Vuitton in Hong Kong, Amiri’s Prize Finalists, Armani on the Slopes

CITY LIGHTS: Louis Vuitton is hitting the road with its men’s pre-fall collection.

The line designed by men’s creative director Pharrell Williams will be presented on Nov. 30 in Hong Kong, marking the first time the pre-collection will be showcased in a physical runway show. Williams showed his debut collection in Paris in June, with a mega-event that was attended by Beyoncé, Rihanna and Zendaya.

Vuitton’s links to Hong Kong date back more than four decades: Its first store there opened at The Peninsula hotel in 1979 and it now has seven boutiques.

The world’s biggest luxury brand has also staged major exhibitions, including “Louis Vuitton: A Passion for Creation” in 2009, for which artist Richard Prince wrapped the Hong Kong Museum of Art with enlarged replicas of pulp-fiction novel covers, and the “Time Capsule” exhibit in 2017.

Vuitton lauded Hong Kong as “cosmopolitan and vibrant, a city that has for centuries been a crossroads of people and trade [and] a melting pot of East and West that has given rise to a thriving metropolis of art, culture and industry.” It did not disclose the precise location of the upcoming show, which will be its first in the special administrative region of China.

Hong Kong’s August retail sales rose 13.7 percent compared with the same month in 2022, helped by an increase in visitor arrivals, according to the latest figures released by the Census and Statistics Department.

It quoted a government spokesman as saying that the retail sector would continue to benefit from the ongoing recovery of inbound tourism in the near term. Sales should also be supported by positive consumer sentiment amid improved labor market conditions, and the “Night Vibes Hong Kong” campaign of events and promotions, he said.

The Immigration Department recorded a total of around 1.1 million visitors from mainland China coming to Hong Kong through sea, land and air control points during the eight-day National Day Golden Week, which ran from Sept. 29 to Oct. 6. This represented 85 percent of the levels recorded between 2017 and 2019, before the coronavirus pandemic shut borders. — JOELLE DIDERICH

PRIZE FINALISTS: Los Angeles designer Mike Amiri set up the Amiri Prize in 2021 to help the next generation of fashion-oriented creatives.

After taking a break last year, the award competition returned for 2023 and expanded, opening up to competitors from around the world.

On Tuesday, Amiri revealed the nine finalists who will be vying for the award, its $100,000 prize money and a year-long mentorship. The winner will be announced Oct. 23.

The finalists are: Abdel El Tayeb of France; Dorian Rahimzadeh of Iran; Ekwerike Chukwuma of Nigeria; Grace Ling, Keith Herron and Maxwell Osborne of the United States, Lukhanyo Midingi of South Africa, and Li Gong and Luke Zhou of China.

Amiri started his career crafting stage pieces for rock ‘n’ roll performers. He established the prize to foster creative artists whose journeys reflect his own unconventional trajectory, establishing a support system outside the often-inaccessible establishment. “We had absolutely nothing. No industry connections, no co-sign, no gimmicks and no backer,” Amiri explained about his challenge starting his brand in 2014. “We just believed in ourselves and knew that if we did good work we couldn’t be ignored. It’s a new world, and the doors are wide open for you and your dreams. The old guard is no longer relevant. I’m proof of this. You could do it as well.”

For the inaugural prize in 2021, Philadelphia-based designer Lou Badger was the winner. The designer stood out for a unique approach to her craft and a clear commitment for addressing the lack of representation and diversity in the sustainable fashion space. “Since the day I won the prize until now, I’ve had the opportunity to develop my creative ideas with more ease and greater intention,” Badger said. “My journey has allowed me to cultivate technical expertise and understand the fashion industry at a higher level.”

Amiri funds the award himself and calls on a jury of experts in the field to choose the recipient with him. This year, that panel includes June Ambrose, creative director and designer for Puma; designer Salehe Bembury; KidSuper founder and creative director Colm Dillane; stylist Law Roach; A-Cold-Wall founder and creative director Samuel Ross; GQ global editorial director Will Welch; Vogue fashion editor at large Gabriella Karefa-Johnson; Lucia Liu, stylist and founder of theBallroom, and Rocco Liu, editorial director of GQ China. — DEBORAH BELGUM

ON THE SLOPES: In keeping with his love of sports, Giorgio Armani’s partnership with FISI, the Italian Winter Sports Federation, as its technical outfitter is continuing to grow.

The designer’s namesake company’s sportswear-leaning EA7 line under the Emporio Armani brand unveiled a new competition ski suit at the Armani/Teatro in Milan.

The designer, who was not in attendance, lent his venue for the two-day event that kicks off the upcoming game season for the national federation with athletes in attendance already sporting leisure clothing and previewing the new ski suit.

“There are several shared values between Armani and skiing that triggered us to embrace this world, the main one being the commitment towards excellence,” Giuseppe Marsocci, deputy general manager of Giorgio Armani, said at the event. “Sport’s main value is passion, that’s a defining trait of any athlete that we share at Armani,” he said.

The new ski suits, crafted from high-tech textiles, feature a degrade effect with navy blue, a color that has defined the Armani aesthetic over the years, decking out the suit’s central portion and veering upward and downward to different sky-blue nuances and icy silver.

Italian alpine ski racer Marta Bassino previewed the suit for the audience and shared her feedback after testing it in Ushuaia, Argentina, where the Italian team has been training ahead of the season. “They are really beautiful with all the blue nuances…ski suits need to be comfortable but also performing.…I’m sure the ones for the competitions, made from different fabrics, will be even better,” she offered.

“It’s a beautiful image for our athletes, I think,” echoed FISI’s president Flavio Roda. The executive touted the suits’ design and reiterated his appreciation for the four-season tie-up. This will stretch until the Milano Cortina 2026 Winter Olympics.

The competition is expected to generate buzz, draw interest and help boost the Italian economy. It will mark the third time Italy hosts the Winter Games after the 2006 edition in Turin and the 1956 edition in Cortina d’Ampezzo.

Although debate is swirling in Italy about the construction of a dedicated track for luge, skeleton and bobsledding, which the federation hopes can be built in Cortina d’Ampezzo to keep all Olympics competitions on Italian soil, the Val Gardena valley in the Dolomites has meanwhile applied to be the organizer of the 2029 FIS World Championships, signaling the federation’s commitment to boosting Italy’s winter sports scene.

Italian winter sports athletes are already a source of pride for the country, as the federation reported an excellent 2022-23 season with more than 200 podium wins across winter disciplines in the senior and junior divisions.

“The season was great, with many achievements, but it’s been a difficult and challenging one. We have to thank all the athletes for their constant and determined commitment,” Roda said. Two new sponsors have joined the roster of companies supporting the federation: Fistral and Enel.

As reported, the EA7 tie-up commenced last year entailed that Italian athletes sported EA7’s performance-driven gear, including ski suits, overalls, jackets and puffers; mid-layers; leisurewear such as track pants and tops, vests, shorts and T-shirts, as well as a range of accessories and sneakers.

Armani’s link with FISI in providing the team with technical outfits — previously supplied by the Robe di Kappa brand — can be seen as an expansion of the designer’s link with winter sports.

Through his EA7 Emporio Armani line, introduced in 2004, he was already the official outfitter of the Italian Olympic team, who wore the designer’s EA7 Emporio Armani kit during the opening ceremony of the Winter Olympic Games in Beijing last year.

His support of Italian sports teams dates back to 2012 for the London Olympic Games, followed by the 2014 Sochi Winter Olympics, in 2016 for the Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, at the 2018 Winter Games in South Korea and in 2020 for the Olympics in Tokyo. The designer has also already linked with winter sports via a partnership with Italian and Swiss ski schools. — MARTINO CARRERA

HOME, SWEET HOME: The antique textiles, furniture, paintings and objects which for decades adorned interior designer Robert Kime’s homes in London and Provençe raised 9.6 million pounds at auction last week, according to Dreweatts auctioneers.

The pre-sale estimate for “Robert Kime: The Personal Collection,” was 1.2 million pounds. More than 900 lots went under the hammer during the three-day auction from Oct. 4 to 6.

Kime had amassed his eclectic collection over 30 years during his travels through the U.K., Europe, and the Middle East. The pieces on sale ranged from an ancient Athenian kylix to a silk embellished glove that had belonged to King Charles I and a large, rare bezoar stone dating from the 16th or 17th century.

Bezoar stones, found in the stomachs of some animals, were once believed powerful enough to counteract poison and were highly prized by royal courts and the nobility.

Dreweatts said that bidding was “extremely competitive” with thousands of bidders from Europe, Asia and the U.S. competing for the lots in the auction room, by phone and online.

The top lot was the Elizabethan-era “Portrait of a Man With Pickaxe and a Spade in a Landscape,” which Dreweatts described as a “firm favorite” of Kime’s. The English School 16th-century oil painting was sold to a U.S. buyer on the telephone for 500,200 pounds against an estimate of up to 15,000 pounds.

A watercolor and pencil landscape by the artist Eric Ravilious titled “New Year Snow” was another top lot. Signed by the artist and carrying an estimate between 100,000 pounds and 150,000 pounds, it went to a private buyer on the telephone for 350,200 pounds.

Kime, who died last summer aged 76, was famous for being King Charles’ favorite decorator, the man who designed the interiors of Charles’ Highgrove country estate in Gloucestershire, England, and Clarence House in London’s St. James’s, where Charles and Camilla have lived for the past 20 years.

Kime honed his aesthetic over a lifetime, exploring the world with the eyes of an historian, archaeologist, artist and poet. He began collecting objects at the age of five, and was dealing in antiques from his rooms when he was an undergraduate studying medieval history at Oxford.

He would go on to design his own textiles based on meticulous historical research, open a shop on Ebury Street in London, and write numerous books detailing his passions and projects for clients. — SAMANTHA CONTI

PUFFER FOOTWEAR: Moncler and Adidas are collaborating for the first time, bringing no shortage of puff for a collection of footwear and apparel. The two partners first revealed their project earlier this year through The Art of Genius show at London Fashion Week, and now the pieces are finally ready to hit stores.

Embodying Moncler‘s luxury outerwear, both the NMD_S1 and Campus 80s have been transformed with puffer coat uppers. The bubble-padded NMD serves as a boot in two heights, one at mid-calf and the other climbing all the way up to the knee. To help give them structure, wraps around the leg and replaces the laces. Both also feature cinch-cord collars along with Gore-Tex membranes for waterproofing. The lower-cut NMD boot also features climbing-like hardware affixing the rope above foot, whereas the taller version opts for nylon straps.

Two styles in the Monclear x Adidas collaboration.

The Moncler x Adidas Campus has a less dramatic transformation only for the fact that it mostly retains its typical shape. Bubble padding forms the stripes for the puffy upper, which features speed laces and sits atop a platform sole.

On the apparel front, a pullover puffer coat adopts Adidas’ Trefoil logo as part of quilting. A wider run of puffer coats then brings options for regular or cropped cuts and is joined by puffer vests, a pair of puffer shorts, and even puffer gloves. The lone puff-less options arrive through a cropped track jacket and socks, the latter of which is heavy on branding.

For the collection’s campaign, the two collaborators used both models and sculptures by artists Gary Card, Ibby Njoya and Kate Tabor to showcase the footwear and apparel.

The Moncler x Adidas collection first released Oct. 4 through the brands’ respective websites, with select physicals stores from each brand stocking the collaboration — as well as retailers such as Saks Fifth Avenue. Pricing runs from $500 to $765 for the footwear.

This week, Saks is featuring the collection in its Fifth Avenue windows, and in an immersive pop-up space on the main floor. Digital content is also front and center on the retailer’s social media channels, and the collection is available on Saks.com.

The retailer teamed up with Adidas Originals and V Magazine on Saturday to host a party at New York hot spot Nine Orchard Hotel. Design elements inspired by the collection were featured throughout the penthouse party space. — IAN SERVANTES

OPERA ON THE AVENUE: The Madison Avenue Business Improvement District is staging a 10-day festival to support the Metropolitan Opera and celebrate its fall 2023 season.

Opening night is Thursday, 5 p.m., with a live opera performance on an outdoor stage rigged in front of Ralph Lauren on Madison and 72nd Street. Soprano Amanda Batista and baritone Eleomar Cuello, both rising stars from the Metropolitan Opera Lindemann Young Artists, will perform a repertoire of arias and duets.

Costumes, accessories, headdresses and model set designs pulled from the archives of the Met will be displayed by many brands and designers on the avenue including De Beers, Dolce & Gabbana, Flora on Madison & Anne Barge, Ippolita, Lady M Confections, Mackage, Ralph Lauren, Marina Rinaldi, Max Mara, Montblanc, Reinstein Ross, Versace and Vhernier. Stores are making donations to support the Met.

For example, Kwiat/Fred Leighton at 773 Madison Avenue will display costumes and hats from the Met’s productions of Aida, Die Zauberflote and Turrandoton, and on Thursday at 3:45 p.m., will have a by-invitation-only discussion on “Powerful Women in Opera: On Stage and Off,” led by Maurice Wheeler and John Tomasicchio, Metropolitan Opera director of opera archives and associate director of opera archives, respectively.

Buccellati New York will introduce its “Opera Galileo” diamond pendant necklace. Montblanc is launching a limited-edition Maria Callas “Muse” turquoise pen. The Paul Morelli flagship is setting up miniature set designs from operas.

Isaia, 819 Madison Avenue, on Oct. 19 at 4 p.m., will have a reception and performance by the Metropolitan Opera’s Lindemann Young Artists. — DAVID MOIN

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