Italian Fashion Watch

Today, Giorgio Armani launches his first store in cyber space with a shop in Second Life. Visitors to the virtual Armani store, which is an exact replica of Armani’s concept store on Milan’s Via Manzoni, will be able to buy Armani virtually, with Second Life currency (that’s Linden dollars), or click through to the Emporio Armani website where they can shop for real.

The store is the second designer offering in Second Life, following Stella McCartney’s anti- fur animal rights protest, staged in Second Life earlier this year.

There’s also an Armani cafe within the virtual store (just like in real life shops) but here you might actually bump in to Mr Armani. “My alter ego will be present much of the time to check on how the store is doing” he has said about his new adventure.

Sounds thrilling…though we can’t help but notice Mr Armani has given himself some rather impressive pecs in Second Life. Ah! The wonder of the web.

While we are all buying our jumpers and winter coats, top designers are at least six months ahead of us, showcasing the must-haves for spring and summer.

One collection that certainly stood out was Diamond Seduction range which used underwear as outerwear

The London-born model strutted down the catwalk in the Luxe collection, which combines minimal bikinis covered in gold mosaic or coloured sequins with chiffon scarves, shawls and dresses.

Campbell is now using her charm to promote her Fashion for Relief campaign, which raises money for victims of the UK floods.

She was sporting a sparkling sequinned swimsuit and chiffon cover-up from the collection.

One collection that certainly stood out was Diamond Seduction range which used underwear as outerwear.

Around 80 designers showcased their collections on the catwalk this week. They include big names such as Giorgio Armani, Versace and Dolce and Gabbana.

Armani phone (SGH-P520) from Samsung Mobile has shown up during the Dutch’s mobile phone distribution event.

This is Samsung’s first mobile phone developed with an international fashion leading brand.

I assume this mobile phone was developed without plans to join Armani in the first place. However, this changed because LG came out with the Prada Phone and received a great deal of attention and feedback from consumers all over the world, becoming one of the best mobile phones in 2006.

This situation has made Samsung find a way to compete against LG to keep its high-end market customers.

Now, let’s check out the some of specs that have been revealed during the event. It has a touchscreen in the front with a Send and End (Power) key as the only buttons available.

Thickness is only 8.9mm and Croix touchscreen UI is included. It’s Samsung’s own touch UI.

The Armani phone has a 3-megapixel camera and 50MB built-in memory with a microSD expandable slot. It also supports Bluetooth and Wi-Fi.

Finally, the price mentioned is about 400 euros for the Russian and European markets. The Armani phone will available at end of this year.

Armani Jeans has officially announced that Massimo Bulleri extended his contract for two more years, until the end of the 2009-10 season. Bulleri (188, 29) joined Milano in summer 2005, when he inked a three-year deal with his current team.

He averaged 8.4 points, 2.3 assists and 1.5 steals in 35 Italian League games last season. Bulleri has also played for Ozzano, Mestre and Benetton Treviso in his native Italy.

He helped Benetton to win two Italian Leagues and three Italian Cup titles between 2000 and 2005, as well as making it all the way to the 2003 Euroleague final.

Bulleri is also a regular member of the Italian national team. He helped Italy to win the bronze medal at EuroBasket 2003, as well as the silver medal at the 2004 Olympic Games held in Athens, Greece.

The 25-year-old pop superstar has become the face of Emporio Armani’s new perfume, ‘Diamonds’ and stars in the company’s new ad campaign.

The songstress has also added her own take on the Marilyn Monroe song ‘Diamonds Are A Girl’s Best Friend’ for the advert.

The new fragrance features notes of lychee and raspberry.

The singer says she has learnt from experience to be prepared when she goes to photo shoots.

She carries three pairs of sunglasses (black, gold and brown) in her bag and not one but two pairs of Christian Louboutin heels, in nude and gold, in case she needs to glam up an outfit at a moment’s notice.

A favourite with the paparazzi, who follow her every move with their cameras, she says she’s not worried about them taking shots of her from unflattering angles.

And she says she loves fashion and shopping far too much to give it up because of a few photographers.

Giorgio Armani has been commissioned to design Chelsea football team’s new suits.

The fashion legend was asked to create the official suits for the premiership team ready for the start of the new season.

The team and management have been kitted out with a lightweight gabardine suit, a classic three button cashmere coat and a single breasted knee length nylon raincoat-all in a toned down navy version of the club’s blue colours.

“It is an honour to have collaborated on a new look for the Directors’ Suite at what is certainly one of England’s most historic football grounds,” Armani said. “José has been a long-time enthusiast for my designs and was personally involved in reviewing all of the sketches and fabrics.”

The designer will also decorate an area of their home ground Stamford Bridge through Armani’s Casa Interior Design Service who also created the club’s Armani Lounge director’s suite.

It seems like the high fashion mobile phones, designed by the worlds top designers are in these days. After Dolce and Gabbana collaborated with Motorolla to create the shiny Gold MOTORAZR V3i handset and Prada worked hands in hands with LG to and released another ‘designer phone’, Armani also looks to enter this market.

He’s got a previous a previous collaboration with Samsung on the Samsung Ultra Edition 6.9 phones, but this time he wants to hit it big. According to some sources, the new handset will sell for about 1600$, but that’s still unconfirmed.

I can’t wait to see the new release.

The Armani Group is opening its giant Armani/Ginza Tower in Ginza, one of Tokyo’s ritziest districts, as part of its strategy to lure customers in Japan, already the company’s largest market.

The 6,000 square-meter (65,000 square-foot) complex opening on November 8 will include a spa as well as a restaurant to “offer a complete lifestyle,” the group said in a statement.

Armani’s first spa will take inspiration from “ancient Roman thermal baths” and include private suites and an exclusive skincare line, the company said.

“I dream of a place where the body and the being are revitalized together in a nurturing and liberating experience,” Giorgio Armani wrote in a statement.

Japan is dotted by natural hot springs, making bathing a popular form of relaxation.

The Age of Aquarius finally arrived for the Italian couturier, Giorgio Armani, in Paris last night (Wednesday), exactly a week before his 73rd birthday.

As the actress Cate Blanchett, sitting front row, murmered “this rocks”, Armani, once known as ‘Mr Beige’, swapped from minimal to magic.

He unleashed a fireball of fluorescent colour and bling-bling metallics in his.Privé couture collection, shown in the Palais de Chaillot by the Eiffel Tower.

Models, with switches of orange, lime and pink hair dangling from their braided locks – unfettered by strange Smurf-like hats for the first time in decades - appeared in neon-lime taffeta puffballs, shock-croc pink bustiers with velvet pencil skirts, rainbow-feather cloaks and tight, cleavage-jackets worn with floral dance-dirndls, all accessorized with crystal boots and fluorescent, platform stilettoes.

Armani called the collection, which was inspired by David Bowie’s Ziggy Stardust era, “the beginning of a new age.”

Valentino and Giorgio Armani are accustomed to seeing the world’s highest profile men step out in their beautifully tailored suits. But the pair were showcasing a rather different approach to the wardrobe staple during their collections for spring/summer 2008 Milan Fashion Week.

Valentino added a colonial flavour to his show which, with its sports jackets in luxurious fabrics, emphasised the classic elegance the 45-year-old label is renowned for. Armani, on the other hand, deconstructed the jacket to have it serve like a shirt, worn over a bare torso and waistcoat. Adding another take on the suit for next spring/summer was British designer John Richmond, whose collection married English dandy with Sicilian bandit.

Sportswear was a big focus for many of the designers, including Alexander McQueen. The Londoner had taken inspiration from surfer dudes, presenting fluorescent lycra leggings, hippie style T-shirts, Sixties slogan prints, and Bermuda shorts. The surfer look was echoed at Burberry where dropped-crotch trousers imitated the silhouette of surfers easing themselves out of a wet suit.

Motor racing, however, was the theme at Dsquared2 where buff models donned pit-style overalls and Formula One patches adorned denim jeans and leather jackets.

Less was clearly more when it came to beachwear at Dolce & Gabbana, with the Dutch design duo showing uber-minimalist swimming trunks. The glamorous label also gave a young urban take on contemporary menswear though linen shirts and scrunched up combats.

While many of the catwalks kept to a typical summer palette of creams, light greys and pastels, the Moschino runway was a riot of colour, reflecting the designer’s homage to the Eighties. Brightly hued trench coats in sizzling orange mingled with white trousers and pink sock combos topped with fluorescent hats.