Italian Fashion Watch

For Givenchy’s Fall/Winter 2008 women’s ready-to-wear collection, Riccardo Tisci has taken his inspiration from Latin America. He has combined Latin joie de vivre with his gothic aesthetic.

Latin savoir faire redefines French elegance in sharply tailored silhouettes in this new collection. The key look is skinny long legs with a surfeit of volume on top. In homage to the Latin love of ruffles, frills and pleats have been reinterpreted in lace, cotton and poplin.

Worn with pantsuits, lace provides a feminine contrast to the collection’s masculine tailoring. Softer feminine shapes include a tone-on-tone pale aqua dress, tight at the waist with a fluted skirt finished with ribbon embroidery, glass beads and hand-embroidered eyelets, inspired by a turn-of-the-century corset, said an official.

Executed in a mostly monochrome color palette, the collection’s black and white symbolises the duality of hard and soft, history and modernity, which has come to represent the brand.

Giorgio Armani has just announced that leading Asian actor Takeshi Kaneshiro will be the first Asian male face to appear in an advertising campaign for Emporio Armani in the Fall 2008 men’s collection. A well recognised face throughout Asia, Takeshi’s signing as the new testimonial for Emporio Armani corresponds with the brand’s growing development in the China market, which will celebrate the opening of 13 new Emporio Armani stores around the country within 2008.

Takeshi joins David Beckham who is the official testimonial for Emporio Armani Underwear and KaKa, the testimonial for Emporio Armani Menswear in Europe and the Americas. Takeshi will appear in a special advertising campaign for the Emporio Armani Fall 2008, which will be rolled out in Hongkong, China and Taiwan in leading fashion and lifestyle magazines and on signature billboards.

The union between Giorgio Armani and the film industry is well documented. It all started with the wardrobe he created for Richard Gere in American Gigolo in 1980. Over the years Giorgio Armani has continued to show his passion for motion picture. Giorgio Armani began his support of Asian cinema in 2006 with the costume design for a Chinese language motion picture Confession of Pain, starring Takeshi.

Takeshi has appeared in over 30 films including many landmarks of Asian cinema, among them Wong Kar-Wai’s Chungking Express in 1994. Of Chinese and Japanese descent, Takeshi’s filmography is not limited to Chinese language productions including House of Flying Daggers, Perhaps Love in 2006, The Warlords in 2007 and this year’s Red Cliff but also Japanese films including Returner in 2002.

Giorgio Armani said, “I am excited to collaborate with Takeshi on this new advertising campaign. He is a film and style icon in Asia where his fame transcends cultures both East and West. His sense of effortless style is very contemporary and sophisticated and together with his good look makes him the ideal testimonial for Emporio Armani.”

Emporio Armani is expanding towards east and takes over the European far east with a new stylish store in the heart of Russia. And, just in case you need some rest in your shopping spree, the store also has a very coquet restaurant where you can relax with a nice cup of coffee.

Regarding the city, Giorgion Armani said that Moscow is an energetic and beautiful city with its mixture of ‘East meets West’, ‘Tradition with Modernity’ and ‘Antiquity with Futurism’

“I have been waiting patiently to find an appropriate location for my first Emporio Armani store in Moscow. So I am excited that it is becoming a reality. This city is not only the capital, but one of the most important business, social and international hubs in Europe with a quickly rising reputation for being style conscious”

Many fashion designers started exploring their artistic capabilities in other area, such as designing helicopter interiors, buildings, restaurants or clubs.

Roberto Cavalli did something a little more unexpected and teamed up with the giant Coca-Cola to redesign the classic Diet Coke bottle. The new bottles will be distributed in a limited edition of 300000 units from September till December, but only in Italy.

I love the new designs. They look like they’re covered in leopard skin and I’d die to get myself one of those. It’s the typical Roberto Cavalli style, feminine and extravagant.

But I can’t help but wonder what do environmentalists have to say about it…?

The Versace fashion house has always been close to the arts community. Gianni himself was an avid collector of both classic and contemporary works from artists such as Alexander Calder and Andy Warhol.

Donatella follows his passion and now she announced that she will sponsor the Whitney Museum of American Art’s 2008 Gala on October 20.

The sponsorship will be consist of a substantial amount of money but she also collaborated with Marc Quinn, Julian Schnabel and Wangechi Mutu to create three new pieces of jewelry specifically for this event. Every penny earned from the auction will remain to the museum, which will in turn use it to aid young artists.

Donatela will personally host the auction. “I hope the three pieces will find good homes where they will bring pleasure and excitement,” she said.

In October, Versace will also launch its new collection of fine jewelry in collaboration with Vertime, a subsidiary of the Timex Group. Donatella is very optimistic about this experiment of collaborating with established artists in order to create something one of a kind.

We’ll see how that will work out.

Gucci Announced the names of the artists that will compete for this year’s Gucci award. The list is made of the actor Steve McQueen, American filmmaker Julian Schnabel, Beastie Boys founding member Adam Nathaniel Yauch and director Isaac Julien.

The Gucci Award is given each ear in at the Venice Film festival and the candidates are chosen from a list of internationally known artists that have made a contribution to the development of a movie in the last 18 months.

This year, the jury that will choose the winner is made of Marco Mueller, Vogue Italy chief editor Franca Sozzani and Stefano Pilati, the CEO of the international fashion house Yves Saint Laurent.

The Venice festival will run from August 27th to September 6^th , and the winner wil be announced on the first of September.

Regarding this year’s contestants, Marco Muller said: “We have chosen the most original international artists, who, through broad creative metamorphosis, continue to challenge our hearts and minds.”

Gucci’s CEO said that: “The Gucci Group recognizes that talent and creative vision expressed in one medium often lead to significant contributions in other artistic endeavors. This award crystallizes the groups’ long-term goal of fostering originality and inventiveness in the arts.”

Giorgio Armani announced that the new promoter for his line of jeans will be singer and songwriter Solange Knowles, who will launch her new album on August 26^th. She will tour Europe in the new outfit and her shows will take place, among others, in London and Cannes.

In regards with his choice, Armani says that “Armani Jeans expresses my vision of a young, independent, casual lifestyle with a strong and cool, fashion sensibility. Solange epitomizes this style perfectly and brings to it that swing so evident in her new single, ‘I Decided’.”

Roberto Cavalli has a youthful side. That, or he’s figured out another way to add more $$ to his consistent fortune.

The 68-year old designer of sexy-fashion will shake up the Dubai scene with the November opening of his Cavalli Club in the Fairmont Hotel on Sheikh Zaved Road. Two floors, its own private entrance and a surface of an estimated 25.000 square feet.

Roberto Cavalli chose the Pragma Group as his partner for this important undertaking. He says “Dubai is a city of the future and the Cavalli Club is a futuristic space created with the whole world in mind.”

There will be a room showcasing jewellery, watches and exclusive accessories from Cavalli Maison, the Italian and sushi restaurants are selected by Cavalli, as well as a Cavalli wine and Cavalli vodka. The Club offers to the public a complete Roberto Cavalli lifestyle experience and a new way of shopping at a non-conventional time of day.

The opening will be in November 2008, with an outstanding party that will shake the whole of Dubai.

The collection caters to both men and women and is targeted at the urbanites. The collection is blended in rich colours embraced by mother of pearls.

The men’s collection is inspired by futuristic design and technological themes. The watch designs are a blend of classic styling and a sporty, casual look. The watches have oversized stainless steel cases, coin-ridged bezel, embossed black leather straps resembling crocodile skin and black enamel top-ring with minute markers.

The collection also has rose coloured gold watch featuring the simple rose gold hour markers to create a strikingly rich and sophisticated contrast against a black dial. It is also available with silver dial, featuring two black chronograph counters and a red coloured seconds’ hand.

Entire men’s collection for watches is coated with black ion plating and is topped with a silver coloured world time zone bezel which is a representative of the world’s 24 different time zones.

The women’s collection explore the classical designs. The watch in the this collection has an elongated rectangular case made of yellow gold plated stainless steel on a three-link bracelet with a white mother-of-pearl dial, a sub-second counter and Roman numeral indexes.

The watches are made up of multiple chronograph counters, pearl coloured leather straps and removable crystal. The large stainless steel cases have four concentric rows of clear Swarovski crystals set against black rubber straps and embossed with the Emporio Armani logo.
Also available in this collection is the Meccanico range which is made up of detailed dials layered with black mother of pearls.

These watches are priced in a range beginning from Rs9495 to Rs35,495 and is available at select Lifestyle stores and premium watch retail stores.

Combining an innovative line with classic and modern styles, Fendi’s new shades recently hit Solaris stores across the UAE. The new collection blends classic and innovative designs with luxurious and ultra- stylish shapes.

Designed in vibrant colours varying from metallic beige, brick, gun-metal, anthracite, brown, carbon, horn and onyx, the Italian icon embodies sophistication and modernism in its new collection.

Colours provide harmony with shapes that range from rectangles to wraps. With the Fendi logo incorporated at the temples, the frames are extended to set off the face’s dimensions for a bold new look. Focusing on safety and comfort, the new eyewear provides exceptional comfort with 100 per cent UV protection.

‘Fendi is an icon in the world of fashion and it is known for delivering high quality sunglasses that are super-chic and beautiful. It’s a mix of class and exuberance. These shades are a must-have for this season,’ said Katia Andrejev, Brand Manager, Solaris Middle East.