Italian Fashion Watch

Jamie Foxx claims the most ridiculous thing he has ever bought was a £9,000 crocodile-skin jacket.

The ‘Ray’ star was persuaded to buy the overpriced garment by some girls he met on holiday and regards it as the biggest waste of money of his life.

He said: “I was in Las Vegas and some girls I was with were going on and on about this crocodile-skin jacket. In the end I just gave in and said, ‘Alright, I’ll take it!’

“It was crazy. Stupid. I’ve never worn it. It never matched anything and it didn’t even fit properly. I don’t even have the jacket now - I don’t know where it is.”

Despite his previous fashion faux-pas, Jamie’s favorite item of clothing is also a jacket.

The Oscar winner has a designer Dolce and Gabbana leather jacket which makes him feel fantastic as soon as he puts it on. Foxx believes every man should own one.

He said: When I put on my Dolce and Gabbana jacket I’m ready to meet the world. It’s made from soft burgundy leather and I love it.

“A jacket is a must-have. You might be wearing jeans and a t-shirt but if you’ve got a good jacket, it lifts your whole look.”

Giorgio Armani is stepping into the skin care category with a new line made from volcanic rock. Armani introduced the line, a partnership with L’Oreal, last week in Paris. It is due in stores this September.

This is the designer’s first foray into the facial care category–although Giorgio Armani Parfums and Cosmetics, through a license with L’Oreal, already has color cosmetics, and for a longer time has lent his name to fragrances. The Armani scent collection is widely distributed and includes Acqua Di Gio, Armani Code, and Emporio, all in men’s and women’s versions. L’Oreal does not break out sales of Armani products.

The new Armani volcanic rock-infused moisturizers enter a market filled with skin care products boasting unusual, healthy-sounding or decadent ingredients such as sea extracts, mushroom extracts, crushed minerals and caviar.

Two lines will be introduced–one for men, and one for women. Crema Nera (or Black Cream), is a moisturizer for females, while the men’s will be called Skin Minerals for Men.

Packaging on both is likely to include the products’ exotic-sounding key ingredient: extract of obsidian–not from just any volcano, but from volcanic rock found on Pantelleria, an Italian island located between Sicily and Tunisia where Armani has a home.

Like the mushroom extract in Origins’ products and Aveeno’s, as well as other high-priced skin care serums and lotions from Estee Lauder, Lancome and others, Black Cream and Skin Minerals for Men are meant to be an anti-aging cream to help skin regeneration. Other products to follow include a full men’s line including cleanser and shaving balm.

Donatella Versace says that Father “Gorgeous Georg” Gänswein, who serves as Pope Benedict’s personal secretary, is the inspiration behind the “priest chic” look of Versace’s fall collection, recently displayed on the runways in Milan.

The press compares Gänswein, an amateur pilot, tennis instructor, and former ski instructor, to American movie stars because of his dashing looks, and some high-profile gay Italian TV stars claim that he is the Pope’s boyfriend.

“I was certainly inspired by him. I find his austerity very elegant. It is the right moment to show an ethical and spiritual man, free from all those pointless details. I also like Gregorian garb,” Versace told the Telegraph UK.

She added that the “ideal man has biceps but ‘looks for his inside quality and trains it up, the muscles of the soul.’”

Yes, the Pope wears Prada, but his companion is more a Versace kind of guy.

Gorgeous Georg’s priestly chic inspires a new Versace show.

Versace Fall 2007 Men’s collection.

Miuccia Prada plans to give men that warm-and-fuzzy feeling next winter.

The trend-setting Italian designer showed off shag-pile style in her autumn-winter 2007-08 catwalk collection yesterday, during men’s fashion week in Milan.

“Men will be like cuddly soft toys in winter,” she joked backstage, explaining her top-to-toe fuzzy fashions.

“I’m tired of seeing the same skinny trousers so I tried to do something different.

“The idea is one of mutation, from sportswear to elegance.”

Hi-tech blends of cashmere and mohair - their fine fibres melded together rather like hair extensions - were used to create furry coats, rectangular vests and fluffy trousers, soft against the skin but textured like shag-pile carpet on the outside.

Long black beaver fur formed Yeti-style overcoats, and trench coats were cropped into short fur capes.

Hairy mohair jumpers poked from beneath the hems of boxy grey flannel suits, and square-cut tunics featured drawstring necklines, hems and cuffs.

Splashes of acid orange and green livened up the sombre shades of black and gunmetal grey.

The tops of trousers and bottoms of jackets showed either splashes of colour or a faded effect, as if the wearer had sat on wet paint or spilt bleach.

Prada’s clean-cut models clutched handbags resembling women’s purses, in quilted black nylon or bright patent-leather versions with flashing silver handles.

Black was the business of the day for Giorgio Armani, who used only flashes of silver to brighten his youthful Emporio Armani collection.

“It’s not a matter of winter being dark, of there being little sun,” he said backstage.

“It’s just difficult to put colour in a men’s collection. And lighter colours always make you look bigger.

“Young men just want to look great when they dress up. And black just looks hot, guys - it looks hot!”

Armani mixed street-style with sophistication, matching formal business jackets with silken sports pants that gleamed like molten mercury.

Trousers, tight as leggings, were tucked into long, scrunched-down black boots.

Footwear featured rugged black ankle boots, shiny sneakers and calf-high boots the colour of melted chocolate.

Armani’s winter sports range might be a boon for lost snowboarders - the sci-fi silver snow gear looked dazzling enough to be spotted from space.

Fashion designer Giorgio Armani says he thinks a future acting career is the real reason behind David Beckham’s surprise move to the Los Angeles Galaxy football team.

“If reports that Beckham’s deal is worth $250 million are true, then he has done the right thing. And I think he wants to be an actor, not a footballer,” the Italian designer told reporters at Milan fashion week on Monday.

Giorgio, who rubbed shoulders with the Beckhams at Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes’ November nuptials in Rome, says that after meeting the glamorous pair, he believes that Hollywood is the perfect move for them.

“He is a very handsome man, and his football career could be nearing an end,” said Giorgio. “Also look at his wife. … I saw her at Tom Cruise’s wedding, and she is a very bubbly lady.”

Both David, 31 and Victoria, 32, are set to move to Los Angeles as soon as the ex-England captain’s contract with Real Madrid ends later this year.

Elizabeth Hurley has finally set a date for her wedding to Arun Nayar.

The actress-and-fashion designer is reportedly planning to wed her Indian tycoon lover on the first weekend of March in an extravagant ceremony at a Gloucestershire stately home.

It has previously been reported that the 41-year-old brunette wants to celebrate her marriage with two ceremonies - one in England and the other staged over three-days in Arun’s native country of India.

Over the two weddings Elizabeth will reportedly wear a selection of bridal gowns created by her fashion designer friend, Donatella Versace, as well as traditional Indian dresses.

It has also been claimed the bride plans on treating guests to a day of shooting and hunting before her Gloucestershire wedding.

Elizabeth has allegedly been seeking wedding advice from her good friend Sir Elton John, who ‘married’ his partner David Furnish in a civil ceremony in 2005.