Italian Fashion Watch

Recently blogs and online news sources went mad about a possible teaming between Roberto Cavalli and Amy Whinehouse. This deal would offer Amy an endless line of Cavalli’s outfits for free as well as a sum of money, with the condition that she wears them at every public appearance.

This kind of deal is common among fashion and clothing companies who select some of the most popular artists or sportsmen and offer them lucrative deals, as a great way to reach a desired audience.

It seems that Roberto Cavalli’s good friend, Victoria Beckham, is the one who proposed him to consider Amy Whinehouse in the first place.

The rumor was not yet confirmed, but if it is true, we should see Amy wearing high fashion dresses and accessories from one of the world most important fashion designer pretty soon.

Roberto Cavalli, Italy’s ‘king of bling”, swung his style barometer from strident and sexy to soft and subtle at Milan Fashion Week on Wednesday.

In line with the current mood for fantasy and romanticism that is emerging at these designer previews for next spring/summer, Cavalli turned down the volume on his formally over-the-top fashion formula.

“I used to design for a woman who wanted to flaunt,” he said. “Now, it’s time for a new woman who is more pure, simple and innocent.”

This proclamation, of course, did not stop the flamboyant Florentine from recreating the gilded Hall of Mirrors at Versailles as a video backdrop to his show.

But there was a sweet simplicity in the white broderie anglaise and floral chiffon petticoat dresses, even if some were unbuttoned as if in a boudoir. Fringed suede skirts, vests and trousers were mixed with Marie Antoinette-inspired peasant girl looks in pastels and patchwork florals.

Pale, sequined shifts, generally devoid of jewellery, offered a delicate suggestion of razzle-dazzle. But there was not an animal print to be seen, no splits to the thigh and no plunging cleavage.

Instead, for evening, Cavalli offered long, fluid dresses in watercolour prints of lilies, orchids and peonies, softened with a flounce at the hem.

England’s High Street chain H and M is focusing on the younger market with their own original designs…and a little help from a fashion heavyweight.

House designer Margareta van den Bosch has revealed that she created clothes to suit the fun and free shoppers. While guest designer, Roberto Cavalli, is following a similar trend.

Cavalli, who has dressed the who’s who of the film and music worlds, has put together a fall collection for the budget brand as a way to allow young girls to wear his clothes.

He told Times2, “The young stop me all over the world in the street and say ‘Oh, Roberto, you’re my idol’. I said ok to H&M so that youngsters could have the chance to wear Cavalli, not just the beautiful stars on the red carpet. I hope to see lots of girls queuing up to discover what I have created for them.”

H and M’s own young brand, Divide, is all about being playful for the upcoming chilly season.

Bosch said, “The Divided concept has a style that attracts both grown-up and teenage customers. I think the creativity and comfort is the key to success. Great patterns and prints, cool styles, and, most importantly, the latest trends translated in a playful and unpretentious manner.”

Cavalli’s collection will be available from November.

Italian fashion designer Roberto Cavalli has defended his decision to hire Kate Moss for a fashion shoot immediately after her cocaine disgrace, hailing her a “great professional”.

The catwalk beauty was photographed snorting the drug with then-boyfriend Pete Doherty in a recording studio in September 2005. She was subsequently axed from a string of lucrative modelling contracts, but Cavalli continued to use her despite the controversy.

He says, “People asked me why I picked Kate Moss immediately after her drug scandal. I find her a great professional, and have always liked her personality.

“I have never thought: ‘Does this person use drugs or not?’ I am anti-drugs, but what can you do? “As designers we have to trust the models’ personality and professionalism. I don’t want to know about their private lives.”

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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It looks like Michael Jackson has decided to go in his first world tour in almost ten years. For such an event, he must look spectacular.

That’s why he chose Italian fashion designer Roberto Cavalli to be the one to design his stage suits and present the world an impeccable image of him.

The two met in Dublin where they decided the look for the first on stage appearance that will take place on Wembley Stadium, in London.

“Michael Jackson is a musical icon. It was a great honor for me to design something special for him. His personal style has had a great influence on the pop culture,” Cavalli said in a statement.

The pop star was involved in the previous years in a few scandals, but he was finally was called not guilty in 2005.

I mentioned in a previous article that Roberto Cavalli was hired by Christina Aguilera to design her outfits for her current world tour promoting the new album.

All was good until she got issues with PETA (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals), the largest organization of it’s kind in the US, for wearing real fox fur on stage.

Christina Aguilera made Roberto Cavalli responsible for it, because he tricked her into wearing real fur, although she claims to have instructed him to only use fake fur her the costumes she wears on stage.

Whether this claim is true or not, Cavalli himself admitted to Women’s Wear Daily that he sent Christina a stole out of real fox fur before the concert.

A PETA spokesman said that before she went on stage, she received an email with a video of a fox being killed in a very inhumane way for her fur.

It’s been reported that Christina immediately changed all real fur items in her world tour wardrobe for synthetic fur, so that she will avoid further issues with PETA and other environmental organizations.

I Really love this trend of hiring top fashion designers to design custom items. After Armani Was hired to design Katie Holmes’s wedding dress, now I see that Roberto Cavalli has been hired by Cristina Aguilera to design her world tour costumes.

She’s got to look magnificent on stage, right?

Sources claim that the fashion mogul has already created 10 costumes for Aguilera, and is also commissioned to create looks for her dancers, reports Contactmusic.

And according to Women’s Wear Daily, some of the outfits include a Forties-style white stretch satin tuxedo, bordered with golden pearls and topped with a white fox stole; a Fifties-inspired satin silk bustier and printed, gold-leaf and crystal-adorned silk taffeta skirt; a Sixties suit embroidered all over, and a tailored jacket with embroidered tails to be paired with a red-and-black Swarovski-adorned bustier.

Recently, Giorgio Armani and Roberto Cavalli met with the Indian designer Pradeep Hirani, with whom they discussed the possibility of expanding their business in India.

With such a huge market ready for their luxurious creations, both Armani and Cavalli were enthusiastic about the idea.

Here’s what Pradeep Hirani had to say about it:

“Giorgio Armani is a wonderfully warm man. We met twice on the trip and since he speaks no English and I can’t speak Italian, we communicated through a translator.”

“Cavalli is worshipped by fashionistas around the world. What we had in common was his interest in India. His two main grievances are that we have no high street in India and most retailers don’t have the expertise of luxury fashion retail. Cavalli is reluctant to use the facilities at 5 star hotels because they have to pay very high rents for very few footfalls.”

It’s too early to say something for certain, but it’s most likely that the to Italian designers will start retailing their products in stores in Mumbai and Delhi.

Both Missoni and Roberto Cavalli got their inspiration for the collections they presented at Milan’s Fashion Week from the ‘60s fashion.

They didn’t go for anything too stiff or to shiny.

In fact, what they presented were classics which will still look good when a new trend will come up.

Some of Cavalli’s dresses remind you of Gypsy dresses, which look so chic right  now.

Missoni’s collection was designed by Angela Missoni.

Questioned about her new designs, she said “You know me - I like anything easy. The shapes and the softness came easily.”