Milan When It Sizzles


Milan When It Sizzles

June 29, 2012

The hottest Milan men’s fashion week in memory coincided with a hotter than usual party calendar. It didn’t seem to matter that many attendees were pink-cheeked; the Milanese shows, which ended earlier this week, were reason enough to beat the heat and dare another glass of Prosecco.

With whom? “Friends and family” is how Calvin Klein Collection’s Italo Zucchelli (pictured, left) described the guests at the dinner he hosted for his Spring collection at Giacomo Arengario. If that’s the case, Zucchelli’s got some of the best in the business. The restaurant was full to bursting. Amar’e Stoudemire and fiancée Alexis Welch made an appearance, despite the fact that Stoudemire barely fit into the restaurant’s elevator. Even the mighty were dwarfed by the scenery, though. New York Ranger Henrik Lundqvist admitted that in the presence of the magnificent Duomo—of which Giacomo has what must be one of the the best views in town—even a giant can feel small.

If Calvin played host to Milan’s guests, the Tod’s cocktail party welcomed Milanese natives. Designer Luisa Beccaria and blogger-about-town Micol Sabbadini were among Diego and Andrea Della Valle’s cocktail party for the new book dedicated to their countrymen, Italian Portraits. Domenico Dolce took the same theme from a different angle with Campioni, his new book of portraits of Italian footballers, the realization of his long-held dream of taking photographs. Fittingly, given the subject matter, at the late-raging party for the book’s release at the Metropol, Dolce & Gabbana’s show venue, the night’s Euro Cup match was projected on enormous screens about the fray. The party may not necessarily have helped Italy secure a victory over England, but it can’t have hurt.

While smaller parties flickered throughout the week—like Hercules magazine’s event for its project with accessory label Corto Moltedo, the line’s first collab men’s bag, and Hogan’s for its new ad campaign with Stephen Dorff—the editor-favorite Principe Hotel remained a constant source of slightly soused illumination. It was the place to see the week’s celebrity guests, like The Hunger Games‘ Alexander Ludwig, in town to take in Versace, or Michelle Dockery, Downton Abbey’s Lady Mary, who’d sat front-row at Burberry. One elevator was even closed to plebeian traffic, in the service of an unnamed big kahuna. (Sightings of Madonna filming a new video in Florence during Pitti Uomo sparked rumors that the Material One would be the surprise guest at Dolce & Gabbana, but alas, no.) Even Dorff put in a night or two. He filled in interested parties about the new Hogan campaign, the pictures of which are still a closely guarded secret. It was shot at Cinecittà studios in Rome, famously the stomping grounds of none other than Federico Fellini.

Photo: Courtesy of Calvin Klein; Courtesy Photo


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