Armani dazzles with sparkling show
(AP)Updated: 2007-02-20 12:30
Models wear creations of Giorgio Armani women's Autumn-Winter 2007/2008 collection, part of the Milan Fashion Week, unveiled in Milan, Italy, Monday, Feb. 19, 2007. [AP]
MILAN, Italy - Giorgio Armani celebrated the homecoming of his creations after six years on the road Monday with a winter collection that lit up his muted shades with a myriad of glistening sequins.
The collection had a dazzling, feminine tone, from sparkling ballerina footwear to knitted caps dotted with dewdrop crystals.
The show ended with a model wrapped in an evening gown of horizontally stitched Swarovski crystals and holding a tiny, matching purse. The gown will join the 600 outfits that make up the Armani retrospective, as they return home for an exhibit in the Triennale Museum in Milan.
The VIP front row audience in the theater of the Milanese designer's ultra modern headquarters included longtime Armani fan pop singer Tina Turner and film director Robert Wilson, who helped set up the Armani retrospective when it began its world tour at the Guggenheim Museum in New York in 2000.
Armani was throwing a gala cocktail party Monday evening at the Triennale to open the final leg of the exhibit, which covers more than 30 years of his work.
"When I visited this museum as a boy, I never imagined that one day it would celebrate my creative genius," Armani said at a preview viewing earlier Monday. Besides New York, the exhibit traveled to Bilbao, Berlin, London, Tokyo and Shanghai.
After the exhibit closes, Armani will place the outfits on view at his headquarters, and eventually donate them to the city of Milan.
There are very few pants in Armani's fall-winter 2007-2008 collection, with the designer known for his androgynous style opting this round for a softer more feminine look. Skirts are either loose and gathered at the hem, or elegantly slender. Jackets lose their blazer structure to become cropped with soft shawl collar or extra loose, resembling a duster coat.
Evening is all about femininity and choice, ranging from demure silk cocktail dresses to prima donna spangled gowns, both backless and held together by delicate patent-leather straps.
Earlier Monday, first day of the Milan fashion week of preview showings, Dolce and Gabbana presented their take on next winter, which is all about disco cats.
From the animal-printed invite to the animal-printed catwalk, mini skirts and silk gowns, it was clear that the daring duo were up for a wild night, complete with disco music from Madonna in her early days.
But these outfits — from the duo's D&G line, aimed at the younger set — appeared more catered to kittens than to untamed tigers, with the spots on the fabric demure and the styles soft. Black velvet tuxedo suits with pencil pants and stiff white shirts offered a little more edge, with high, gilded heels.
As winter commonly revives the fashion-industry debate about using animal furs in collections, some designers — such as Armani — stated the use of ecological fur in their show notes this year.
Early Monday, activists for the People for Ethical Treatment of Animals, or PETA, stormed the Burberry boutique in downtown Milan to protest the company's use of fur in past seasons. Several members of the group threw red paint at the shop window.
PETA representative Giorgio Bastianutti said in a statement that the protest was meant to "raise awareness and block the sale of furs." Burberry showed its collection for next winter without interruption later Monday.
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