Milan: fashion - people - design - art - parties - food and more...

FASHION – accessories: Coccinelle Spring Summer 2012.  Coccinelle, Italian leader of bags and accessories announces a new designer collaboration with Alexander Terekhow.  Terekhov is well known for creating elegant and refined clothes.  His basic and innovative style is appreciated by Russian and Hollywood stars. “Working with Coccinelle gave me the possibility of expressing myself in a different field.” He says.

Above: a detail of Terekhov’s printed big boho tote, which was inspired by a trip to Moscow.

Coccinelle Spring Summer 2012.  Totes are big next year and a favorite is this reversible double-faced metallic leather and suede complete with a shoulder strap an inside purse and adjustable handles. 

 

 

Coccinelle Spring Summer 2012.  Soft linen and leather with little chic metallic details make up an elegant yet sporty bucket bag.

Milan: fashion - people - design - art - parties - food and more...

FASHION: Emporio Armani - Spring Summer 2012 show. Who is wearing this Giorgio Armani silk-screened dress to the Emporio Armani Spring Summer 2012 show? 

Seen at Emporio Armani:  Maria Grazia Cuccinotta, the Italian actress turned producer and director who recently made her directing debut at the Venice International Film Festival with her short film Il Maestro.

 

Emporio Armani - Spring Summer 2012 show – day wear. Valeria Mazza “cloned” look a-like-models wore black and whites clothes inspired by the show’s title Neodesign, the seams outlined with the contrasting colors.

Seen at Emporio Armani:  Roberta Armani and Claudia Pandolfi, the Italian actress has two films now on release: Quando La Notte by Cristina Comencini and I Piu Grandi di Tutti by Carlo Vizzi.

 

Seen at Emporio Armani - a detail:  Claudia Pandolfi’s bag and shoes from the Emporio collection.

Seen at Emporio Armani:  Israeli top model Bar Rafaeli.

 

Emporio Armani - Spring Summer 2012 show – the shoes. 1960’s materials gave the shoes an updated Courreges/Cardin futuristic feel.

Prada Candy parfum commercial - Léa Seydoux

Milan: fashion - people - design - art - parties - food and more...

NEW LUXURY DEPARTMENT STORE: Excelsior.    Just off Corso Vittorio Emanuele, the “High Street” of Milan, in the Galleria del Corso is the new luxury Excelsior department store owned by the Coin Group.  The seven floor, 4000 square meters store houses men’s and ladies fashion, design, a supermarket, as well as, a restaurant and a coffee bar. 

Above - the entrance. The ex cinema Excelsior was converted by the French archistar Jean Nouvel.

 

Excelsior – the supermarket.  In the basement is the Eat’s Store a supermarket selling fresh produce, a rarity in the center of Milan, as well as a restaurant.

Excelsior – Antonia Uomo. Antonia Giacinti is the artistic director of three fashion floors in the store.  She owns Antonia, one of the trendiest boutiques in Milan and is known for her sophisticated simplicity and avant-garde taste.

Excelsior – Antonia Accessori.  The accessories lounge is dedicated to the most sophisticated accessories all chosen by Antonia.

Seen at Excelsior.  Shoes designer Cesare Paciotti was checking out the store.

 

 

Excelsior - a detail of the stairs.  An architectural detail of the stairs with neon feature on the hand rail.

Milan: fashion - people - design - art - parties - food and more...

FASHION: Luisa Beccaria Spring Summer 2012 show.   The Luisa Beccaria Spring Summer 2012 show took place on the suggestive balcony of the prestigious Brera museum.   The collection takes you on an unforgettable journey through the Mediterranean.

H.R.H. Princess Michael of Kent, Contessa Bianca Arrivabene Valenti Gonzaga and Floriana Mentasti

   

Cesare Cunaccia and Princess Eleonora of Yugoslavia

Giorgiana Ravizza and her daughter Matilde Preti

  Thalita Puri Negri

Five month old Jack Russell Terrier Sax Gavazzi 

Grazia Gazzoni  Frascara and Riccardo Sassoli

Luisa Beccaria and Princess Michael of Kent  

 

Ilaria Norsa

Runway Luisa Beccaria.  The silhouette is fitted yet flowing; the dresses are fresh and flattering.

 

Runway Luisa Beccaria.   Embroidered lace and linen features on shorts and maxi shirt dresses whilst painted floral designs, inspired by Botticelli paintings, are seen in blouses and pencil skirts, giving a neat and tailored look whilst contrasting with chiffon uppers.

Runway Luisa Beccaria.  For evening the tulle and organza gowns, whilst fresh and romantic, are also luxurious and sculpting.

Runway Luisa Beccaria.   Luisa Beccaria and her daughter and designer Lucilla Bonaccorsi di Reburdone walk the runway around the balcony of the Brera Museum.

 The End

 

 

Milan: fashion - people - design - art - parties - food and more...

DESIGN: Cappellini flagship store. A Homage to Shiro, Shiro being the great Japanese designer, Shiro Kuramata, is the title of the exhibition that inaugurates the restructured space of Cappellini’s Milan flagship store just a stone’s throw from Piazza San Babila, in Via Santa Cecilia.

Above: a whimsical self-portrait sketch of the great designer.

Cappellini – Homage to Shiro exhibition.  Architect, design talent scout and founder of the hip Cappellini furniture brand, Giulio Cappellini re-designed the interior of the Milan space to give it a more contemporary look. He sits on a Sofa with Arms chair made for the Issey Miyake showroom by the late Shiro Kuramata. Following the trend for color themes in his stores around the world, Cappellini painted the showroom walls Yellow for Milan because “It was the color of the old streetcars and taxis, it is the color of Risotto alla Milanese and also of the color of the old buildings around the city.” He explains.  In the other showrooms the colors are; Purple for Paris “It reminds me of the couture houses of the 1960s."  Blue for Los Angeles “for the sky and the sea.” Fuschia for Miami “it’s the first color to greet you in the airport and also it’s a color that belongs to the art deco architecture of the city.” Red for New York “Because all the showrooms in SoHo are white, and at night Cappellini really stands out.” 

 

Cappellini – Homage to Shiro exhibition.  Kuramata’s drawing for his iconic chest of drawers Side 1 and Side 2.

 

Cappellini – Homage to Shiro exhibition.  The Kuramata Pyramid chest is an enigmatic game of transparencies and solid volumes.

Cappellini – Homage to Shiro exhibition.   The sketch by the great designer for the above Pyramid chest of drawers made by Cappellini.

 
 

MILANO: Contessanally mentioned in Corriere della Sera

Milan Fashion Week: 22 September 2011.  Today the Corriere della Sera on page 43 mentions Nally Bellati and my upcoming Milan blog, which will feature not only fashion but also art, design, food and more. Thank you Corriere and Michela Proietti for including me.

Venice: The Peggy Guggenheim Collection – Hangar Design Group – Book Launch

The Peggy Guggenheim Collection: Hangar Design Group book launch.  The impressive Alexander Calder’s Three-Colored Dog, 1973 sculpture greets guests arriving by boat on the Grand Canal terrace of the PeggyGuggenheim Collection for the cocktail party and dinner to celebrate thirty years of Hangar Design Group and the launch of their book; as I told you before Ideas Not Airships.

HDG: as I told you before Ideas Not Airships. Micaela Portinari greets the Peggy Guggenheim Collection’s director, Philip Rylands together with Hangar Design Group’s founders the architects, Alberto Bovo and Sergio Manente winners of the prestigious Compasso D’Oro ADI 2011 prize for the design of the Sunset mobile home.

HDG: as I told you before Ideas Not Airships.  The Hangar Design Group book launch took place in the Nasher Sculpture garden of the Peggy Guggenheim Collection.  In the background Maurizio Nannucci’s Changing Place, Changing Time, Changing Thoughts, Changing Future, 2003 neon sculpture and Anthony Caro’s First Light, 1990-93 steel work. The book stylishly displayed on crates is entitled; as I told you before Ideas Not Airships is published by Skira and celebrates the work, over the past thirty years, of the Treviso based group.

HDG: as I told you before Ideas Not Airships – pages # 1.  The history of the Hangar Design Group began in the 1980s in the Treviso countryside, and it is the story of an organizational model rather than an actual design style.  It is the story that began inside two old hangars for airships and testifies to an unshakable faith in work, pragmatism and in the principle that “things happen only if you organize your affairs in such a way that they can happen.”  This, together with the great ability of the founding duo, Alberto Bovo and Sergio Manente, two Venetian architects who are in many ways definite opposites, and of their creative to transform anything into a communication project, has made possible the development of the organization as well as its expansion beyond national borders.

 

HDG: as I told you before Ideas Not Airships – pages # 2.  As a modern day sketchbook, this volume consists of a collection of visual fragments that illustrate the creative processes and working dynamics of the Hangar Design Group.  It presents a selection of works and suggestions in the style of an action movie, which effectively expresses the character and skilled craftsmanship, which distinguishes the group’s professional model.

  HDG: as I told you before Ideas Not Airships – pages # 3.  The book represents a great deal more than just a collection of texts and images, since it illustrates better than any description the true soul of this creative think tank. 

HDG: as I told you before Ideas Not Airships – pages # 4.  Hangar Soul was the original title of the book, and has remained the underlying theme of this story made up of images.  It describes in a gripping narrative form the project developed over time since they were first put to test within the group, while being careful never to lose the sense of modernity.

Seen at the Hangar Design Group book launch.  The dean of design at the Iuav University of Venice, Medardo Chiapponi and design P.R. Evelina Bazzo.

Seen at the Hangar Design Group book launch. Luca Lando and his son Ludovico.

 

Seen at the Hangar Design Group book launch. Boxes containing popcorn and potato chips were displayed like a beehive.

Seen at the Hangar Design Group book launch.   The whole Hangar Design Group stands on the stairs of the Peggy Guggenheim Collection in the Sculpture Garden and joke for a group photo with cut out butterfly sunglasses designed especially for Peggy by American artist Edward Melcarth.