Italian Fashion Watch

Bottega Veneta opened its second store in Manila at the first level of Rustan’s department store in Makati.

The store — designed by creative director Tomas Maier — offers Bottega Veneta’s women’s accessories, handbags, luggage, shoes, eyewear and scent.

The 678 sq.ft. store is intimate and comfortable. Every element of the boutique’s interior, from the walnut tables and handcrafted vitrines to the door handles sheathed in leather, are custom-made. Among the notable design features mohair furniture upholstery, and custom-dyed, pure New Zealand wool carpets. A quiet palette of matte neutrals and earth tones further enhances the feeling of privacy and sophistication.

“We are proud to open our second store in the Philippines. It’s great to be a part of the Asia-Pacific regions’ growth and a pleasure to offer our clients in the Philippines another contemporary, timeless Bottega Veneta store,” said Mr. Maier.

The first Bottega Veneta store is located at Greenbelt 4. The brand is exclusively distributed by Stores Specialists, Inc.

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In a surprise shift of fashion gears, Roberto Cavalli, known for his racy styles, chooses sweet over sexy for next season.

His latest collection, shown Wednesday, was dotted with embroidered mini gowns, reminiscent of an imaginary “couture Barbie,” especially when shown off by the long-legged, demurely coifed models. There were also plenty of shimmery shorts and cropped jackets in the collection for Barbie to change into after the ball.

The outfits were accessorized by glittering gold and stone bracelets, in keeping with the current concentration on baubles and bangles, after several lean jewelry seasons on the Milan runway.

Summing up his show back stage, Cavalli warned against being fooled by appearances. “NaivetDe is not part of my vocabulary,” the designer quipped.

Naomi Campbell is reportedly in talks to become the new face of fashion house Dolce and Gabbana.

The supermodel has worn a number of custom-made dresses from the label at last week’s London Fashion Week and inside sources say this is a sign that the talks are going well.

One source told the Daily Mail: “It’s all part of welcoming her to the clan. She and Domenico Dolce and Stefano Gabbana have been in secret talks for a while about making her D&G’s next face.

“They have had a relationship that spans decades and now the plan is for Naomi to be their official muse and ambassador.

“Naomi will be guest of honour at the D&G fashion show in Milan this week and will star in their worldwide advertising campaigns. An absolutely huge deal is on the table.”

Picking up on the easygoing elegance offered by Italian designers this round, Moschino, known for its fashion sense of humour, served up an over-the-top collection for next summer.

With its typically ironic fashion wand, Moschino turns roses into skirts and cropped jackets, uses ruffles on a trench coat, and decorates classic stoles with super sweet bows.

Just when you get the joke, Moschino gets serious, offering a series of perfectly styled couture outfits highlighted by giant bags. Straying from the current use of classic prints and muted earth shades, Moschino paints its collection in bright pink and purple.

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.”