Italian Fashion Watch

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.

Giorgio Armani Beauty, a division of L’Oreal USA, won two FiFi’s at the 35th Annual American FiFi Awards.

The FiFi Awards are designed to honor the extraordinary creativity of the international fragrance industry in America.

Armani/Prive Cuir Amethyste, the newest addition to Giorgio Armani’s private collection of fragrances, won Best Packaging of the Year, Men’s Prestige; and Best Packaging of the Year, Women’s Prestige.

As the latest addition to the Giorgio Armani Beauty stable, the Armani/Prive Cuir Amethyste fragrance continues to support Mr. Armani’s sense of style.

Like his fashion designs, the fragrance is the expression of sophisticated elegance and was created with simple, rich materials of the highest quality.

To quote Mr. Armani, “I approach every fragrance from a personal standpoint, but these days fragrances are the intimate democratization of fashion.

They exist to allow everyone to own a piece of a designer’s creativity.”

Giorgio Armani followed in Christian Dior’s hallowed footsteps, when he created a Swarovski crystal exclusively for his use. The “Diamond Leaf” stone was given a special coating to give a metallic, shadowy effect and was then showcased on the finale dress at Armani’s autumn/winter 07/08 show in Milan. The designer said,

“Swarovski crystal brings a touch of magic to a dress, an ethereal quality, a lustre which never fails to captivate the attention,” he continued. “It was therefore a pleasure to be asked to create a new and unique crystal.”

Especially when Swarovski hasn’t worked with a designer in this way since the Fifties, when Christian Dior produced the “Aurora Borealis”, a successful stone used extensively in the fashion industry. The jeweler is also about to team up with designer Philip Treacy at Milan’s Salone Internationale del Mobile exhibition.

You can wear your favourite designer’s fragrance and makeup every day, splurge on their shoes and a handbag each season and if you are lucky enough to afford it, indulge in the clothing.

And in the fashion capital of Milan you can eat, drink and dance with your favourite designer brand.

Hotels, restaurants, bars and cafés bearing the names of some of the world’s most recognizable fashion names are popping up across the city.

Domenico Dolce and Stefano Gabbana opened a restaurant and bar called Gold in the fall, joining Giorgio Armani who already had a café, restaurant, bookstore and a nightclub called Privé, housed in his mega Armani store on Via Manzoni. The complex is rumoured to be the site of an upcoming Armani hotel.

Roberto Cavalli has added a café to his empire. The Bulgari Hotel now has a restaurant and the Gucci girl can sit in the café outside her favourite store in the imposing Galleria Vittorio Emmanuelle II to people watch or steel her nerves before plunking down a credit card for the latest “It” bag.

Designers have full control on casting the perfect people to personify their image at their runway shows and in ad campaigns.

But when the clothes are available for sale to anyone, sometimes the image gets skewed.

A tour of some of these designer venues during the fall 2007 collections in Milan this week found the same principle applies to their brand extensions.

First stop on Saturday night was Gold, the restaurant, bistro and bar by Dolce & Gabbana.

One would think it would be the perfect brand extension for the designers of a super sexy label who appear to love the nightlife.

But after passing the large gold ingot sign outside the door, any lustre from the metal furnishings was dimmed by the unseductive lighting and the pedestrian crowd.

The bistro is swanky enough, with sculptural chandeliers and metal shutters, but in the bar area exposed brick walls and bright lights seemed to dull the effect of the decorative gold prisms lining the shelves and the bar.

“If the Dolce customer came here looking for some excitement, they would be disappointed,” said Ian Hylton, a Toronto expat who now works in China for Ports International as VP of design for its menswear division.

In the bar area, everyone was clustered in the smoking area – a glass enclosed chamber in the back. The music was far from inspiring and it was hard to look sexy holding a drink served in a ridiculously large glass.

And where were the stylish, sexy, feline Dolce & Gabbana fans? Except for the model-handsome bartenders, the crowd was all tight jeans and little tops that wouldn’t pass muster for the lower-priced D&G line.

The experience was far from the image the duo sells, especially after seeing the spectacular window display at the flagship store or the scintillating photo feature in this month’s W magazine. It features both designers, buffed, and dressed provocatively and posing suggestively with nearly naked models.

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L’Oreal SA, the world’s largest cosmetics maker, said profit rose in 2006 as the company sold more Lancome luxury makeup and Armani Code perfume.

Net income climbed to 1.83 billion euros ($2.4 billion) after adjustment for some items from 1.64 billion euros in 2005, the Paris-based company said today in a statement. The shares fell as L’Oreal said costs related to last year’s acquisition of U.K.-based retailer Body Shop and an increase in research and development expenses would weigh on profitability this year.

Rising demand for luxury skin-care goods has boosted sales at the French company, which spent 652 million pounds ($1.3 billion) last year to acquire natural cosmetics retailer Body Shop. Costs related to that acquisition will be accentuated in the first half of this fiscal year, L’Oreal said today.

“Body Shop is having an impact on overall profitability, even though it’s a small business compared to the whole,” said Alessandra Coppola, an analyst with Standard & Poors Equity Research in London who cut L’Oreal to “hold” in September. “They are also increasing research and development costs.”

Shares of L’Oreal fell 1.05 euros, or 1.3 percent, to 80.6 euros in Paris. Coppola said some investors had switched out of L’Oreal stock and into LVMH Moet Hennessy Louis Vuitton SA, the world’s largest luxury goods maker, which reported sales that beat analysts’ estimates after markets closed yesterday. Shares of LVMH rose 5.9 percent, the most in more than three years.

Armani Code

Before today, L’Oreal stock had added 20 percent in 12 months, the fourth-largest gain in the seven-member Bloomberg World Cosmetics/Personal Care Index, which has risen 17 percent. The shares surged almost 7 percent last month, when the company reported fourth-quarter sales that beat analysts’ estimates.

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.

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.