Sense of style

The luxury fashion label is set to host a catwalk presentation in the US city on June 6, WWD reports, although no further details have been confirmed (Main image). The move comes months after the label’s creative director Anthony Vaccarello showcased a series of menswear looks as part of the brand’s womenswear show during Paris Fashion Week earlier this year.

In heading over to the West Coast, Saint Laurent is jumping on a budding fashion trend: Recently, it was reported that the ready-to-wear label Libertine is set to swap the catwalks of New York for LA, and will host a show in the city on April 26. “We’d been feeling bored with New York Fashion Week for a few seasons and started thinking about a year ago that we’d show our Fall 2019 collection in Los Angeles,” the brand’s founder Johnson Hartig told WWD of the move. “Being a native Angeleno, I personally felt like it was time to represent.”

Other fashion brands to have showcased collections in LA in recent years include Rodarte, Tommy Hilfiger, Rebecca Minkoff and Jeremy Scott.

Best of British

Online menswear retailer Mr Porter has launched a Best of British Loafers collection, celebrating the timeless elegance of the British shoe style. English shoemakers Church’s, Edward Green, George Cleverley, Cheaney, Grenson, John Lobb and Tricker’s have all designed loafers for this capsule, which features a total of 29 styles in a range of leather, suede and tasselled versions.

Standout styles in the Spring/Summer 2019 collection include the Oreham by Church’s, finished in burgundy polished leather with kiltie fringing and tassels, as well as the Islington by Edward Green, in light brown snuff suede with sturdy rubber soles, and the James by Tricker’s, in black suede with a rubber-crepe sole.

The capsule collection is available at www.mrporter.com.

Salvatore Ferragamo to unveil Spring/Summer 2020 menswear collection in Florence at Pitti Uomo

Salvatore Ferragamo will be a special guest at the next Pitti Uomo, the leading men’s fashion event, and will present a 100% menswear line on June 11 at the opening of the Florence show.

With this menswear-focused show, the Italian fashion house has changed the format of these events. Until now, it has shown its womenswear and menswear together in a single show organised in Milan. The company will capitalise on this new format under the creative direction of Paul Andrew (pictured) to deliver its new definition of masculine luxury.

“Florence has always been a creative and inspirational platform for Salvatore Ferragamo and for our founder. Pitti Uomo is therefore the natural location for expressing the contemporary vision that represents us today: strong cultural continuity between different generations, with a constant eye to the future,” says Andrew.

Billionaire pushing concept of luxury to the extreme

As spring gradually gathers apace in the northern hemisphere, sunglasses are returning with a vengeance to the faces of both men and women. Designed to protect eyes from sunlight, they also add a touch of style and accessorise summer looks, as shown by the wide array on offer each year.

Men’s fashion brand Billionaire is differentiating itself this year by releasing a pair of luxury, aviator-style shades in pure gold, a rare material in eyewear. The brand did not stop there, going as far as to design the screws and lenses, produced by high-end eyewear manufacturer Dalloz, in this precious metal.

Billionaire stresses that the use of gold is more than a mere gimmick, arguing that gold is the best infrared filter available among existing materials.

These luxury shades are only available to order from Billionaire stores worldwide, and can be customised and personalised to make them unique. The company has announced a starting price of £12,000 (around $15,600) for a pair.

Givenchy to be at next Pitti Uomo menswear showcase

Big news in the world of men’s fashion. British designer and Givenchy artistic director Clare Waight Keller (pictured) will stage her first standalone menswear show on June 12 in Florence at the 96th edition of Pitti Uomo.

Menswear is back at the forefront of the scene for Givenchy. After a noteworthy and acclaimed men’s presentation in January, the fashion house will stage its first standalone menswear show at the Italian event, showcasing designs for the Spring/ Summer 2020 season.

Named Givenchy artistic director in 2017, Waight Keller notably hit headlines for designing Meghan Markle’s wedding dress for her marriage to Prince Harry in May 2018.

After the Florence show in June, Givenchy is likely to return to Paris for the French capital’s men’s fashion week in January 2020.

Italian Soccer Federation signs four-year deal with Giorgio Armani

Players in Italy’s national soccer team will now wear Emporio Armani off-field uniforms, the fashion house says in a news release. Giorgio Chiellini, Lorenzo Pellegrini, Jorginho, Lorenzo Insigne and their teammates will wear an Emporio Armani suit, shirt and overcoat, as well as shoes, kit bag, belt, sunglasses and small leather goods designed by the brand.

“This agreement makes me particularly happy: I am returning to football after my experience with Chelsea and Bayern, and once again I am dressing the Italian national team, as I did for the 1994 World Cup,” Armani says. “I am proud to... offer our athletes my idea of soft formality and elegant practicality. I have created a wardrobe that is consistent with my vision, designed for athletes who are constantly on the move. It is another way to communicate Italy’s sense of style to the world,” explains Giorgio Armani.

The Giorgio Armani fashion house has always enjoyed a close relationship with the world of sport, soccer especially. As well as partnering with some of Europe’s biggest clubs — such as Chelsea FC — to design uniforms, the brand has also picked sports personalities as ambassadors to front its various clothing lines. They include Cristiano Ronaldo, Rafael Nadal and David Beckham.

The Italian men’s national team will not be the only ones wearing Giorgio Armani. The country’s women’s national team and under-21 team will also be getting off-field uniforms designed by the luxury label.

Dior to redefine 21st-century tailoring

British-born designer Kim Jones drew inspiration from the French capital’s heroic statuary to suggest that there was no better armour for the modern man than well-cut clothes.

His spectacular show in the shadow of the Eiffel Tower had models standing still like statues on a moving conveyor belt catwalk. The mesmerising effect made it look as if they were gliding or skateboarding to a techno disco beat.

Jones, in only his second Paris show for the mythic French label since leaving Louis Vuitton, sent out a sleek, dark-hued riposte to the oversized trend that has dominated men’s fashion for several seasons.

Big on blacks, greys and burnished silky browns, his suits and trousers were cut close to the body, with some given added panache with long scarves worn like the sashes so beloved of 17th-century cavaliers.

Stylised utility vests worn over suits like bulletproof jackets gave some of his models the air of postmodern hussars.

“For me, the suit and the tailored jacket are the key things that say Dior,” Jones tells AFP. “It is elegance, tailoring and couture. We have made the black suits cooler and a bit more fashion with new boots... and the scarves are inspired by a dress by Christian Dior [the label’s founder] from 1952,” he says.