Italian Fashion Watch

Russia is the sheet-anchor (in terms of turnover) of Italian fashion. Fashion designer Lorenzo Riva plainly admitted so on the sidelines of the event presenting his new spring-summer collection in Rome.

“I have opened an atelier in Moscow, in the city’s most fashionable street. I go there at least once a month. Russian women want me to tell them how things look on them, a bit like was done in America during the golden age of Italian fashion.

They love us in Russia, and they don’t want just gala or wedding dresses. They also buy everyday things. A husband once asked me to pull up the neckline of the dress I had drawn for his wife because she needed it to go to work”.

America is “now defaulting from this point of view, whereas in Moscow they greatly appreciate our craftsmanship, they love uniqueness. I have had some great satisfactions in Russia. If things go bad here or in America, I’ll be moving to Russia.

I surely don’t want to be made redundant…”. In the first eight months 2007 Made in Italy textile-clothing exportation to Russia totalled 875,474,000 euro, that’s +23.8 pct compared with the same period 2006, according to the figures of Sistema Moda Italia.

The overall clothes exported to Russia were worth 752,677,000, up 26.5 pct, while textile exportation totalled 122,746,00, +9.4 pct. From Rome alone, in the first nine month of the past year, textile-clothing exportation to Russia increased by 117 pct, according to information disclosed by the capital’s Chamber of Commerce. “I’m not interested in China, Korea and Japan. Let’s leave them with their kimonos”.

“Couture needs a bit of a shake-up, no?” asked Giorgio Armani as he prepared to showcase his latest collection in Paris. And for two designers sending their creations down the catwalk on Monday it seems the answer was a resounding “yes”.

John Galliano served up an electrifying mix of bold colous and daringly experimental silhouettes for Dior, including a striking, bulb-shaped affair whose contrasting hues were as statement-making as its unusual puffball lines.

Highlights of the show included a Belle Epoque-inspired gown in leopard print and a bejeweled, cinch-waisted affair with fishtail skirt, with the British design maestro’s extravagant creations glowed jewel-like against the runway’s Gothic backdrop. Saucer-shaped, metallic hats, skyscraper platform shoes and larger-than-life hair and make-up complemented the innovative outfits.

Giorgio Armani also had his eye on this season’s silhouette. The Italian designer flirted with out sized collars, bubble skirts and short puffed sleeves to create new outlines explored through a surrealist-inspired use of fabric and color.

Parading in front of VIP guests including burlesque beauty Dita Von Teese and Hollywood star Hilary Swank, models presented eye-catching jackets teamed with a floaty, bow-detail skirts in a color palette of beige and silvers.