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.

Gucci will broadcast live on its Web site its 2009 cruise runway show at Villa Aurelia in Rome next week, as part of the 70th anniversary celebrations of its store in the Italian capital. Unlike a previous live Webcast of Gucci’s cruise show in 2006 - which could only be accessed by password by select fashion editors, journalists and retailers in Europe and Asia - members of the public also will be able to view the July 8 show in real time on gucci.com from 8 p.m. local time.

Gucci spokesmodels Claire Danes and James Franco, and Danes’ actor boyfriend Hugh Dancy are among those penciled in to attend the event, which is rumored to include a performance by British electronic group Goldfrapp.

As the head designer at Gucci for a decade, he was king of Milan and a lynchpin of the fashion establishment. Texan-born Tom Ford also tried to conquer Paris when he took over Yves Saint Laurent in 2001. But yesterday at London Fashion Week he launched an attack on the supremacy of the French capital over the rest of the global fashion industry.

“Quite honestly in terms of French culture, if you think about what the French are producing in terms of fashion or architects or painters or musicians, they are quite far behind what the British are producing, and yet when you think of fashion, you think of Paris,” said Ford, who was in the capital to judge the Fashion Fringe award held in Covent Garden, central London.

Ford described Paris fashion week, which is home to the likes of Christian Dior, Chanel and Louis Vuitton as “a global showcase – but it isn’t necessarily where talent is coming from. When you think of Paris you think of Karl Lagerfeld who is not French, and you think of Marc Jacobs who’s not French and Stefano Pilati who’s Italian.”

Ford, who left the Gucci Group in 2004, launched his own high-end menswear label earlier this year in New York and plans to open a London menswear line in 2009, with a women’s line being launched in “two or three years”.

He calls his big-budget men’s tailoring label a “new brand” but the 45-year-old designer has a slight advantage over the four young contestants in the competition he was judging. Now in its fourth year, Fashion Fringe is an initiative intended to support the most raw design talent. Graeme Armour, Andrea McWha, De-jan and the eventual winner Aminaka Wilmont all presented collections of a standard equal to the better graduate shows, but in a very competitive season none stood out as yet having star quality. The young designers produced their collections in three months, and as Ford’s current career demonstrates, even those with healthy finances need time to build a brand.

The final day of fashion week saw a phalanx of big names arrive at the last minute. Fashion eccentrics Antoni and Alison persuaded Nicole Kidman to appear in a short film that showcased their spring/summer 2008 collection. Stella McCartney commandeered a sports hall in west London late last night to show her collection for Adidas, while in one of the more unlikely collaborations Naomi Campbell had gathered together some of her supermodel pals to put on a charity show in co-operation with the Rotary Club, in aid of the victims of July’s floods.

PPR SA, the French owner of the Gucci luxury brand, said a $7.3 billion (U.S.) bid for German sporting goods maker Puma AG succeeded after almost two-thirds of investors accepted its offer.

PPR now owns a 62.1 per cent stake in Puma, a statement yesterday by the Paris-based company said. The purchase is the first major acquisition by chair Francois-Henri Pinault since he took over from his father two years ago. Puma investors had five weeks until July 11 to tender their shares.

The luxury goods maker agreed in April to purchase a 27 per cent stake in Puma and bid for the rest of the shares to gain a global brand that straddles sports and fashion. Puma, Europe’s second-biggest sporting goods maker, has raised sales fivefold in six years as nostalgia for the 1970s spurred purchases of shoes and clothes evoking the period.

Debutant director Bhavana Talwar, whose film Dharm was released earlier this year, has been nominated for the second annual Gucci Group Award that will be presented on 3 September, 2007 during the 64th Venice Film Festival.

Talwar’s Dharm explored religious fanaticism and caste conflicts in India and starred Pankaj Kapur and Supriya Pathak Kapur amongst others.

The Gucci Group Award is bestowed to an internationally-acclaimed artist who has made a remarkable contribution to a film in any capacity within the past 18 months, as a director, actor, screenwriter, set designer, or costume designer.

“Gucci Group is committed to recognizing and honoring visionaries who transform their art into experiences which we all can embrace. We are honored to work with the Venice Film Festival, and together we share a mission to support artists whose talents transcend ordinary limits, who possess the courage for expression in new and untried media, and who have brought their art to life on screen,” said Gucci Group chairman and CEO Robert Polet.

Lots of glitter and excitement too far to the west as Milan fashion week continues. Tuesday, fashion house Marni showed its Summer 2008 Menswear collection. Unlike many other collections shown this week, Marni steered away from bright colors, opting instead for minimal, simple designs that played with the usual silhouettes. Luxury fashion label, Gucci also showed its Menswear Summer 2008 collection. Let’s take a closer look.

The show paid homage to 1950’s Italy. It featured suits with bold checks, striped polo shirts and soft post-war trousers.

There were hints of “Rebel Without a Cause,” too. Gucci’s slim versions of biker jackets and other retro styles gave prominence to the Gucci name right up front. It’s normally something you’d see on preppy university gear.

Gucci just launched a new fragrance, called Gucci Eau de Parfum II. I find the way the pink perfume in kept inside a much bigger class capsule very interesting.

Also, the ad campaign ties in nicely to the packaging. It features a beautiful woman who has a soft pink rim of color (the same shade as the perfume) lining the insides of her eyes.

The parfum is made from: mandarin, black currant, violet and blackberry warmed with base notes of jasmine, heliotrope and cedar wood; it is intended for someone who wants to be noticed.

She has medals on her chest, a silken blouse with fins of frills, a thick skirt and a gold plaque under the laces of her high-heeled shoes. She’s the purposeful new Gucci girl, except that she has matured into all those famous wartime women, from the movie star Katharine Hepburn to the photographer Lee Miller, with the body of a woman and the guts (not to mention the clothes) of a man.

Sounds pretentious for a fashion show? This flirtation with the ’40s was just a theme at the Gucci show Wednesday. But from the thick winter coat that strode out at the start to the ending of silver screen gowns with twin brooches sparkling from sweetheart necklines, the designer Frida Giannini caught the man/ woman mood, with military overtones, of the autumn/winter Milan season.

It was her best show yet, in terms of providing a new, heavyweight image for Gucci, which needs to broaden its scope from skinny pants for spindly celebrities and sexpot dressing after dark. Giannini addressed the dress, making it seem summer, rather than winter, but pretty with an abstract bluebell print and a focus on a sharp and embellished shoulder. Also from the 1940s came tweed knickers, a snug woolen vest and Rita Hayworth waterfalls of hair.

The company launched its renovated flagship store in Beverly Hills, unveiling a sleeker, more understated side of the decadent Versace style. In addition, creative director Donatella Versace will accept the Rodeo Drive Walk of Style award on Thursday night.

The 5,000-square-foot unit here was the first that the company overhauled from top to bottom.

“Everything is completely brand new, from the floors to the shelves to the ceiling,” said Roberto Lorenzini, president and chief operating officer of Versace USA.

The black-and-white color scheme is accented with Italian crystal display units and glossy black terrazzo marble floors, juxtaposed with matte white walls and ceilings.

“This is a new concept defined by Milan,” Lorenzini said. “For the U.S. market, the renovation is definitely an important step for us, because it’s going to show what Versace is becoming…The boutique is more sophisticated, elegant and modern.”

The store maintains a Rodeo Drive address — 248 North Rodeo Drive — but is located in the open-air Two Rodeo shopping complex, which intersects the iconic shopping street. Tiffany & Co., Gianfranco Ferré, Badgley Mischka and Gucci Fine Jewelry are among Versace’s neighbors in the center.

Gucci and Fendi are planning exclusive branded outlets in India and are now in talks with major retailers like Pantaloon, Lifestyle, Shoppers’ Stop, the Runwal Group and Big Bazaar for the same. Gucci, at present, has a presence here but only in a multi-branded outlet format, making its products just one among the many displayed in malls. Exclusive branded outlets in malls would mean that these brands will get exclusive space to the tune of 2,500 to 5,000 sq ft. Fendi, on the other hand, is making an entry into the booming Indian retail segment for the first time.

Shubhranshu Pani, president - retail services, TrammellCrow Megharaj said, “Murjhani brothers, the partners of The Gucci Group would be setting up Gucci outlets in India. Apart from eyeing malls for setting up outlets, Gucci group and Fendi are also in talks with top hoteliers of the country to set up Gucci branded exclusive outlets within premium hotels in high street locations.” It was in January 2006 that Gucci had identified the Murjani brothers as their partners to enter the Indian market, and then followed with an agreement with them.

Pranay Vakil, chairman, Knight Frank India said, “The demand for international premium luxury brands such as Gucci has taken off well in markets such as Mumbai, Bangalore and Delhi. But it will take at least six months to a year to decide how these brands take off nationally as more malls are likely to come up in Tier II cities, as well. When branded outlets are developed, consumers look for variety value.”

According to industry experts, a branded company today willingly pays 12% of the gross income by way of rent. In areas such as Linking Road, Mumbai, branded companies pay Rs 500 to Rs 600 per sq ft as rent as they are able to justify the value realisation that exceeds the rent payable at 12% of the gross income. The only exception to this are the international branded companies who have outlets just to promote the brand.