Italian Fashion Watch

Just when fashion in Rome needed a dash of inspiration, Gucci’s Frida Giannini comes along and throws a big party in a villa overlooking the Eternal City.

Tuesday night’s event marked the 70th anniversary of the famed Gucci boutique near the Spanish Steps, and began with the presentation of the designer’s 2009 cruise collection, usually shown in New York.

The five goddess gowns that closed the snappy jet-set show are in honor of Rome and will only be available in the Via Condotti boutique.

“Isn’t Rome fantastic?” said the 36-year-old designer as she greeted some of her 300 guests, many who had come from afar, at a sit-down dinner after the show.

The 17th-century villa and its sumptuous gardens are part of the American Academy complex atop the Janiculum hill. Later 700 hip Roman young people joined the party and danced into the night to the live music of Goldfrapp.

Giannini wanted to pay tribute not only to her birthplace, but to the Roman school where she got her fashion education, The Academy of Costume and Fashion, and to her first job at Fendi, founded by five Roman sisters.

“I owe a lot to this city,” she told The Associated Press.

The event was the buzz of the Rome couture “AltaRoma” week that ended Thursday.

Gala events are few and far between since the heydays of the 1960’s, when such stars as Liz Taylor, Rita Hayworth and Audrey Hepburn, in town for filming, made Rome the high point of Italian fashion.

During the 1990s Rome had a second fashion moment, with the “Women under the Stars” gala summer event on the Spanish Steps, a fashion show that included the top names in Italian couture and ready-to-wear as well as foreign designer guests. That was televised live to many countries.

But despite attempts to revive the mood, in the past decade Rome couture has become a very local event.

This time more than 20 houses, including Gattinoni and Sarli, showed their latest collections in the halls of a former Medieval convent in the shadow of St. Peter’s Basilica, the same venue used last year by Valentino for his farewell to fashion.

The clothes were beautiful with sumptuous fabrics and grande soiree styles, and at times a little more affordable with the invention of `demi-couture’ — something between `haute couture’ and ‘ready to wear.’ Mainly, however, the shows were about dresses for mother’s garden party and her daughter’s wedding.

The crowds reflected the runway, including plenty of ladies from wealthy families as well as TV starlets.

“We have to rekindle Rome’s fashion fire,” said Rome’s new mayor Gianni Alemanno, a guest at the Gucci party.

Paris once again became the epicentre of the fashion universe this week as the haute couture shows got underway. Oscar winner Helen Mirren, actress Eva Mendes and Janet Jackson were just some of the big names checking out the glorious creations destined for the wardrobes of an elite handful of extremely wealthy women. And they had chosen a good moment to go along, as this is shaping up to be the busiest haute couture week or several seasons.

An unusually high total of 23 designers are scheduled to take part, including the first Chinese courier to show in Paris.

Firmly in the spotlight on day one, however, was Giorgio Armani, who presented a collection which celebrates his 35 years in the industry.

A-list guests, including the youngest daughter of the Thai crown prince, Princess Siriwannawari Nariratana, watched as the Italian maestro presented a collection which revisited many of his signature silhouettes. The classic trouser suit, for instance, made a return, with elements incorporated into cocktail and eveningwear.

One standout piece reflected by the mirrored runway was of a pair of high-waisted black velvet tuxedo trousers teamed with a fitted cape affair made of strings of pearls. A daringly cut cocktail dress, slashed from bodice to hip, was another highlight.

Across town John Galliano unveiled a fresh collection for Dior. The range, which he describes as “couture in a contemporary way”, featured strong, elegant shapes which placed emphasis firmly on aesthetics.

An heiress without attitude or an energy drink to promote? How refreshing. In fact, Margherita Missoni — scion to the iconic knitwear empire — doesn’t even name check the family brand when gushing about her favorite designers. Missoni, 25, hit Cannes on its first weekend to co-host a yacht party to benefit OrphanAid Africa; she helped design a rose gold and diamond bracelet selling on Yoox.com that supports the cause. She also acted in a short film showing at the festival.

Barefoot aboard a big boat, wearing floor-length, flowing white silk with a floral motif, Missoni sat down and gave us the lowdown on her own look.

Describe your personal style.

Very irrational and distinctive. I start from a piece that I want to wear and then I build on that. I am never matchy — ugh. It’s hard to dissect my style but it is definitely bohemian.

Name your Cannes essentials.

It’s quite easy because you only have to pack gowns. I wish I had brought a trench coat because of the rain, but I didn’t think that far ahead. The most important thing is flats because you have to be ready for boats. I brought one pair of Vuitton patent-leather flats in white with all these gorgeous beads on them and a pair of Prada sandals.

Where do you stay here?

I am staying at the Majestic, and then next week, I come back and stay at the Martinez for amfAR [the annual fashion gala to support AIDS research]. I would rather stay at the Hotel du Cap in Antibes. It’s much more quiet there.

Where do you perch to watch the scenery?

Nowhere. I keep it tight, in the sense of timing, and go to events. I don’t hang out here that much. I love the South of France, but it is too intense and crazy for me.

Tell us about the movie you’re in.

It’s called “I Am an Island,” and I play the patient of a psychiatric unit. There is a screening and a party for it on Sunday. There are so many directors here I would love to work with, like Woody Allen.

As the face of Missoni, do you feel like you must always wear the brand?

No! I think it is more believable if I don’t wear Missoni all the time. If I wear other designers, people know that when I do wear Missoni, I actually like it. Right now, I am wearing my grandmother’s vintage nightgown. She gave it to me the other day, and I thought it was so beautiful.

OK. Pajamas and Missoni aside, which designers do you love?

I love Louis Vuitton and Givenchy. Giambattista Valli, Proenza Schouler and Lanvin too. Oh, so many. For jeans, I wear Seven and J Brand.

Do you have a life motto?

Judge for yourself. The only person whose judgment counts is your own. I try to live by that.

Read the interview in the LA Times.

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.

Italian brand Salvatore Ferragamo celebrated its 80th anniversary in the fashion industry with a star-studded party in Shanghai. Head designer for Ferragamo’s menswear, Massimiliano Giornetti, and creative director of women’s wear, Cristina Ortiz, treated guests to an 80 minute fashion show, showcasing 60 different looks.

The late Salvatore Ferragamo founded the Salvatore Ferragamo Italia S.p.A. company in 1927, having designed for many icons including Marilyn Monroe and Eva Peron, and current celebrities such as actress Jessica Biel and model Irina Lazareanu.

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.

Giorgio Armani and Samsung finally completed their collaboration with the release of the new “Giorgio Armani Samsung Phone”, or the SGH-P520.

Being seen the first time last November, it was finally released officially this week.

As a fashion phone, it does not have extraordinary technical features. True, it does have a 3 Mega pixel camera and a fantastic frontal touch screen with vibration feedback that lets you know that you’ve pressed the right button.

The casing is made out of metal, with just the right weight, giving the phone a solid feel and also a reassurance that it won’t break when it accidentally fells on the ground.

The pictures taken with the camera look good on the phone, but a little blurry when on a larger screen. It also has no 3G.

Being designed in collaboration with a highly reputed fashion brand, the phone itself looks fantastic. Much better than what we’ve seen coming from the other fashion firms.

For more information, take a look at http://www.armanisamsungphone.com/

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.

Friday night saw the fashion pack flocked to see Amy Winehouse (pictured above on her way to Paris) perform at one of the hottest events on the Paris schedule – the Fendi party.

Press, buyers and fans alike were desperately trying, and failing, left right and centre to get their hands on a coveted ticket. It should come as no surprise, however, that the enterprising Elle team had no trouble getting their way in to rub shoulders with the A-listers, so we can exclusively bring you all the gossip:

‘Fendi had turned a huge space at the back of their store into a red-lined club with a stage. Amy came on at 11.15pm and played for 45mins. The party was absolutely mad to get into and super packed - only about 250 people actually got in to see her, though there were more in the venue.

We followed the Olsen’s and their entourage through the kitchens…! Rihanna was dancing and singing along, Kanye West was there, as well as Bernard Arnault, Salma Hayek’s fiancée who owns PPR, and Karl Lagerfeld (sunglasses on, obviously)… Amy was wearing a D&G dress with a Fendi belt and looked so much better than of late, though she did say she had mumps???!

She did highlights from Back To Black and was talking a bit; she asked if fashion week was still on and if it actually lasted for a week…! Amazing…’

Recently, it’s been rumored that L’Oreal is in talks with Giorgio Armani’s Firm to purchase about 25% of its stocks.

It’s debatable about the impact of such a deal on the fashion industry, but a spokesman from Giorgio Armani denied the rumor: “There has been ongoing speculation about L’Oreal and others and no talks are going on at the moment.”

L’Oreal is already of partner with Giorgio Armani dealing with the distribution of perfumes, cosmetics and beauty products.

Armani himself mentioned in a November interview last year that L’Oreal could become more implicated in the Armani business, but that no talks were yet in progress.

We’ll see what happens in the future, and I’m sure it will an important event for te fashion industry, with Armani being arguably the most important designer today and L’Oreal the biggest cosmetics firm. Time will tell.