Italian Fashion Designers News

The Gucci Group has named Massimo Macchi President and Managing Director of Boucheron International SA , the jewellery company the group bought last year.

Macchi, a former executive vice president of jewellery, watches and accessories sales at Bulgari, came to Gucci in January. In the last six months, he has graduated from being vice president of Gucci Group to General Manager of the Boucheron watch and jewellery division, before being appointed chief of all Boucheron’s businesses.

“Massimo has a solid understanding and great experience in the luxury goods industry in general, and in the jewellery and watches segment in particular,” assured Gucci boss Domenico de Sole .

“His excellent leadership skills, already demonstrated within the group, will be great strengths as we move forward and build Boucheron as one of the world’s leading jewellery, watch and perfume brands.”

Outgoing MD Jean-Claude Le Rouzic also received warm words from de Sole. “We have been fortunate to be able to rely on Jena-Claude’s dedication, commitment and enthusiasm during the initial phase of integration of Boucheron within Gucci Group,” he said, adding: “I wish him all the best for the future.”

Donatella Versace will present a fashion show and appear at the annual Life Ball, a charity gala dedicated to raising funds to fight AIDS.

Organizers hope to raise awareness — as well as cash — with the May 21 event at City Hall. The Life Ball, regularly attended by singer Elton John, is known for the extravagant costumes of the thousands of guests.

“We want to give the event a new look, to create new excitement,” Versace said Thursday. “We can barely wait to reach our shared goal — $1.3 million — purely in proceeds for the Life Ball 2005.”

Other designers who have presented creations at the Life Ball include Jean Paul Gaultier, John Galliano, Thierry Mugler, Paco Rabanne, Vivienne Westwood, Moschino, Missoni and Gianfranco Ferre.

Fiat is enabling budding designers around the world to put their designs in front of one of the world’s most famous designers, Giorgio Armani, with the fashion legend joining the judging panel for the “Fiat 500 Wants You” design competition.

As it finalises the re-birth of its own legend, the Fiat 500, the Italian car maker has called on budding designers around the world to contribute their ideas and designs for the new car and everything that surrounds its launch, sale and customer interaction through its web site www.fiat500.com.

Following an impressive first half of 2006 result which saw the company increase its share of the Middle East and African handset markets, Motorola has announced plans to release 15 new handsets and accessories in both regions over the next nine months.

The announcement follows the release of the company’s second quarter results, which showed it rapidly gaining on arch rival Nokia in terms of overall mobile handset sales worldwide.

Speaking at the launch of the company’s latest Gold MOTORAZR V3i handset, which was designed exclusively by Dolce & Gabbana, Patrick Mulligan, area director for Motorola´s Mobile Devices Business, said the new handsets represented the cornerstone of the company’s strategy to catch its arch rival in key growth markets, including the Middle East and Africa.

“Our drive for the remainder of the year will see the continued expansion of our dynamically different range of handsets, incorporating an increased selection of devices with MP3, 3G and Bluetooth applications,” he said.

Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd., a leading provider and innovator of mobile phones, and Versus, the line that embodies Gianni Versace SpA at its most youthful, free spirited and daring, unveiled the new ‘Samsung Versus E500′ mobile phone.

‘Samsung E500 Versus’ combined Versus brand and the unique colour of Samsung’s original SGH-E500. SGH-E500 is a clamshell mobile phone integrated with 1.3 megapixel camera, Music Player and Bluetooth and comes originally in champagne-gold colour.

‘Samsung E500 Versus’ offers three colour options; white and gold, white and antique pink, and black and silver.

It is expected that the ability of Versus to interpret the very latest trends in style and design and Samsung’s excellence in the field of technological innovation will create truly enriching opportunity for both brands.

The prime objective of this alliance is to create a product targeting younger generation of consumers who pursue originality in terms of style, innovation and practicality.

Girls Aloud singer Cheryl Tweedy is having her wedding dress designed by Roberto Cavalli, thanks to her new best friends Victoria Beckham.

Tweedy will be marrying England footballer Ashley Cole in the UK later this summer and during the World Cup, she and Beckham have become very close and talking all about Tweedy’s forthcoming nuptials.

According to the Mirror, Tweedy said: “We didn’t shut up – it was wedding this and wedding that. She was like ‘your wedding dress has got to be amazing. I’ve seen some fabulous ones.”

A friend of Tweedy’s added: “Victoria and Cheryl spent the whole of the World Cup together talking about her wedding. Victoria and Roberto have a special friendship, so when she and Cheryl got talking about wedding dresses, Victoria offered to step in.

“She went to the trouble of phoning Roberto to arrange for Cheryl to have a private audience with him for her dress. And she has been on the other end of the phone helping Cheryl with the last minute alterations. Everything has to be perfect and money is no object to Ashley or Cheryl.”

Today, robbers took nearly a dozen very expensive Gucci handbags from one store and nothing else.

Lt. Richard Calderon, San Jose Police Department: “We had a suspect enter inside the store and cause a diversion and take approximately nine handbags from the shelves.”

And considering the cheapest Gucci bag starts around $1,500, the financial loss here was significant. No one inside was hurt, despite the robber spraying something in the air, the thief then ran out the door and into a waiting two-door blue Acura with paper plates.

An Italian bank is paying $126.5 million for a 5-percent stake in Prada Group NV, one of the bank’s key lending customers.

Besides the ownership move, Banca Intesa SpA also agreed to loan Prada about $253 million, The Wall Street Journal reported Monday.

Analysts say the move is an apparent step toward Prada’s long-time but often-frustrated goal of an initial public offering.

After an autumn debut focused on a single-product with a high glamour content, the black jeans with flesh-colored tulle piping, the Italian fashion house La Perla Group is ready to launch the new La Perla Jeans line in spring/summer 2007.

The brand’s deep knowledge of the female body has given rise to the desire to make jeans that caress and highlight the curves: true feminine jeans. There are revealing signs of La Perla’s DNA in the new collection, such as lace trimmings, macrame inserts and crystal embroideries.

La Perla Group is a designer and manufacturer of La Perla apparel and fragrances. It is a top class brand that can boast worldwide fame, proposes a variety of collections that range from underwear to night lingerie, from beachwear to clothing wear.

Shopping in Milan isn’t just a pastime, it’s a high-level competitive sport.

Each year, Milan dazzles the world with its prêt-? -porter shows, where top designers parade their latest creations. The chic, the très-chic and the faux-chic alike flock to take in the next season’s trends.

Couriers scuttle up and down the streets, laden with packages of all sizes, labelled Dior, Versace and Prada, delivering the goods like pizzas to the exclusive hotels in the area.

When you’re spending this kind of money, you don’t schlep your own parcels around.

“Milan is the kind of city where everybody is very concerned about the way they look,” says Thomas Citterio, marketing director of the Four Seasons hotel. “When I first came here (from Switzerland) I was struck by that immediately. You notice how people are dressed and you notice that they notice how you are dressed.”

You see that instantly when you take a walk around town. Everybody’s dressed beautifully — not a backwards baseball hat in sight — and even the police wear sharp, tailored uniforms with co-ordinated white bags and helmets.

It can all be pretty intimidating, especially for someone to whom high-fashion means a shirt with buttons. So that’s why I enlisted the aid of a “personal shopper,” a growing trend for people who want to get the maximum bling with a minimum of effort.

I strain my brain trying to come up with any occasion that could possibly be that special.

As we walk along, Laura recommends various shops for particular items: For women’s wear, there’s Gemelli and Biffi, Prada, Valentino, Gucci and Loro Piano, especially for cashmere.

For men, it’s Cenci, Gemelli, or Al Bazar.

Pupi Solari and Gemellino specialize in children’s wear. Shoes? Lots of ‘em: Sergio Rossi, Prada, Salvatore Ferragamo, Gucci, Tod’s.