Celebrity Life

A reminder, and some hope for what it's like outside.

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The big four fashion weeks are now broadcast instantaneously through Instagram, on websites such as nowfashion.com, or through live streaming, all of them irreversibly changing how fashion is seen. Runways in Paris, Milan, London and New York are starting to lose their exclusive mystique since the democratisation of access in the digital era.

But the fantasy lives on with brands that host runways at the world’s most elusive and exotic locations, in a bid to outplay each other. We look back at the last two decades of truly spectacular runway locations, from a Marrakech palace to the Great Wall of China. Here, in no particular order, are seven of the most exciting.

Chanel's Havana Extravaganza

[caption id="attachment_203062" align="alignnone" width="1280"] Chanel's 2016 show in Havana[/caption]

Chanel’s resort show in Cuba in 2016 was the first such event of its kind since the communist revolution on the island state. The French fashion brand turned the old Havana boulevard Paseo del Prado into a runway, with floodlights to the centre as models sashayed down the closed-off thoroughfare. Among the VIP audience of more than 500 were members of the Castro family, supermodel Gisele Bündchen, and Hollywood A-listers Tilda Swinton and Vin Diesel. Tickets were hard to come by, but lucky local residents could view the spectacle from their balconies along the boulevard.
Tropical vibes came with Panama hats and berets – would Che Guevara have been at least titillated? A model sauntered, Cuban cigar in hand, as others donned pinstriped summer suiting, white crocheted-lace dresses, light organza and joyful sequined pastel cocktail outfits. Cuban music played, and for the event Chanel rented more 100 multicoloured old cars to escort guests. Karl Lagerfeld and dancing finale models closed the show – the whole event perhaps a joyous celebration that Cuba, its sorbet-hued architecture and ancient cars included, might be reconnecting with the global style set.

Fendi's Show on the Great Wall of China

[dual-images right-image-url="https://www.prestigeonline.com/hk/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/Fendi-Finale.jpg" left-image-url="https://www.prestigeonline.com/hk/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/Fendi-Finale-3.jpg" right-caption="Fendi used the Great Wall of China as its catwalk in 2007" left-caption="The near-legendary Fendi show on the Great Wall of China"]

Against a stunning sunset, models filed out of an ancient guard tower onto the illuminated catwalk, strutting down the Great Wall while clad in Lagerfeld’s latest Fendi womenswear range. This collection was all about structured, chic gowns and outfits in black, white and bright red – the latter Chinese culture’s most auspicious colour. Thirteen years ago, this fashion show at China’s most famous historical site was a pioneering event in fashion and an early ode to the country’s luxury- obsessed economy.
Reports that the whole affair cost about US$10 million to produce would make it one of the most expensive, opulent shows ever staged. The extravaganza was not only a massive feat of technical precision, but also required lengthy negotiations with the government for permission to turn the ancient defensive wall into a runway for the day. Zhang Ziyi, Thandie Newton and Kate Bosworth were among the famous names who made it to the 500-guest event. Lagerfeld was ahead of his time and the show one of the most impressive of the last 20 years.

Dior Cruise Show in a Marrakech Palace

[caption id="attachment_203066" align="alignnone" width="1280"] Dior's 2020 Resort Collection in Marrakech[/caption]

A jaw-dropping show for Christian Dior fans was held last year in Marrakech’s 16th-century El Badi palace, helmed by the brand’s creative director, Maria Grazia Chiuri. Under the blanket of night, models walked around the huge palace pools, which were decorated with floating burning lights. The Resort 2020 show featured classic Dior silhouettes, gorgeously refined dresses, lace, and tapestry- and carpet-inspired outfits in a gentle earthy palette of khakis, whites, black, sand, as well as intricate black-and-white prints.
Within the palace’s terracotta walls, Dior paid homage to the African continent through craft, fabrics and form, with the French luxury label commissioning and collaborating with a handful of artist and fabric- makers from the region for the show. The starlit evening was one to remember and culminated in a performance by singer Diana Ross.

Pierre Cardin's Dunhuang Desert Show

[caption id="attachment_203073" align="alignnone" width="1024"] Pierre Cardin Haute Couture Creation
Fashion show in the Gobi Desert[/caption]

French designer, Pierre Cardin, was inspired by the West-to-East journeys of Marco Polo when he took it upon himself to host a fashion show in China’s Dunhuang, an in important oasis city along the Silk Road in Gansu province. For his spring/summer 2008 collection, Cardin sent out an eye-watering 200 looks, ending with a model in a wedding gown riding down the desert “runway” on camelback.
The exotic locale inspired a collection that was characterised by three chapters: Venice, the Silk Road and Xanadu, the former capital of Kublai Khan. Cardin, who was already 85 years old at the time, wanted to envision the blend of Eastern and Western cultures and the dia- logue it created hundreds of years ago during Polo’s time.

Stefano Ricci Presentation at La Reggia di Caserta

[gallery ids="203068,203067"]

Held in the summer of 2019 at one of Europe’s largest royal residences, the spring/summer 2020 presentation was a coup for the Florentine men’s luxury and fashion label. In terms of audience size versus the sheer scale of the venue, this has to beat them all. I was there in May 2019 as part of an intimate group of just 40 journalists, VIPs and opinion leaders gathered for the colourful presentation, which was followed by opulent cocktails and dinner in front of the Fountain of Diana and Acteon, its sensual statues lit up for the evening as backdrop. Founder Stefano Ricci and his sons Niccolo and Filippo again showed their passion for their native Italy.
The sprawling royal palace of the Reggia di Caserta is enormous – the largest palace on Earth in terms of volume, it’s designed in a spectacular multi-directional plan; now a Unesco World Heritage Site, it was a royal residence during the Kingdom of Two Sicilies. Models were waiting at the top of the Grand Staircase of Honour as guests made their way up; the latter were then escorted by horse-drawn carriages to cocktails on the park lawns. Sumptuous tailoring, an ocean of shades of blue with several bolts of bright summer hues – the line celebrated Stefano Ricci’s unapologetic masculinity.

Dolce & Gabbana Alta Moda at the Valley of the Temples

[caption id="attachment_203069" align="alignnone" width="1280"] Dolce & Gabbana's Grecian-themed show at Sicily's Valley of the Temples[/caption]

It’s hard to outdo Dolce & Gabbana when it comes to super shows. The controversial Italian duo had made spectacular locations their thing since launching the Alta Moda couture line in 2012 in Taormina, Sicily in front of Naomi Campbell, Scarlett Johansson, Stephanie Seymour and Italian cinema stars Monica Bellucci and Isabella Rossellini.
The island of Capri, a Venetian palazzo, a Sicilian villa, the Teatro della Scala in Milan and the designers’ private Portofino cliffside villas have all been Alta Moda show sites. Last summer, millionaire and billionaire clients and press from around the world took in a show, Grecian in theme, staged at Sicily’s Valley of the Temples near the town of Agrigento. The Doric-style temples are spectacular monuments of Greek art and architecture. This couture was fantastical, as always – sensual draping in whites, sands and golds made for goddess outfits befitting a venue that was built thousands of years ago.

Louis Vuitton Cruise at the Bob Hope Mansion in Palm Springs

[caption id="attachment_203070" align="alignnone" width="1280"] Louis Vuitton held its 2016 cruise show at the futuristic Bob Hope House in Palm Springs, California[/caption]

The French luxury giant, Louis Vuitton, has the heft and budget to dominate the super-show game. Its wondrous 2016 Cruise show at the Bob Hope Mansion in sleepy Palm Springs wasn’t so much a feat of geographical ingenuity as the showcase of a wonderfully fluid collection by Nicolas Ghesquière within sweeping space-age architecture. Designed by John Lautner, famed for his mid-20th-century futuristic houses, the building was on the market last summer for US$25 million.
The likes of Miranda Kerr, Selena Gomez, Kanye West, Catherine Deneuve, Charlotte Gainsbourg, Michelle Williams and Alicia Vikander, sat on plexiglass stools as models floated past during a spectacular sunset. Long dresses with crisscross waist bindings, holster belts and cut outs came in chain print and crêpe de chine, while duster coats, palm prints and Puritan-inspired dresses nodded to nostalgic American style.

The post 7 Exotic Locales That Became Temples of High Style appeared first on Prestige Online - Hong Kong.

While tie-dyeing conjures images of garishly dressed Europeans galavanting across Southeast Asia and Thai-dyeing the beaches of Phuket and Bali, Japanese shibori - an indigo dyeing technique - is a refined art form with a provenant history which flourished during the Edo period (1603-1867). And again now for spring- summer 2020, where you’ll find the technique suffusing Louis Vuitton’s Escale collection in stores.
Shibori is a colourful pre-take on the democratisation of fashion. Ordinary folk in Japan couldn’t wear luxury fabrics such as silks, so new ways of ‘upscaling’ cheaper fabrics like linen and hemp were created; the real dexterity lay in the elaborate knotting and twisting of the cloth before it was coloured. As a result, the intricacy and beauty of the dyed shibori patterns allowed kimonos made from simpler textiles to exude the opulent chic of ‘forbidden’ aristocratic silks. Edo high-low, pre-Tokyo, a newly floating world of fashionable play and entertainment.

[caption id="attachment_203077" align="alignnone" width="2953"] A Louis Vuitton campaign shot showing the LV Escale Keepall Bandouliere bag[/caption]

Such tie-dye makes the perfect accompaniment for a laid-back summer’s day, from dusk until dawn. Three colour harmonies compose the spectrum: a gradation of deep blue - reminiscent of indigo, the traditional colour of shibori - adorns pieces along with a pastel, tie-dye palette, adding its sky blue and fine-sand shades. Lastly, a warmer pink and red variation is inspired by beetroot or madder root, traditionally used for dyeing.
The vibrant colours embellish ready-to-wear pieces, such as Monogram bomber jackets or graphic one- pieceswimsuits, to summer’s must-have footwear – flat mules and sandals tied around the ankle, and watches. Hats and large scarves provide perfect coverage from the breeze.

[dual-images right-image-url="https://www.prestigeonline.com/hk/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/LV-esecale-sneakers.jpg" left-image-url="https://www.prestigeonline.com/hk/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/LV-escale-sunglasses.jpg" right-caption="The LV Escale Time Out Sneaker" left-caption="LV Escale Grease Sunglasses in Blue White"]
Have bag, will Vuitton. Fine leather goods – including the Neverfull tote, Keepall, Speedy and Néo Noé – take pride of place. The gradient motif adorns the bags and clutches, as waves caress sand. The must-have Onthego tote is exclusively embroidered with a holiday destination: Mykonos, Capri, Forte dei Marmi, Okinawa, Rio de Janeiro, Hawaii, Maui or Phuket, to name just a few. A total 25 global cities appear on the bag, allowing one to parade one’s favourite bag all summer long.

The post Louis Vuitton’s Escale Collection Combines Surf and Shubori appeared first on Prestige Online - Hong Kong.

Louis Vuitton’s Stunning Store Front by UNStudio ⇒ The Dutch architecture firm UNStudio recreated a typical Dutch townhouse’s brick facade for Louis Vuitton‘s Amsterdam store in the town’s shopping spot PC Hoofstraat.

⇒ A Look at the Prada Fall 2020 Menswear Collection⇐

Titled “The Brick Pixelation”, this project is directly next door to another of this firm’s work, “The Looking Glass”, and close to MVRDV’s “Crystal House”.

Continue reading Louis Vuitton’s Stunning Store Front by UNStudio at Luxxu Blog.

The coronavirus outbreak has been a great plague of our times but throughout history, Place Vendome, home of the great jewellers have endured wars, pestilence and recessions

The post Place Vendome: the one Place the Great Jewellery Houses Boucheron, Cartier, Chaumet have called home appeared first on LUXUO.

When it comes to luxury, you can rest assured that Prestige has it covered. But with the sheer multitude, let alone variety, released regularly on the landscape, it can become rather difficult to figure out the best from the rest or to even pick up the newest and most exciting. As luck would have it, our editors are forever on the look out: discovering on-the-rise labels, picking up new products from cult brands and the finding the most desirable items there are. So for those that are curious what that might be, keep scrolling to discover what made the cut in our weekly Most Coveted list.

The post Most Coveted: Cartier, Chloé, Nanushka and More appeared first on Prestige Online - Hong Kong.

During this temporary quarantine due to Covid-19, indulge yourself in luxurious games housed in leather, shagreen or lambskin. These lifelong game sets that will look just as good as living-room decor as they do while playing them. Whether you’re a backgammon master, chess aficionado or love the simpler games, like a Jenga-inspired set, look no... View Article

The post The Best Luxury Games for Your Home appeared first on Elite Traveler.

Explore the season's latest trends with Pantone 19-4052 as a backdrop.

The post Fashion spread: How to wear Pantone’s Colour of The Year, classic blue appeared first on The Peak Magazine.

Explore the season's latest trends with Pantone 19-4052 as a backdrop.

For more stories like this, visit www.thepeakmagazine.com.sg.

When it comes to luxury, you can rest assured that Prestige has it covered. But with the sheer multitude, let alone variety, released regularly on the landscape, it can become rather difficult to figure out the best from the rest or to even pick up the newest and most exciting. As luck would have it, our editors are forever on the look out: discovering on-the-rise labels, picking up new products from cult brands and the finding the most desirable items there are. So for those that are curious what that might be, keep scrolling to discover what made the cut in our weekly Most Coveted list.

The post Most Coveted: Celine, Balenciaga, Louis Vuitton and More appeared first on Prestige Online - Hong Kong.

The 1,758-carat gem might help the fashion heavyweight carve its niche in high jewellery.

The post Louis Vuitton has bought the world’s second-largest diamond appeared first on The Peak Magazine.

The 1,758-carat gem might help the fashion heavyweight carve its niche in high jewellery.

For more stories like this, visit www.thepeakmagazine.com.sg.