DressSpace

A foreign trade balance that has grown 6 times in the last 10 years, about 250 companies, 3000 employees, a client base made up of the biggest capitalist economies make of the Italian Tie an enviable economic Eden.
The biggest asset is our experience and ability to constantly invent, and true “class” is not social class as much as the class of an inimitable style.

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At Gerstner’s, I wanted to eat one or two sandwiches just before the ceremony to stop possible discomfort or pangs during the procedure.

My aunt was already at Gerstner, called my metamorphosis well acceptable and uttered her famous “it’s not too bad”.

As for me, I had not worn a suit, even up to that moment I had always shown up only in trousers and sweater, and even if I went to the theater, if ever, only in slacks and sweater, especially wool pants and a gray sweater made from rough sheep wool in a bright red color that an American has given me while in a good mood immediately after the war.

In this outfit, I remember, I went to Venice a couple of times and among other things, I was also at the famous Teatro La Fenice for a performance of Tancredi in Monteverdi directed by Vittorio Gui, and in those same trousers and sweater I had been to Rome, Palermo, Taormina and Florence, and in almost all other European capitals, not to mention that I wore those clothes almost always at home:  the more worn the trousers and sweater became, the more I grew fond of them; for years I was only seen around in those trousers and sweater and even today friends ask what happened to those trousers and sweater, those clothes I had worn for more than quarter of a century.

Suddenly, I want to repeat, on the Graben and a couple of hours before the Grillparzer award ceremony, I found those clothes that had been worn on my body for decades unsuitable for a celebration.

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THE UNRIVALLED

There is no doubt, Madonna is the queen of look, the only one who went trough 25 years of music with the awareness that she could choose the item or the colour that would become fashion the day after.

Leather has always been an old friend to her, weather it was black boots or a purple jacket.

MICHAEL JACKSON

Leather has been for the great star the link between many of his performances.

The red biker leather jacket in the video “Beat it” and “Thriller” (the best selling album in music history).

BONO VOX

“I want 40 of them for my next tour”.  On the other side of the phone is Bono Vox who has fallen in love with the leather jackets (accidentally noticed in two shops in London and Los Angeles). In 2005 he ordered the complete collection of a smaller designer from Carpi.

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Never, anybody else like her.

Forerunner of all the stars, undisputed icon of the early 20^th century fashion, artists’ and writers’ muse, art patroness and talent scout, Luisa Casati Stampa was born in Milan in 1881.

Her maiden name was Amman and she was soon to become, with her parents’ premature death, a very rich heiress.

In 1900 she married marquis Camillo Casati Stampa and from then on she embarked on a very personal career as a living work of art.

Every single action she made was dictated by a desire of transgression and excess but also by the search for beauty and aesthetics.

She lived her youth as she was on a colossal stage, surrounded by such extravagant and refined luxury that any diva of the time quirk seemed to fade in front of her extremes.

For her legendary parties she even hired the entire piazza San Marco in Venice, as for her custom made dresses and outfits, they arouse scandal and amazement.

One of these was made of hundreds of feathers fixed on a see through fishnet fabric, but during the ball the plumage was falling leaving her virtually naked.

She loved to stroll with a boa around her neck, cheetah on the lead and hundreds of painters and photographers wanted to immortalize her. Her beyond limits lifestyle ended up leading her to bankruptcy and in 1930 her possessions were auctioned off.

She wrote an appeal to D’Annunzio, who had been one of her lovers, asking him to buy out some of her beloved objects, but the Vate did not help her.

She died in poverty in 1957 in London where she fled in order to escape her creditors.

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Born in Florence (1883) but of Anglo-Swiss origins, the futurist Ernesto Michaelles, known as Thayaht (a palindrome, reading the same in both directions) was the first to create a T shaped suit model, made of one piece only.

It was 1919, it had aristocratic origins and it was going to become the most common and useful working uniform: the famous overall.

Its revolutionary shape was perfectly  fulfilling the criteria of dynamism, practicality and modernity that futurism advocated: clothes needed to inflict no constrictions  but  promote mobility  and athletic movements.

Thayaht has been a truly multifaceted artist, a designer for Madeleine Vionnet fashion house, the most famous Parisian atelier of the twenties, he also worked in the theatre as a costume and a set designer often collaborating with his brother Ram.

Sculptor, graphic designer, photographer and even an inventor as, in his experimentations in the art of goldsmithing, he managed to create a new alloy that he named “taiattite”. With this material he realised various jewels of primitive inspiration which are surprisingly fashionable.

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Customs, like languages, are about “langue” and “parole”.
A “langue” is an important phenomenon : a collective custom, the huge international vocabulary of fashion, of gestures and tastes shared by all people and constantly evolving.
Equally important is the contribution by the individual “parole”, created by the small yet significant signs introduced by the legendary creators of customs .
Amongst them, the bravest ones enjoyed the better luck: Gabriele D’annunzio, emblematic megalomaniac, symbol of male vanity.
Vanity that finds its perfect consistency in the tie.

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In a multi-ethnic country such as Afghanistan, the style of clothing of a candidate is as important as what he says.

He wears the most multiethnic apparel.

He often wears the salwar- kameez, a long knee – length dress with baggy trousers – very common among Afghans. It is matched with two accessories typical of the northern minorities (Tajiks, Turkmens and Uzbeks): the chapan, a silk mantle, usually striped, and the karakul, a rigid hat made of sheep’s wool.

But when he goes down south, he wears the longi of Kandahar, a black silk turban.

And if he wants to underline the ties with the Western world, he wears a black jacket.

He was an ophthalmologist and became a central figure in the North Alliance that drove out the Talebans in 2001; he was eventually appointed as minister for foreign affairs.

He has a preference for Italian suits and ties, but when he is in the midst of the Tajiks (his main followers) of the Panjshir valley, region of Badakhshan, he usually wears the salwar kameez and the pakol, a round hat made of wool, a symbol of the Mujadhins during the Jihad.

Sometimes he likes to play with his multi-ethnic roots and matches chapan and longi.

In order to compensate for the many years spent abroad (he graduated at Columbia University and has worked for the World Bank; he returned to Afghanistan only after 9/11 to become Minister for Financial Affairs), he often wears traditional outfits, usually a white salwar kameez with a V-neck waistcoat.

When he is among his fellow Pashtuns, he adds the turban.

But when he has to address his electorate in Kabul, he goes back to male western -style clothes.

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European enterprises of the luxury market continue to employ and make investments.

After the fall of the Lehman Brothers and the bursting of the USA real estate bubble that caused the collapse of the American financial system, growth has stopped and the whole world still finds no answer to this.

The financial system, true vital fluid for the economy, managed to avoid widespread bankruptcy; each productive sector is likely to find the solutions that best suit its tradition and current political balance.

As for the luxury sector, Europe is definitely on the front line. Luxury traces its legitimacy to the history of Versailles, Venice and Florence.

There is no doubt that the luxury industry illustrates the European genius better than any other. The art of living has always made mankind dream, thus Europe can continue to export its magnificent artisanal products all over the world.

A depressed economic trend combined with structural upheavals which have not been estimated yet, poses a challenge to the governments of the whole world. Such concerns should be coordinated within the works of G20.

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The difficulty in being understood in these so-called best shops is well known, especially when the customer says right away and with maximum precision what they want, they look at you with incredulous eyes, until you repeat your request.

But even then the salesman called over has not understood.

This time too at Sir Anthony’s more time than necessary was needed to take me to the right shelves.

I went to the suit department for my needs and pointed out a very specific suit, which the salesman brought down from the rack in front of me.

Once I had seen the quality of the material, I tried it on in the fitting room.

I bent down a few times frontwards and stretched out behind and decided that the trousers suited me well.

With the jacket on, I turned round a few times in front of the mirror, pulled my arms up and down, the jacket was just as good.

With the suit on, I walked around the store, taking the opportunity to choose the shirt and socks.

Finally I said I wanted to keep the suit on and try the shirt and socks as well.

I chose a tie, tied it, pulled it tight as far as I could, and after a new look in the mirror paid the bill and left the shop.

I put my old trousers and sweater in a paper bag with Sir Anthony written on it and with this bag in hand, I crossed the Kohlmarkt to meet my aunt, with whom I had a meeting at the Gerstner restaurant in Karntnerstrasse, on the first floor.

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Surely everyone has admired the incredible dresses depicted in Gustav Klimt’s works.

Magnificent robes interwoven with gold like Byzantine mosaics where only the face and hands of these beautiful creatures are left exposed, stunning women resembling pagan idols with these amazing costumes studded with gems and decorations.

But perhaps not everyone knows that this genial Austrian artist, father of the Vienna Secession, at the beginning of the 1900s had started to create elegant and original dresses, comfortable and easy at the same time, for the woman who had been his muse for many years.

Emilie Floge was the younger sister of his sister – in – law, and with whom he shared a high fashion salon in Mariahilferstrasse. It was for her that Klimt created numerous outfits.

Emilie, one of the first women ever to abolish tight corsets, loved to wear these delicate and innovative creations and used to pose for photography shoots by the painter himself.

In 1902 the artist depicted her in a portrait entitled “The Virgin”, where she appears at the center of a sensual tangle of fabric and female bodies.

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