Celebrity Life

At the unveiling of Stefano Ricci autumn/winter 2022 collection, we explore the artistry at the heart of the Italian luxury lifestyle brand.

And we talk to CEO Niccolò Ricci and creative director Filippo Ricci about the multiple global expansions planned at the family HQ.

Stefano Ricci Autumn/Winter 2022: Niccolò and Filippo Ricci on Artistry & Global Expansion

Those who know the Ricci family have become accustomed to wonderful surprises when it comes to their fashion presentations.

A small group of journalists and VIPs from around the world gather each season, either in their hometown of Florence or another divine Italian location gaining private access to historical locations, artistic gems or cultural relics.

It always feels like a journey of discovery as well as the unveiling of the latest sartorial line-up, as these presentations and campaigns come as love letters to their native Italy. As creative director Filippo Ricci explains, “It’s about celebrating not only the most famous cities and locations in our country but also some locations that are real hidden jewels of Italy.”

This season didn’t disappoint. The UNESCO World Heritage site of Mantua city provided the setting for the unveiling of the Stefano Ricci autumn/winter 2022 collection, as well as some key business announcements. Next year will be the 50th anniversary of the label, which was founded by Filippo and CEO Niccolò Ricci’s father, Stefano, a man whose global vision also led him to open his first boutique in China almost 29 years ago.

Today, Niccolò reports that in spite of the pandemic, growth last year was “strong in stores in United States, Southeast Asia, China, Russia and the former-Russian Republics. They’re all out-performing,” he says.

Stefano Ricci occupies a rather special niche in the world of high style and luxury menswear. Unbeholden to shareholders, mass-market movements or even the luxury mainstream, the family company has continued to flourish, creating traditional alpha-style apparel for wealthy males and emerging from difficult Covid times more than healthy.

“We’re going to be openings a few new stores in 2022,” reveals Niccolò. “The main one will be in New York on 57th Street, a new milestone for our company.” Also in the pipeline are stores in Kuala Lumpur and Bangkok.

But today we’re firmly in Italy — in Mantua, the small but once-powerful seat of Renaissance military power and artistic splendour. At the outskirts of the mysterious “sleeping-beauty city” is the Palazzo Te, built by the architect, painter and artistic director Giulio Romano (a favourite pupil of Raphael’s) for Federico II Gonzaga, Marquess of Mantua and his lover Isabella Boschetto. It now stands as a stunning museum housing breathtaking painted frescos and sculptures, and rooms that seem to get increasingly elaborate with ceilings bordering on the transcendental.

It’s fitting that Filippo and his team engineered a collection that evokes much magic, mystery, and wonder through the enchanting use of beautiful raw materials, luxurious and textured to the touch. It includes masculine-cut suits and outerwear, made with characterful artisanal handiwork and careful construction that pays special attention to wearable comfort.

Stefano Ricci is hitting a few key points with its core demographic of ultra-high-net-worth males adapting to a new post-pandemic lifestyle. Suiting becomes more occasional rather than necessarily everyday, with smart casual and leisurewear becoming wardrobe mainstays. Hence the luxurious sneakers in suede and deerskin, as well as nubuck crocodile, a must today for certain men.

There’s an affinity to leisure and exploration of the great outdoors with sumptuous knit jogging suits, padded down jackets and gilets that come with easily wearable zippers, complemented by a sartorial field jacket or a luxurious hooded jacket with fox fur trim. As Filippo explains, “It’s the details that make the difference … and this applies also to Mantua, a small town that makes a big impact, home to some of the most beautiful theatres, as well as all these incredible rooms inside the Palazzo Te.”

This season shows off a variety of textures in effortless styles, from crewneck and rollneck knit jumpers, cashmere and cashmere-silk blends, soft suede blousons and jackets, and luscious Vicuna, which emerges a protagonist this winter. Jackets with mandarin collars offer an easier, softer take on the suit jacket. And we’re coveting those double-breasted deconstructed coats in wool, that come in rich hues ranging from burgundy to Ricci blue and earthy, neutral shades evoking the countryside.

With a large and well-rounded casual offering, it’s the soft Angora cashmere, knit jackets and Napa leather details that bring a fashionable indulgence to a sense of comfort and ease — these are outfits you’d imagine wearing while lounging by a fireside drinking rare Scotch from crystal tumblers.

A precise earthy, masculine palette reflects the rich tones of the Palazzo Te’s interiors, where some of the campaign is staged. The stories that unfold follow epic journeys into the Underworld, as told by Dante and Virgil.

The most impressive room is perhaps the Sala dei Giganti (the room of the Giants), where an uninterrupted fresco covers the entire interior walls and roof — a mesmerising depiction of Titans’ bodies twisting under collapsing structures, dominated the figure of an angry Zeus. Well, it wouldn’t be a Stephano Ricci collection without some classic alpha-male virility.

Enter the sophisticated suiting with formal checks — perhaps a nod to landed gentry and countryside living — where knit blousons and cashmere and silk blends show off the value of formidable fabrication, the bold Octagonal SR logo and all that nubuck croc offers a dash of ostentation.

This is also the season when the brand truly embraces logomania, a nod to wealthy millennial and Gen Z customers. There’s a more formal chapter of the collection, shot for the campaign inside the stunning confines of Teatro Bibiena in Mantua, famed for hosting concerts by Vivaldi, Verdi and, in 1770, a 13-year-old Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. We few privileged guests of the Riccis have lunch served onstage that day.

This is a setting in which the slick Stefano Ricci tuxedos shine and provide a perfect silhouette. And elegantly ornate tuxedo options in silk and wool are offered with “mini-me” father-and-son styles — all in exquisite, truly rarefied patterned fabrics spun from the ancient silk looms at the Antico Setificio Fiorentino, owned by the Riccis themselves.

A hero coat with mink lapels dials up the luxe factor to make an entrance at grand balls, galas and concerts operas in a theatre such as the Bibiena, considered by Mozart’s father to be the most beautiful auditorium he’d ever seen.

Some of the collection’s formal- and eveningwear has taken a rather elaborate turn, as the whole world appreciates the significance of being able to don such clothing. The allegiance with music has been a long one, explains Filippo, and this location is just another celebration of the artistry that lies at the core of the Stefano Ricci brand.

The post Stefano Ricci Autumn/Winter 2022: Niccolò and Filippo Ricci on the Family Brand’s Artistry and Global Expansion appeared first on Prestige Online - Hong Kong.

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.

Florence, the capital of the Tuscany region, embodies the spirit of ancient Italy in the richness of art, culture and years of celebrating and creating beauty. The Uffizi Gallery, the world’s best collection of Italian Renaissance art, and the Galleria dell ‘Accademia, home to the statue of David, are in the same heavily concentrated area […]

The post Fashion and Italian legacy, Stefano Ricci appeared first on Upscale Living Magazine.

Looking inside the Italian brand built on dressing titans of business, politics and entertainment. 

The post Power Player: Stefano Ricci’s Empire appeared first on Prestige Online - Hong Kong.

The three-piece suit is far greater than the sum of its parts.

The post Put A Twist To Three-Piece Suits appeared first on The Peak Magazine.

The three-piece suit is far greater than the sum of its parts.

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

The three-piece suit is far greater than the sum of its parts.

The post Put A Twist To Three-Piece Suits appeared first on The Peak Magazine.

The three-piece suit is far greater than the sum of its parts.

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