LuisaViaRoma to Stage ‘Runway Icons’ Event During Pitti Uomo
SHOWTIME: LuisaViaRoma is ready to bring its showmanship back to Florence, with plans to stage a blockbuster event during Pitti Uomo.
The luxury retailer — which is known for throwing buzzy gala soirées with UNICEF in Capri and St. Barths with performances from the likes of Jennifer Lopez, Drake, Lenny Kravitz and Dua Lipa — is to hold “Runway Icons” on June 14.
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Developed in partnership with British Vogue and its editor in chief Edward Enninful OBE, the open-air catwalk show will retrace the evolution of style through the decades, featuring looks from 50 international brands. Emerging and established labels will be involved in the project, creating exclusive pieces that will be modeled by talents and friends of the glossy magazine.
To be held at the city’s historic Piazzale Michelangelo, the show will be followed by an exclusive private dinner and party, where a special music performance is expected to take place. To further promote the project, LuisaViaRoma will launch a series of activations around Florence, including at its flagship.
“Since its foundation 94 years ago, LuisaViaRoma has always celebrated fashion at its best. This incredible event that has been conceived to be highly inclusive since we will open the doors to 2,000 guests, wants to show our most authentic approach to the business: respectful of the past, focused on the present, and projected into the future,” said LuisaViaRoma president Andrea Panconesi. “Florence, where everything started, will play a key role in this event, offering guests an incredible location that will serve as the best setting possible to showcase the pinnacle of luxury and fashion.”
Enninful said the show will offer a “unique opportunity to bring together a selection of the world’s leading designers in one showstopping moment. There is an electric sense of creativity and craftsmanship in Florence, so to bring our vision to the runway here, with so many of our favorite collaborators, will be an unmissable event.”
This is not the first major show the retailer is staging in its hometown during Pitti Uomo. It already hosted one in 2019, when it celebrated its 90th anniversary, linking with Carine Roitfeld on a runway event with 4,000 guests. At the time, the soirée also marked the launch of CR Runway, a new-format fashion show uniting top designers and models under one umbrella.
Conversely to 2019, “Runway Icons” won’t cap off the Florentine men’s trade show, which is running June 13 to 16. That same day of the LuisaViaRoma event, Pitti Uomo’s guest designer Eli Russell Linnetz will also unveil his brand ERL’s spring 2024 collection for men. The location of the Californian talent’s runway show has not been revealed yet.
As reported, Fendi will additionally decamp from Milan to hold its men’s spring 2024 show on June 15 at its recently inaugurated accessories plant in Capannuccia, a 30-minute drive from Florence. The Rome-based brand will return to show during Milan Fashion Week starting from January next year with its men’s fall 2024 collection.
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