Cate Blanchett Bestows Visionary Award to Giorgio Armani in Milan
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MILAN — Rossy de Palma knows how to entertain on stage. She worked her magic at the La Scala theater on Sunday night, presenting the CNMI Sustainable Fashion Awards 2022 during a three-hour event, charging on with her energetic remarks and engaging the public throughout — a weary fashion crowd at the tail end of Milan Fashion Week. And she even succeeded in urging everyone to shout “happy birthday Pedro” for a recorded message for her friend Pedro Almodovar.
Italy’s Camera della Moda, in collaboration with the U.N.’s Ethical Fashion Initiative and with the support of the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, the Italian Trade and Investment Agency and the Municipality of Milan, bestowed 14 awards — designed by artist Michelangelo Pistoletto — including for craft and Italian artisanship; climate action; biodiversity; human rights, and the circular economy, among others.
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Who better than Cate Blanchett to bestow the Visionary Award to Giorgio Armani, given her friendly relationship with “the King, the Maestro,” as she called him on stage, and her stance as a longtime advocate for sustainability? Armani was rewarded for his philanthropic efforts, research into sustainable materials, initiatives to cut waste and long-lasting designs.
Earlier in the day, Blanchett attended Armani’s spring show and, on the sidelines of that event, she said she would start shooting a new film in about a month in South Australia directed by Warwick Thornton and play the role of a nun. Asked if she had any friends that are nuns, shaking her head, she said “no, [for inspiration] it all comes from the mind of Warwick.”
Another longtime activist, Bethann Hardison, handed the Climate Action Award to Gucci, recognizing its commitment to supporting regenerative agriculture programs, alongside two special mentions for the Demetra animal-free material and Off the Grid collection in The Groundbreaker Award category and for Chime for Change in The Philanthropy and Society Award category.
Gucci president and chief executive officer Marco Bizzarri accepted the award with Gabriela Bordabehere, who heads La Soledad that defies the gaucho men-only tradition. La Soledad is one of 10 agricultural companies involved in the project, launched by Gucci in Uruguay in collaboration with Chargeurs Luxury Fibers, one of the world’s largest wool producers.
“If someone asks why Uruguay, I respond that climate has no boundaries,” Bizzarri said. He revealed that, “hopefully next year,” Gucci will be involved in reviving abandoned silk and cotton plantations in Italy’s southern regions of Sicily, Calabria and Apulia.
Environmental issues were recognized with the Oceans Award, bestowed to the Prada Group for the Sea Beyond education program, and the Biodiversity Conservation Award to Oasi Zegna. The former was handed out by Kiara Nirghin, a South African inventor of a method to increase food security in drought stricken areas, to CEO Patrizio Bertelli, who attended with Miuccia Prada and Raf Simons.
The latter award was received by Gildo Zegna, chairman and CEO of the Ermenegildo Zegna Group, who attended with Anna and Paolo Zegna. The executive gave a shoutout to the namesake founder of the menswear company, who created the Oasi and planted half-a-million pine trees starting in the 1930s, touting the notion of giving back. “This project will go on forever,” he enthused.
One very moving moment was when ARA Lumiere founder Kulsum Shadab Wamab received the Social Impact Award for her work with gender-based violence. She and actress and trans activist Indya Moore hugged and helped three survivors of acid attacks overcome the emotion of flying out of India for the first time to stand on stage at La Scala in the beautiful black and gold embroidered saris they created. The reception could not have been warmer — and quite a few tears were shed in the audience.
Adut Akech was also emotional in receiving a special mention for having made history in the fashion industry by pushing the inclusivity needle, explaining how she strives to use her voice for the voiceless. But her message was positive and encouraging. “I am a symbol of hope,” she said, recalling her early, difficult days as a refugee in Australia from Sudan and her efforts to be accepted.
Pierpaolo Piccioli, who has long supported and worked with Akech, on this occasion bestowed the Human Rights Award to Bangladeshi businesswoman, university academic and poet Rubana Huq, who has been shining the light on the garment industry in Bangladesh.
Renzo Rosso trumpeted the work of his wife Arianna Alessi for the OTB Foundation, which received the Philantrophy and Society Award, from the hands of Italian rapper Ghali. On the sidelines of the event, he said Alessi “is so determined and driven, with so much energy. I wake up at 2 a.m. and I see her working, tapping away on her phone to direct the operations to help women and their children fleeing Ukraine,” Rosso said. “When you receive these cries for help, it’s not easy to stop and go to sleep, you just can’t,” Alessi said simply.
Bottega Veneta CEO Bartolomeo Rongone received the Craft and Italian Artisanship Award for the “Bottega for Bottegas” project, which at the end of last year helped boost the visibility of small and storied Italian shops and workshops around the world, leveraging the luxury group’s own brand awareness. This project, said Rongone, supported those that “prioritize value over volume.”
Other awards included: The Groundbreaker Award bestowed to Grounded Indigo by Albini Next and Stoney Creek Colors; the Bicester Collection Award for Emerging Designers to NKWO; the Ellen MacArthur Foundation Award for Circular Economy to Timberloop Treccker by Timberland; the Pioneer Award to Eileen Fisher, and the Woolmark Company Award for Innovation to Sease, founded by Franco and Giacomo Loro Piana.
“Fashion is communication, and also through fashion we can communicate the importance of sustainability,” said Alberta Ferretti, who as far back as 2011 created a “green” capsule collection with Emma Watson and has long championed this issue, also through the concept of timeless designs. “I have appreciated how, over the course of two seasons, all textile companies offer a minimum of 50 percent of sustainable fabrics. This sensibility is now rooted in all of us,” Ferretti said at the event.
The jury, comprising Dame Ellen MacArthur, Carlo Capasa, Simone Cipriani, Roberta Annan, Paola Deda, Kerry Kennedy, Teneshia Carr, Federica Marchionni, Ai Tominaga, Samata Pattison, Teddy Quinlivan and Michelangelo Pistoletto this year did not believe any company should receive the Equity and Inclusivity Award.
In addition to brief fashion shows by founding members Giorgio Armani, Gucci, Prada and Valentino, the 1,500 guests were treated to a performance by soprano Valentina Naforniţa, who sang Giacomo Puccini’s “O mio babbino caro” from Gianni Schicchi and “Quando me’n vo” from “La Bohème,” and by La Scala Academy Ballet school students directed by Frédéric Olivieri in “Swan Lake” by Peter Iljič Čajkovski, all conducted by Speranza Scappucci.
