Italian Fashion Watch

The Finnish textile design company is fighting Italian fashion house Dolce & Gabbana to protect a trademark on its signature “Unikko” poppy print.

D&G has filed an application at the European Union’s agency for registered trademarks to declare Marimekko’s Unikko trademark invalid, the Finnish company said in a statement on Thursday, July 3.

“Marimekko currently estimates that there are no grounds for Dolce & Gabbana’s application for a declaration of invalidity and that the matter does not affect Marimekko’s operations or the company’s assessment of the outlook for the remainder of 2008,” Marimekko added in the statement.

German court granted injunction

Unikko is a protected trademark in the EU, Norway and the US. Marimekko claims Dolce & Gabbana has been using its floral pattern without permission, and said it had filed suit against the Italian firm in Hamburg earlier this year to block it from using the design.

The district court had granted an injunction on sales and marketing of certain D&G products in Germany.

“Marimekko is considering further measures in the matter,” the company said, adding that it planned to respond to the Dolce & Gabbana application before the deadline on Sept. 25.

The Unikko poppy pattern was designed by Maija Isola in 1964 for Marimekko, but experienced a resurgence recently when it was seen decorating a range of products from bags to shower curtains.

Marimekko designs also hit the high street this year when the Finnish company licensed several of its patterns to retailer H&M for a summer collection.

Italian designer team Dolce & Gabbana kicked off Milan’s fashion week in relaxed style on Saturday, taking inspiration from oriental kimonos to kit out men in silk evening pajamas for next summer.

Asian-style prints of dragons and butterflies decorated robes and shorts in black, white, grey, sepia and ivory for the duo’s signature line. Naomi Campbell modeled one of their designs as part of the spring/summer 2009 menswear collections.

Evening jackets teamed with black trousers also sported the prints, in a collection said to reflect “the relaxed lifestyle of the modern man”.

A variety of light and dark blues, and natural hues from beige to brown, were used for formal striped suits and casual wear, topped on the runway with dark-rimmed glasses.

Stefano Gabbana and Domenico Dolce tucked tight-fitting shirts — often diagonally-striped, with small bow ties or chine jersey shirts with cotton collars and cuffs — into drawstring trousers with a loose leg, or paired suits with bow and skinny ties. Jackets had small shawl lapels, single- or double-breasted.

The designers used crocodile and suede for jackets and for limited edition sneakers that also came in mixed leathers.

Models, some of whom were sent out with double-handled bags, wore python, crocodile, eel or patent leather sandals, as well as slippers in various leathers and colors.

Fashion duo Domenico Dolce and Stefano Gabbana have thrown their annual Cannes bash and it was the hottest ticket in town.

This year’s theme was ‘La Dolce Vita’ and was inspired by birthday girl Naomi Campbell.

D G sunglasses were laid out on a tray to be given to a thousand excited guests as they walked the red carpet.

‘I’m enjoying so much Cannes, yes it’s beautiful, I went to see a film and I love the atmosphere and all the people that are hear and I love to be on my boat, to enjoy my boat and that’s it, altogether it’s fantastic,’ said designer Valentino.

The glamorous guests sported the top styles in fashion, from body-conscious dresses that hugged the body to tiers of layers inspired by the gypsy look, both styles representing some of Dolce Gabbana’s former collections.

White skinny trousers or jeans were popular among the men, a big trend on both the Italian and Paris catwalks this season.

Yesterday an interesting piece of news came up. It looks like the Italian government is onto the big fashion companies, Dolce & Gabbana and Ferragamo who, uhm, forgot to pay their taxes.

How stupid is that? With a company cashing in tens or hundreds of millions of euros, you would expect that eventually, some people from up there will come to check you out and see how well you’re doing and claim their share.

Sounds really stupid, but there might actually be a good and logical explanation to this. You see, any company is always looking to pay less taxes. For large companies that operate on the international market, such as Dolce & Gabbana and Ferragamo, one option was to move their headquarters countries with lower taxes, such as Luxembourg and Holland.

They proceeded and set up companies in those two countries. The plan was good, except they didn’t really operate from there. Although their main office was far abroad, everything the two firms had to purchase in order to design and manufacture their products was done from Italy, and thus, the taxes were supposed to go to the Italian government and not Holland or Luxemburg.

In other words, they screwed up.

Dolce & Gabbana owe about 90 million euros and Ferragamo close to 20.

If they fail to pay that sum, Dolce and Gabbana may spend some time in prison. But I trust they’re gonna find a solution.

Dolce & Gabbana’s ready to wear fashion line, D&G, is planning to open six stores in the Middle East, beginning with outlets in Kuwait and Jeddah, this spring.

Stores in Doha and Bahrain will follow in the second half of this. Dubai and Riyadh outlets will be opened early next year.

The Milan-based fashion designer has been enjoying booming sales for its creations in the Middle East. The region now accounts for 5% of global sales for D&G.

The designer’s annual turnover is $2.12 billion, for all of its lines including Dolce & Gabbana fashion, eyewear and fragrances. At 5%, the Middle East market could have been worth as much as $110 million for the company over the past 12 months.

A catfight has broken out between the designers Dolce & Gabbana and Valentino as the doyen of Italian fashion prepared today to present his final collection in Paris before retirement.

Valentino wave’s goodbye to his staggering career but not before stirring up design rivals Dolce & Gabbana

Valentino Garavani was reflecting on his 50-year career and on his rivals when he dismissed Dolce & Gabbana as “shy to begin with, but now rather arrogant”. The 76-year-old added: “The problem with young stylists is that they all want to be famous straight away and then they all do the same things.” Valentino’s comments appear to have touched a raw nerve, especially as he only had superlative praise for other Italian designers.

He went on to describe Giorgio Armani as “revolutionary”, Miuccia Prada as “stupefying” and Donatella Versace as “gritty and determined”. In return, Mr Armani sent a vibrant red dress down his recent catwalk show in tribute to “the genius of Valentino”, who made red dresses his trademark.

Stefano Gabbana, 46, one half of the label that now has an annual turnover of over £700 million, said: “Valentino has been having goodbye parties since last July. I’ve been working.” He added: “To be quite honest, I don’t care what Valentino says about us.”

Valentino has held a lavish series of events to mark his retirement, including a party in Rome’s Imperial Forum which rebuilt an ancient temple out of plastic resin and an exhibition at the Ara Pacis museum.

Mr Gabbana also dismissed rumours that Naomi Campbell, the supermodel, is having an affair with Hugo Chavez, the president of Venezuela. Ms Campbell recently interviewed Mr Chavez, and the Venezuelan press was quick to announce that the pair had got engaged. “I do not think he is her type, or vice versa,” said Mr Gabbana. “They have different tastes.”

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.

Italian designer team Dolce & Gabbana took a military theme to kit out men next summer, ranging from fatigues with tiny lights that glowed in the dark to camouflage patterned swim trunks.

On the first day of Milan’s spring/summer 2008 menswear collections on Saturday, Dolce & Gabbana’s signature line show was colored in army-inspired khakis, navy, black and white.

Models had tattoos and military-style haircuts, and wore baseball caps or square-crowned peaked soldiers’ hats.

Stefano Gabbana and Domenico Dolce loaded fatigue-style trousers with pockets and webbing holders for phones or hip flasks, adding a kit bag in black leather and mud-tone canvas to carry any extras.

They stretched and squared classic camouflage print and used it on T-shirts and mini swimming trunks - a style of beachwear the duo are currently using in a white version for eye-catching adverts for men’s perfume range Light Blue.

Dolce & Gabbana suggested bermuda shorts in prints of blue and white florals with beige and maroon broad striped shirts.

Waistcoats were on show at Versace as well, as Donatella Versace pared them down to a T shape.

Trench coat shapes stopped short at the waist, shirts were long enough to double up as jackets and there were silky pastel colored cowls on T shirts.

The collection, which had no shorts, no beachwear and no swimwear, stuck to a formal, tailored theme in single-breasted suits and pleat-front trousers.

Versace, known for her glitzy designs for womenswear, fished for fabrics worn by oystercatchers 70 years ago to dress her men, painting silk protein on cotton for a waterproof shine.

The show of Gianfranco Ferre, who died on June 17 after a brain hemorrhage, was yesterday.

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.

Dolce & Gabbana spiced up the sixth day of winter womenswear shows in Milan on Thursday with metal masks, crops and corsets that eschewed cosy warmth for fetish sex appeal.

The audience of buyers and journalists waited nearly an hour for the show, but impatience was quickly forgotten when the models hit the black catwalk in high gold and silver stiletto heels wearing sculpted leather, leopard print and feathers.

The designer duo of Domenico Dolce and Stefano Gabbana, who gave us big cat prints and disco gold at their more informal D&G show on Monday, showed off fur-like fabrics and leathers with corset-shaped metallic belts.

One “dominatrix” carried a silver twisted riding crop and another wore a shiny metal Carnival-style mask. Slim chains looped from hips in what the designers called an “indefinitely fetish” style.

Net tulle wrapped up leopard fur fabrics or provided a gauzy covering for wolfish grey coats.

Tulle was used in ruffles for evening dresses, or they were sheer from groin to floor and splashed with sparkling embroidery.

A deep red feather body was sculpted high over breasts, with a wide black patent corset belt, creating an exotic bird perched on spiky black patent heels.

Standing out from the fur and feathers came a grey silk short dress with a bodice which looked sprayed on with metallic paint.