Celebrity Life

There’s no doubt Alex Lam inherited his musical talent from his parents, his father being Cantopop legend George Lam Chi-Cheung, and his mother, Sally Yeh. Still, the singer-songwriter and actor hasn’t let privilege get to his head — he’s not afraid to explore other paths, from a stint in Los Angeles to discover yoga and becoming a yoga teacher, to dipping his toes in fashion.

Lam met Hiro Yoshikawa, founder and designer of Washi Jeans, a Japanese denim brand, a couple years back and was intrigued by the designer’s backstory. Now based in Hong Kong, Yoshikawa is the 18^th generation of a revered sake maker in Okayama, Japan, and the first to leave the family business to pursue his own passion in denim-making. By chance, Yoshikawa had found an old document that charted out his family’s history, written on washi paper. Inspired by this, he developed and patented the Washi No. 6 paper yarn, which he utilizes in his first solo collection launching this month.

Lam, who has always had an eye for detail, quickly became an ambassador and muse for Yoshikawa, and took it upon himself to bring the recognition Yoshikawa deserves by helping him stage his upcoming solo debut.

We sit down with Alex Lam and Hiro Yoshikawa at Washi Jean's studio to talk about style and the upcoming debut of Yoshikawa's solo collection Life on Earth.

Can you describe your style? What are your wardrobe essentials?

AL: My style has always been inspired by musicians. I grew up watching some of my favourite bands like The Rolling Stones, The Beatles, and today, I'm inspired by singers like Drake. For me, my summer essentials include a sleeveless vest, a good multi-functional blazer and a pair of high-quality designer jeans.

Have you always been passionate about fashion and did you want to work in fashion?

AL: I have always cared about how I look and my outfits since I was a kid. I remember there was one time when the collar of my t-shirt wasn't right and I wouldn’t wear it out until my parents fixed it for me. Having friends who are in the fashion industry allows me to execute and experiment my ideas during workshops, like the ‘marshmallow’ colourway of the t-shirt I’m wearing right now. 

How did the both of you meet?

AL: I met Hiro-san thought some of our mutual friends.

HY: have been making jeans for other brands for the past 30 years and it has always been my dream to have my own denim brand. I have always hung out with people from the fashion industry, and meeting Alex from the music and acting world has made my life more fun and exciting.

Can you tell us a bit about your project with Hiro-san?

AL: I was hanging out with a group of producers and we often talk about fashion shows, designer brands’ videos, installation art and music. Once we found out Hiro-san wanted to launch his own denim brand this year, we decided to catch this opportunity and put our ideas together. We are organising a VIP launch event with a fashion show on June 11, 2021.

What was the biggest challenge you had to overcome with this project?

AL: I think the rules of the game changed after Covid started last year. We looked at online fashion shows last year, without the tradition styles, and we knew our team needed to do it in a cleverer way. The restriction for event gathering is 30 persons at the moment, so we were not able to invite too many friends and make the event as big as before. Plus the campaign and fashion show video shoot all in one day, that’s the biggest challenge in this project.

HY:  We have been staying in our studio almost every day is the past few months, meeting different parties like our PR team, models, videographers and producers.

What else are you up to this year that you can share with us?

AL: I have released a new song and I just finished a music video for another song. I have also been working on my YouTube channel and created a few series, but it’s been slightly slowed down because I was focusing in this project.

Has the pandemic affected the way you work or changed your priorities?

AL: Before Covid, I was busy working with clients, who often prepared everything. With changes and restrictions during this period, I am able to organise and create more content by myself.

What are you currently inspired by?

AL: There are many indie musicians and young kids out there who are doing their music in their unique styles. I admire them a lot as they can release songs as long as they think it sounds good. I used think good music requires the best studio and recording equipment, but turned out a lot of indie musicians are producing high quality songs just by working at home.

You have a YouTube channel, you're into fashion, music as well as classic cars. How did you get into each of those passions and how do you balance it all?

AL: Project by project. I’m now focusing more on quantity over quality and I'll keep learning from the progress and mistakes.

Do you have a motto you live by?

Stay healthy. As I was a yoga teacher, I still practice yoga for two to three hours each day. It’s a good way to reflect on myself and find peace.

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For Autumn/Winter 2020, Giorgio Armani dialled up the glamour with a showcase of ultra-sophisticated apparel and a snazzy update of its iconic La Prima bag.

Here are 3 key highlights that left lasting impressions.

Drama Queen

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As work from home takes hold more around the world, the casualisation of clothing has come to create a huge impact in fashion. However, we’d argue that outside of comfort clothes we still like to dream — we still want a touch of fantasy and still need the glamour and maximalism that’s made characters like Killing Eve’s Villanelle or Emily from Emily in Paris such a sartorial delight to watch on TV. We’re talking drama and glamour and irreverence — which fashion will always need.

This season, we look towards the delicate glimmering beaded fringes capping the shoulders at Giorgio Armani‘s winter collection. Movement, shimmer and Great Gatsby glitz is a welcome reprieve from sweat pants at home. The collection also features dramatic flourishes, such as long delicate feathers along the collar of a black velvet top, or bold graphic pink or blue prints that made it on to ready-to-wear as well as accessories and jewellery. Pass the champagne please.

Distinguished in Grey

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Grey is a Giorgio Armani classic hue — indeed, over the past 45 years, perhaps no other designer has made such use of it. The range of shades — from dark charcoal to concrete to light dove — has been expressed in fabric not only for mens- and womenswear, but also in Armani homeware, hotels and even architecture.

This autumn/winter 2020, the main Giorgio Armani men’s range devotes a big chapter to the hue, but we see novel blocks, stripes, pinstripes, checks, plaids, zig zag and other geometric motifs, as well as rich textures. Big double-breasted coats and jackets, and three-piece suits — the look is ultra-layered with forms that break up the palette and some really interesting Asian-inspired shapes and heritage fabrics on jackets. The message isn’t just to wrap up in this steely, masculine colour, but do it with attitude and irreverence.

La Prima Donna

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Carried by celebrities and fashionistas alike, the La Prima range of handbags from Giorgio Armani is sleek with simplified lines and the perfectly versatile number for autumn/winter — Hong Kong celebrity Fala Chen certainly looks like she’s a fan here.

The original La Prima was designed in 1990, but these new models incorporate items such as the contemporary mini-bags, fun charms and iPhone cases, as well as new shapes and handles for all occasions. These beautiful leather bags don’t look out of place at the office or when you’re out at night for cocktails and, best of all, some of these fresh hues are extremely covetable. Black or navy might be a safe muted tone to go with, but the range of metallics is a lovely precursor to the festive season next month. These shiny sweet-wrapper leather colours are fun, fabulous and a great way to introduce a punchy statement to your outfit, without going out there too far.

The post Key Highlights From Giorgio Armani’s Autumn/Winter 2020 Collections appeared first on Prestige Online - Hong Kong.

Half a century, by any measure, is a milestone that warrants reflection.

The British designer Sir Paul Smith is doing just that in his Covent Garden office, a place instantly recognisable from the piles of books, walls covered with artwork and a vast collection of curios from around the world.

“After 50 years, one of the most joyful things [of the business] is being an independent company,” he says. “But equally that’s also the biggest burden right now, as there isn’t the support system of a big group ... But we’ve been good, and the great joy of independence is spontaneity.”

This uneasy year for fashion, for Smith like others, has signalled a recalibration of a well-worn system. There’ve been the obvious stressors – but even with a cancelled show and international book tour, Smith
hasn’t become too emotional over the recent state of affairs, as he’s “been too busy with everything else”.
“I honestly think that, out of this year, the affection for a brand that’s so down to earth and real will
hopefully shine through in a greedy corporate world,” he says. “Younger people, who are more socially and environmentally conscious, will hopefully take note.”

[caption id="attachment_211164" align="aligncenter" width="675"] Paul Smith with one of his customised Merican bicycles.[/caption]

With the business at 50, and Smith himself an energetic 74, the designer admits that it’s been a long, exhilarating but rather organic journey to the top. A young cyclist who aspired to become a professional rider, Smith’s dreams were dashed by a severe accident on his bike at 17, which rendered him bed-bound in hospital for months. After that, he found himself drawn to design and fashion while hanging out with an art-school crowd and meeting his future wife Pauline at 21.

“‘Art-school culture’, those words you used – it’s fantastic, it’s really true, that’s exactly what Paul Smith is, even today,” he says, adjusting his famous specs. The work from those schools is “always a bit wacky, radical and experimental ... You have to be brave enough to try new things ... and be ridiculous.”

Smith’s first store was a tiny, single 3-metre-by-3- metre box room “down a funny old corridor with no windows” at 6 Byard Lane in the provincial English city of Nottingham. When Paul Smith Vetements Pour l’Homme opened in 1970, he was just 24 years old. Soon his popularity grew, fuelled by his positive personality, and footholds into Europe were made with a show debut at Paris Fashion Week in 1976, held at a friend’s flat on Boulevard de Vaugirard. After starting with one men’s collection, his business now encompasses fashion for men, women and children, shoes, accessories, fragrance and home furnishings.

That art-school culture core “is very British in a way”, Smith says, and certainly the beginnings of the label were very British. There were no technical fabrics at the time – only local tweed, corduroy, wools and shirting were available to the young designer. “But my skill was persuading a mill to make me these fabrics in very unusual colours: pink, lilac, lemon or blues, instead of the usual schoolboy palette of burgundy,
black grey or country colours. It was quite revolutionary at the time.”

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Between the beautiful tailoring and fabrics, Smith pioneered a more playful, less formal approach to menswear in the ’80s, capturing the more relaxed sentiment of the fashion zeitgeist. The introduction of womenswear came in 1993, with the same approach to tailoring. While unisex-style dressing has become fashionable again in these past few seasons, Smith championed mixing men’s and women’s styles decades ago.

“I’ve always loved that boyish look,” the designer explains. “Pauline has a very slim figure and she’s
always enjoyed wearing a men’s-style shirt or a classic suit. I also enjoy how old film stars like Katherine Hepburn or Audrey Hepburn dressed, and a bit later on the Kennedys and American socialites, who often wore a shirt and capri pants with a little loafer.”

In the ’80s, Grace Coddington of US Vogue was soon putting Smith’s oversized shirts, raincoats, knits and blazers on the magazine’s pages, worn by superstar models such as Linda Evangelista and captured by the likes of Patrick Demarchelier and Bruce Weber. “It was a real breakthrough for me,” Smith recalls.

After Smith’s Fashion Week debut, his quirky, wearable eccentricism quickly found fans in France, then Italy. Soon it was Japan, where there’s still a cultish Paul Smith fandom. In Hong Kong, with its British colonial ties, the label immediately secured a strong and steady foothold in the market. That soon spread to Singapore, South Korea, Taiwan and mainland China. Going global made Smith one of British fashion’s most recognisable names.

[caption id="attachment_211172" align="aligncenter" width="1024"] The Paul Smith store on Melrose Avenue is one of the most Instagrammed buildings in Los Angeles.[/caption]

Today, his bright-pink modernist store on Melrose Avenue has become one of the most Instagrammed buildings in Los Angeles. But Smith opened his first American store 40 years ago in New York on 16th Street and 5th Avenue. Now with Paul Smith in 17 countries across five continents and more than 17,000 points of sale globally, the designer says that his Brit-born brand “is obviously very international now”.

“I’d get bored if all I did was fashion,” he says, glancing at the all the design objects and mementos scattered around him in the office. “Working on all these collaboration items, it’s a whole different mindset. The process of designing a light or a watch or some spectacles, they’re all contributing back to the world of a designer.”

Such range speaks of Smith’s approach to style as a part of creative culture at large. Each of his stores is different from the others – there’s no template, but a preference for architectural and interior individuality that’s dependent on locations. He’s worked on collaborations with the likes of Land Rover, Rapha, New Balance, Penguin Classics, John Lobb, Caran d’Ache and the Manchester United football team. Then there are the Mercian bicycles, the Giro d’Italia race and Leica camera collaborations, which touch on his original passion for cycling and his “other” main skill, photography.

“As a cyclist, designing the famous pink jersey for the Giro d’Italia race was just great, and it was blessed by the Pope – that was amazing,” says Smith with a smile. “And if I hadn’t become designer, I probably would have ended up as a photographer. My dad was an amateur photographer and I started taking photographs when I was 11. And when I was doing other jobs for money while running my first store, I was a freelance photographer for great magazines like Architectural Digest and Casa Vogue ... So obviously, the Leica collaboration was a favourite – it was my dad’s dream to own one and he never got to.”

[caption id="attachment_211173" align="alignnone" width="1024"] An outfit featuring the famous Spaghetti print from Paul Smith's 50 anniversary capsule.[/caption]

Smith was, in fact, one of the first fashion designers seriously to employ photographic print on fabric in the ’80s, using his own captures. And to celebrate his brand’s 50th anniversary, on September 30, he launched a special capsule of reimagined archive prints (including his famous Spaghetti print) on men’s and women’s sporty- street styles. Bold, contemporary, graphic prints appear on track tops, hoodies and a range of accessories.

There’s also the October launch of a book by Phaidon that celebrates his half-century – but instead of a typical fashion retrospective, based largely on runway archives, it features 50 curated items of special meaning to Smith and the brand, each signifying a year of business.

The freethinking art-school culture of the label still informs his attitude now, Smith says. He runs his meetings with a high sense of openness and experimentation.Throw in Smith’s own insatiable curiosity and a magpie- like proclivity for collecting, and the result is a unique ability to keep doing the unexpected.
“What’s exciting and humbling to me is that we’ve always had a relevance within the industry, and a lot of our clients have enjoyed my work for a long time. What’s really brilliant is that we have lots of younger customers too,” he explains. “Plus, we’ve got good manners, we’re nice people and we behave properly.”

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Bearing in mind the scale, scope and longevity of the label, there’s nothing more charming than a boss who, 50 years on, still works the shop floor on Saturdays, as Smith does at his Mayfair store. In the often-vicious world of high fashion, how strangely refreshing is it to encounter a designer renowned for niceness, rather than melodrama. Surely that’s partly been a key to the label’s longevity over the past five decades.
Fashion the Paul Smith way remains thought-provoking, even 50 years on, with a classic-with-a-twist aesthetic that’s inclusive rather than elitist.

There’s also that compelling message of hope, done with a cheeky British wink. You can see it in the collections, the vibrancy of autumn/winter 2020 – bolts of graphic contrasting colours, fluid tailoring and the juxtapositions of ideas.

“Irreverence and contradictions have become so important in a world that’s become so clichéd in some ways,” Smith explains when asked how he manages to keep things so fresh over so many years. “So much of it is so formulaic in this industry, but we’ve never ever had that approach.”

The post Paul Smith Reflects on Humble Beginnings, Spontaneity and 50 Years in the Business appeared first on Prestige Online - Hong Kong.

Coravin, the wine lover's dream device that lets you pour wine without uncorking, is back with brand new models.

As fans of the smart wine preservation system, we have observed Coravin for some time and seen the brand expand with new technology every year. Now, they have extended their product lineup with the launch of new systems -- Models Three and Six. What's more, all new and existing models have been equipped with SmartClamps™, which, prior to the launch, was only available on Model Eleven. The new easy-on and easy-off clamps are designed to go over the neck of the bottle and push down firmly on the handle in one fluid motion, making the system even easier to use.

Coravin's wine access technology is all down to the hollow needle that is inserted through the cork, before the system pressurises the bottle with Argon (an inert, colourless and odourless) gas, to pour the wine out. Once poured, and the Coravin is taken off the bottle, the cork reseals naturally -- allowing wine to stay fresh for months on end, and years if needed.

The new systems also comes with a Coravin Screw Cap which allows users to enjoy new world wine (with screw caps) the same way as old world wine (cork) bottles, preserving them for up to three months.

So, with four Coravin Models in total, Model Three, Five, Six and Eleven, which model is the right one for you? Well, let's find out shall we.

Coravin Model Three

Details: Model Three is an upgraded version of Coravin's Model One and features a clean and simple, user-friendly and functional design in matte texture.
Perfect for: the everyday wine drinker.
Price: HK$2,080

Coravin Model Five

Details: Model Five is not available for retail as it has been made specifically for trade. The design is simply elegant but durable.
Perfect for: those in the industry who favour classic design with metallic accents.
Price: email for trade price

Coravin Model Six

Details: Model Six is the upgraded version of the popular Model Two Elite edition, it also features vibrant colours with chrome accents.
Perfect for: luxury style and fashion lovers.
Price: HK$3,580

Coravin Model Eleven

Details: Model Eleven is the smartest device of the Coravin family. It is the first bluetooth connected and fully automatic system. It comes with LED display, glass pour optimisation, and connection to the Coravin Moments app, which tracks system statistics and advises on wine pairings with food, music and more.
Perfect for: technology and gadget enthusiasts who love a varied wine experience.
Price: HK$6,880

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In case you missed it, shorts suits are (still) having a moment. As seen on the spring summer 2020 runways, shorts add a chic boyish energy to the modern business-ready trend, and with Hong Kong's temperature on the rise, there's no better way to stay cool in tailoring right now. From modest cuts that fall past the knee, to shorter all-in-one looks, short suits are the unconventional sartorial choice that is as appropriate for the office as it is an easy evening ensemble. Ahead, we pulled together 5 of our favourite shorts suits to dress up in now.

Givenchy

These straight-cut Bermuda shorts in classic black and white houndstooth mean business, while small side slits, pockets and two back welt pockets keep it practical.

Givenchy houndstooth short pants HK$7,490 | jacket HK$20,500

Bottega Veneta

Though not exactly a shorts suit, this Bottega Veneta jumpsuit combines both for that all-in-one look. Loosely fitted, this black gabardine short jumpsuit is tailored with a notched lapel and concealed button closure.

Bottega Veneta jumpsuit HK$25,500

Marco de Vincenzo

Whether you prefer the salmon and fuchsia, or navy and black, check pleated tulle shorts by Marco de Vincenzo, both have a light and preppy feel which is perfect for summer. Both high-waisted shorts feature pockets and loops at the waist.

Marco de Vincenzo pleated tulle shorts HK$8,333 

Dion Lee

Australian brand Dion Lee presents these tailored white shorts in a unisex style. With vented seams and front pleats for a slightly loose silhouette, the knee length shorts also feature side pockets and a single utility flap pocket at the back too.

Dion Lee vented pleat shorts HK$2,473

Chloé

These stormy blue statement shorts in soft pinstripe make for a unique summer outfit. The fold up cuffs reveal a contrasting silk lining and pleats help to enhance the structured tailoring. Pair this with the matching collarless jacket, with flowing cuffs, to complete the look.

Summer pinstripe shorts HK$8,950 | jacket HK$18,850

The post The 5 Best Shorts Suits for a Sartorial Summer appeared first on Prestige Online - Hong Kong.

Giorgio Armani's spring summer collection pays homage by nothing more fundamental than mother nature. Titled Earth, the designs were inspired by the legendary mythological character Echo – a spirit, a metaphor of femininity, lighting, creativity and imagination – which its elements and colours are very apparent throughout the show. The journey begins with Armani’s most renowned and typical territory – suits – the usual structural silhouette is replaced by almost weightless, kimono-style cut, with roundness in the shoulders, emphasis on the waistline which follows the natural curves of the body.

Organic shapes and floral prints in soft pinks, muted greens, lilacs, dove greys and liquid blues take over the runway in ethereal floor length silk dresses, parachute pants, raw ruffled seam detailing, tropical floral prints, embroidered silk jumpsuits made of silk swathes.

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Tinted and translucent, the accessories mimic the shape, form and movement of bodies of water. Transparent acrylic wavy bracelets, waterdrop-shaped statement earrings, bulky belts, cascading beads and looped cord necklaces resemble different water elements in the familiar hushed watercolour hues as the clothes. While we also see the number 11 peek through here and there to echo the special location of the show, the courtyard of the designer’s 11 via Borgonuovo property in Milan.

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Giorgio Armani

armani.com

Chater House, Central
Canton Road, Tsim Sha Tsui
Elements, Tsim Sha Tsui
K11 MUSEA, Tsim Sha Tsui

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Entering Stacey Bendet’s vision of spring/summer 2020 is to be transported into a world where women lounge casually on clouds of bright Technicolor, leggy blondes laze languidly on hills of lavender surrounding a picnic basket of Glenlivet bottles, girls pose around intricately painted pouffes by Murder Bravado’s designer Everard Best, models in black and white stripes stand against an orange background of teddy bears, and pastel-draped ladies gather in a kitchen painted entirely in ice-cream-mint green. There are large colourful skirts of tulle, with plenty of ruching and puffy shoulders vying for attention alongside tiered gowns – and all with the saturation dialled up to the max.
“Spring 2020 started with solids and colour,” says Bendet, who’s arrived at the alice + olivia press presentation wearing sky-high platforms and her signature thick black eyeliner, with her curls held back by a bandana. “The theme was Field of Dreams,” she says, “and it was the inverse of how I usually start collections, which is with prints, because I wanted fresh new silhouettes – changes in proportion and bold colour-blocking with a bohemian twist!”

[caption id="attachment_181479" align="alignnone" width="852"] Stacey Bendet, CEO and Creative Director of alice + olivia[/caption]

Although the production is mammoth, taking over an entire warehouse space in Root Studios in Chelsea, New York, Bendet’s alice + olivia brand started out more modestly – with a pair of trousers. “The first pair came at a moment when the world was filled with denim and I wanted trousers,” Bendet explains. “Retro ’70s-style bell bottoms in beautiful bold striped fabrics – I began making them for myself. The cut of a jean with the beautiful novelty fabric of a custom pant – it was the beginning of the contemporary world and they became known as the contemporary pant.”
Once word got out that alice + olivia was the source of well-fitting trousers, the brand grew a cult following, and soon its CEO and creative director decided to expand beyond bottoms – “We began to outfit our pants! Sweaters, jackets and then dresses,” says Bendet with gusto.
The petite Bendet attributes her drive and energy to her family. Even as a child, she was determined to strive and succeed: at school she could do more pull-ups than any of the boys in her class. “I grew up in a very female-dominated home,” she explains. “My dad raised us to be fiercely competitive, to be proud of that competitive spirit, and to believe that we could do anything a boy could do and we could do it better. I’ve never felt like a man in the room was more powerful than I am, I’ve never felt like a man in the room was smarter and I’ve never felt that there was something a man could do that I couldn’t.”

[dual-images right-image-url="https://www.prestigeonline.com/hk/wp-content/uploads/2019/12/VOGUE_SPRING20_ORDER_9-9_3_1_Easy-Resize.com_.jpg" left-image-url="https://www.prestigeonline.com/hk/wp-content/uploads/2019/12/VOGUE_SPRING20_ORDER_9-9_3_25_Easy-Resize.com_.jpg" right-caption="The spring/summer collection features bold colour-blocking" left-caption="Murder Bravado's signature dyed-and-distressed style and tiered Bohemian dresses"]
It comes as no surprise then that Bendet was one of the front-runners of the contemporary fashion category in 2002 and it’s a testament to her savvy that the brand denim style had girls dressed in white jumpsuits with rainbow tie-dye splashed across the garment, as well as white distressed jeans and denim jackets with slogans such as “Who Decides War” printed on the front.
“Colour uplifts,” says Bendet. Even when styling, she believes that a good rocker T-shirt can be paired with a big, bright coloured skirt to make a blah day into a better one.
If nothing else, look at the windows of her stores. “Our windows are designed to tell a story,” says Bendet. “Sometimes these are fairy tales, sometimes these are messages that the world needs to hear. No matter what, I always want our windows to make people smile!”
Optimism is something the world sorely needs and it’s something Bendet definitely delivered this New York Fashion Week, which, whether she was aware of it or not, was the last one of the current decade. The fantasy dreamscape she built at Root Studios certainly rounded off the past 10 years with a bang and set things up for a decade to come that’s full of hope. In the words of Bendet herself, “I’ve always believed in the power of colour to tell a story, to change a mood and to make people smile.”

The post alice + olivia Pushes the Boundaries of Contemporary Dressing appeared first on Prestige Online - Hong Kong.

After presenting its Resort 2020 collection in Marrakech, creative director Maria Grazia Chiuri of Dior introduces a new campaign designed as a "common ground", in tribute to diversity and savoir-faire. The collection tells tales of traditions and cultures while celebrating diversity, individuality, and pluralistic femininity through an animated video lensed by photographer Brigitte Niedermair with models Ruth Bell, Adesuwa Aighewi and Ana Barbosa. 

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The series of fabrics and patterns are combined to second the message of inclusivity, diversity and freedom. Camouflage motifs, lace, cashmere jacquard, silk shantung embroideries and Toile du Jouy motifs are reinterpreted with wax print crafted in the Ivory Coast city of Abidjan by a studio named Uniwax. In addition, the dreamy collection features a bevy of robes, pattern-heavy tops, and dresses. Standout pieces include newly designed Book Totes and Saddle Bags. Elegant reversible bucket hats in various contrasting patterns like camouflage print against Dior’s signature Dior Oblique monogram canvas. 

Dior Cruise 2020 Collection Video

[embed]https://www.youtube.com/embed/LaenDUlsIVo[/embed]

Photographer Brigitte Niedermair's video using a poetic animation of still images for Dior is an ode to pluralistic femininity. The graphically powerful staging showcases two universes and how they combine and merge to create a common ground and symbolises the imaginary crossroads between Chiuri and Africa.

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The definitive Autumn/Winter 2019-20 looks to add to your new-season hit list.

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Photographer Cher Him 

Fashion Direction Johnny Khoo

Styling Jacquie Ang 

Hair Edward Chong at Evove using Kevin.Murphy

Makeup Wee Ming using Dior Beauty

Photography Assistant Nicholas Chan

Models Penelope Terne at Ave and Varya B at Looque

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Seductive, mysterious and glamorous as the night are just some of the terms that can be used to describe Giorgio Armani’s Fall Winter 2019-20 collection. Making its debut at the Milan Fashion Week earlier this year, the selection featured an elegant range of casual and formalwear for both women and men.

Marked by a sophisticated simplicity, the collection expressed a certain sensuality through hues of blue -- from the deep richness reflected by a glistening sapphire to the indigo inkiness of midnight blue, and the enticing black of a dark night. Here and there, touches of a flowing shimmering fabric or the sparkle of intricately placed flourishes and details broke through the severity of the shades like streaks of lightening across the dusky sky.

Deceptively clean, assured silhouettes with a bold character that transforms every piece into a statement marks Armani’s gorgeous creations. And this collection is no different. Strong, long and lean feminine lines that embrace the body curvaceously can be seen through a selection of ankle-length dresses, pencil skirts, high-waisted trousers, jumpsuits, and Jodhpur-pants. Short jackets and draped blousons enhance the sense of the lean and elongate the womanly frame. Stylised knot motifs, swirling galaxy prints, ruffles around the neck, and flowery extensions along the shoulder add a girlish appeal.

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The glamour quotient is heightened in the eveningwear through the use of rich velvets and silks, the fluid materials glimmering with every sashaying movement of the long flowing dress or graceful pantsuits.

“My night is composed of clean lines, uninhibited sparkles and precious materials,” says Armani. “I like the idea of creating an evening dress that’s as easy to wear as a T-shirt; a tuxedo that’s as soft as knitwear.”

The men’s selection is equally enchanting, without losing its masculinity. Double-breasted blazers, coats, parkas, jackets and tuxedos in midnight blue velvet impart a strong sense of distinguished elegance, stylishly complemented by exquisitely tailored trousers.

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Despite their very obvious charisma, there is an extraordinary effortlessness in these creations. As Armani explains, “My clothes are not made to disguise people, rather to give them a certain aura. At night, just as during the day, you have to be yourself: this is the only way to achieve true style.”

For more runway and backstage looks, visit armani.com/hk.

Giorgio Armani Boutiques: Chater House, Harbour City, Elements. 

The post The Collection That Embodies the Seduction of the Night appeared first on Prestige Online - Hong Kong.

Nobody can deliver classic Italian style quite like Mr Armani. This autumn winter 2019, Giorgio Armani delivered a languid and sultry collection called “Rhapsody in Blue” at Armani Silos, the brand’s vast exhibition complex opened in 2015 in Milan.

Satin and velvets in black and blue were twisted and cut into slim and sharp silhouettes as well as shapes that billowed and fanned out. Crushed velvet was juxtaposed against glinting satin and ornamentation alternated between fabric swirls and mirrored enamel set against purple beads. Pants were either jodhpurs or cut slim and the swirl motif also made an appearance on the leather of square-toed boots. While Armani’s signature suiting remained key – as double breasted pieces or loose trousered, single breasted creations with ornamentation dotting the jackets, the one-shouldered tops evinced most excitement.

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For more information, visit armani.com.

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