at his headquarters in via Pontaccio, where he displayed modern designs with a somewhat classical appearance.

He proved to the audience that he really is a master at designing shirts, which were worn by some of today’s most talented models.

The hottest moment of the show was when beautiful models such as Natasha Poly or Bianca Balti ran down the catwalk wearing Ferre’s new collection of lingerie. The whole crowd was watching intensely.

In the end, Ferre took a huge round of applause from his audience, glad that he has offered them a fabulous fashion show.

Allegra Versace, Donatella’s daughter and Gianni’s niece, is a rather more intimate character, preferring to keep a low profile when it comes to the media.

However, this time, she could not resist attending this LA party where Hollywood’s super stars such as Johnny Depp and Jay Lo would be present. She just had to meet them.

Jessica Simpson also attended the party, accompanied by her stylist, Ken Paves. Brooke Shields came with her husband, Chris Henchy.

Allegra Versace inherited half of his uncle Gianni Versace’s fashion empire when she turned 18. I’m wondering what will happen when she will actually take her mother’s place in the company.

Being young, with lots of fresh ideas will definitely be an advantage.

Fendi was also present at Milan’s Fashion Week with its new collection designed by Karl Lagerfeld. He displayed what he sees as silver fashion.

His models came on the catwalk wearing metallic dresses cut in various geometric dresses, which looked like the black and white patterns that were so popular in the ’60s.

The show wouldn’t have been complete is he wouldn’t have displayed the new Fendi handbags with silver meshing that will hit the stores very soon.

The silver platform sandals also made a huge impression, completing the Fendi Galaxy look.

Over this last 85 years, Gucci has imposed itself as one of the reference brands in the fashion industry. Turning 85 doesn’t actually mean that it’s getting old.

In fact, the company proved that it has kept it’s youthful ideas that have made it so successful, with an outstanding show and party at the Milan Fashion Week.

Designer Frida Gianini celebrated the brand’s birthday with a collection which reminds of Gucci’s ‘60s A-line silhouettes and short styles.

The range of colors was black, with punches of red, purple, and disco silver.

Frida Gianini became Gucci’s creative designer last year, after a period when she was in charge of Gucci’s accessories department.

With the recent ban on super skinny models by Madrid officials, many fashion designers come out to express their approval or disapproval of the decision.

Giorgio Armani actually admitted that the catwalk is way too detached from what the world really looks like. It perpetuates the myth that being super slim is the way to be and it even makes teenage girls adopt a totally unhealthy diet, just to look like their favorite models.

Armani said “I have never wanted to use girls that are too skinny. I prefer girls that show off my clothes in the best way”, after the show he hosted in London a few days ago.

If that is the truth or only a way to get out with the hands clean from this story, only he knows it.

Nick Cave has been awarded the first annual Guc award for Artists in Film at the 63rd Mostra Internazionale d’Arte Cinematografica on September 8th.

The award is given to, and we quote: “an internationally acclaimed artist whose achievements, until now, have been accomplished in areas other than cinema, but whose leap into the world of film has been an auspicious one.”

The Gucci Group Award is presented to an artist who has made a remarkable contribution to a film in any capacity within the past 18 months, whether in the role of the film’s director, actor, screenwriter, set designer or costume designer.

Shorlisted for this award were Nick Cave, for the script for “The Proposition”; Helena Christensen, for her role in Danish drama “Allegro”; Gregory Colbert, for his multimedia exhibition “Ashes and Snow”; the duo Douglas Gordon and Gaul’s Philippe Parreno, for helming soccer docu “Zidane: A 21st Century Portrait” and finally Alain Robbe-Grillet, for helming “C’est gradiva qui vous appelle”.

The judging panel included Jeremy Irons, Alexander McQueen and Moby.

The Gucci Group Award is a collaboration between the internationally recognized Venice Film Festival and the Gucci Group.

Designers don’t seem to limit themselves only to the clothing sector. Numerous fashion creator look for new exploits in other key industries, such as electronics.

That’s the case of Giorgio Armani, who recently collaborated with the Korean Samsung company on the new design of their Ultra Edition 6.9 phones.

By the end of October, the phone will be available in pink and blue, and by the end of the year, they will also release the red version of the Ultra Edition 9.9.

Only 1000 of the new “Limited Edition Armani Exchange Ultra Edition 6.9 in Blue” phone will be sold in a few key countries.

The collaboration between Armani and Samsung is not something unique. Two months ago, Motorola launched it’s Gold MOTORAZR V3i handset, which was entirely designed by Dolce and Gabbana.

This year, the highly popular Milan Fashion Week was hosted in the new Milan Fashion Centre. Judging by the numerous positive reviews, it has all been an enormous success.

Here are a few numbers that prove the importance of this event in the fashion world:

- over 100 fashion shows took place, presenting in total over 230 new collections.

- the Fashion Centre hosted half of the shows, 42 in interior rooms and 8 in outside tents.

- “Milano Moda Donna” attracted alone over 20000 visitors.

- At the event, eight new Chinese designers displayed their collections. , Looks like the Chinese want to become important players in this sector.

Of course, besides fashion shows, parties took place all over Milan.

It’s been a great time for all fashion designers that had the chance to show their works here.

We’ll see what next Milan Fashion Week reserves us.