Celebrity Life

Giorgio Armani proved the show must go on — in spectacular style — with a virtual Spring/Summer 2021 presentation that provided a fresh interpretation of the brand’s timelessly elegant aesthetic.

Whatever the circumstances, some things remain eternal – as Giorgio Armani’s Spring/Summer 2021 collection amply demonstrated. The collection, which was presented virtually under the title Timeless Thoughts, showcased the latest iteration of the storied Italian fashion house’s signature aesthetic. Featuring soft textures, fluid lines and a sophisticated colour palette combined with eye catching geometric patterns, it blended the traditional and structured with the unexpected and daring to head-turning effect.

The women’s collection presented a series of fluid silhouettes in soft fabrics, favouring the kind of neutral colours that are traditionally at the heart of the brand’s palette, such as grey, beige and black, but with regular pops of sea and baby blue and silver, as well as some heavier tones and regular use of abstract patterns. Pieces elegantly combined the simple with the sophisticated, including soft suits, patchwork jackets, silk trousers and loose dresses, alongside minimal accessories – mainly, a small number of sleek, svelte clutches.

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For men, the look was similarly approachable and comfortable but sophisticated and classic. The emphasis was on suits in soft materials, with the focus again on classic shades of grey and blue, often featuring intricate patterns expressed in subtle colour combinations. Several casual three piece suits come with a vest that served in lieu of a shirt, while accessories were typically in suede, including bags and tasseled loafers.

The presentation of the show took the form of a video, the second time Armani has presented a seasonal show virtually, after it became the first fashion house to take action as a result of the pandemic back in February, when it moved its Autumn/Winter 2020 show behind closed doors. The maison’s Spring/Summer 2021 show also marked a couple of firsts: It was broadcast on Italian national television during prime time, as well as being streamed online; and was preceded by a 20 minute documentary detailing the history of Armani, also called Timeless Thoughts.

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Narrated by much loved Italian actor Pierfrancesco Favino, the film detailed the evolution of the brand over the ages, highlighting in particular its consistency – a commitment to a certain interpretation of elegance, based around a perfect balance of innovation and restraint, and of the urban and the exotic, that again received a dazzling expression in its most recent men’s and women’s collections.

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The post Cutting-Edge Meets Classic Styles at Giorgio Armani Spring/Summer 2021 appeared first on Prestige Online - Hong Kong.

Dior swaddled its models in cocooning kaftans at Paris Fashion Week on Tuesday to protect them from an uncertain world, in the first big runway show staged in the virus-hit city in nearly seven months.

Three hundred masked movers and shakers braved the drizzle to worship at the "cathedral of Dior", as wags dubbed the pavilion with stained glass windows the mythic French brand built in the Tuileries Garden for the occasion.

If the first major live catwalk show in the world's style capital since the lockdown was meant to be a celebration of fashion, no one told the choir.

A dozen sopranos screeched out an ear-splitting mourning dirge as the models winced by. The mounting atonal music was strangely at odds with the looks, which were mostly comfort clothes to soothe nerves and souls addled by months of anxiety.

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[caption id="attachment_210833" align="alignnone" width="1024"] Many of the pieces in the Dior Spring/Summer 2021 collection at Paris Fashion Week carried a bohemian vibe. (Image: Lucas Barioulet/ AFP)[/caption]

Dior's Italian designer Maria Grazia Chiuri created a luxury wardrobe to huddle down at home and to reassure — clothes that almost cuddled the wearer. Many had a bohemian 1970s vibe, with floral hair bands worn with large golden earrings.

"We are living a different kind of life, much more private when it comes to our relationship with our clothes, much more personal and intimate," Chiuri told AFP. "People want to protect themselves"

Infinite layers of colour

Chiuri, the first woman ever to lead the label and an evangelist for feminism, said her ample coats, full-length dresses and loose trousers were about wrapping the wearer in "infinite layers of colour" as the novelist Virginia Woolf liked to do.

She also riffed heavily on the classic men's shirt and traditional Slavic smocks and tunics, after being sparked by a "simple white shirt" worn by the American feminist writer Susan Sontag.

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While much of the collection with its Far Eastern and Ottoman influences seemed very un-Dior, Chiuri said one of her starting points was a drawing she found by the brand's founder showing silhouettes he created for Japan in 1957.

So she took Christian Dior's classic bar jacket and give it an oriental twist, making it longer and wider and wrapping it with a tied belt at the waist. "The idea was to make a jacket that you feel at home in" and that would be beautiful with comforting colours like burnt ochre, light blue and heathered fabric.

She paired them with subdued dresses and long skirts with paisley and floral tapestry patterns. "We have made something to make you feel good, to give you positive energy in the morning," Chiuri insisted.

[caption id="attachment_210837" align="alignnone" width="1024"] The collection included subdued dresses and long skirts with paisley and floral tapestry patterns. (Image: Lucas Barioulet/ AFP)[/caption]

"The colours are varied but very nuanced," she added. "We worked on lot on soft and rustic fabrics like linens and knitted cloth," commissioning ikat prints from Indonesian women who specialise in the traditional technique.

The young French brand Coperni also staged an in-person catwalk show Tuesday on top of the Tour Montparnasse skyscraper. The design duo Arnaud Vaillant and Sebastien Meyer, who previously led Courreges, included stretchy jersey clothes with antibacterial properties as well as offering UV protection.

(All images: Lucas Barioulet/ AFP)

The post Dior Looks to Comfort and 1970s Bohemian Vibes at Paris Fashion Week appeared first on Prestige Online - Hong Kong.

Dior will be kicking off Paris Fashion Week with its Spring/Summer 2021 ready-to-wear show tomorrow.

The livestream takes place on September 29 at 8:30pm (HKT) or 2:30pm (Paris time).

Those on TikTok can also catch the digital presentation by Maria Grazia Chiuri live on the short-video platform for the first time. Get ready to be enthralled.

This story first appeared on Prestige Singapore

The post Livestream: Dior Spring/Summer 2021 Ready-To-Wear appeared first on Prestige Online - Hong Kong.

The house is presenting a collection inspired by its storied past and an uncertain, yet hopeful, future.

The post A look at Ermenegildo Zegna’s spring/summer 2021 collection appeared first on The Peak Magazine.

The house is presenting a collection inspired by its storied past and an uncertain, yet hopeful, future.

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