Off-White c/o Church, Emporio Heads to Canada, Saint Laurent the Producer

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METEOR STRIKE: The second Off-White c/o Church’s capsule collection has arrived.

The second iteration of the genderless capsule collection featuring Church’s Consul Meteor shoe marries the progressive ethos central to the late Virgil Abloh’s “Question Everything” philosophy, with the artisan tradition and stylistic history of Church’s, the British footwear brand founded in 1873 that is now owned by Prada.

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The capsule recalls another iconic model of the British brand: The Consul. For this style, the classic Off-White “Meteor” detailing is the design focus, incorporating circular holes throughout the body of the shoe.

The “Meteor Shower” premise, envisioned by Abloh, with its signature circular cutouts is reminiscent of both Swiss cheese holes and meteor shower craters. The shoe, according to a joint brand statement, is reimagined in more luxurious materials and voluminous shapes.

Made on last 173, the shoe dates back to 1945 and owes its name to the English ambassadors and politicians who wore it and soon became a distinctive symbol of the British high aristocracy of the time.

The Oxford style is made of black calfskin that is finely brushed and polished. It features large holes in the upper and is finished with a trademark Off-White hangtag and laces that, in keeping with Off-White’s style, are labeled “shoelaces.” Both the men’s and women’s Consul Meteor shoes retail for $1,590.

The shoe is on sale at Off-White stores and website, Church’s stores and on church-footwear.com, as of Tuesday. — LISA LOCKWOOD

NORTHWARD: Emporio Armani will open its first Canadian freestanding store today at the Yorkdale Shopping Centre in Toronto.

Spanning 4,198 square feet, the store has been designed by Giorgio Armani with his team of architects. Materials used throughout the store include hardwoods and fine textured wall coverings that pair back to a neutral gray ceramic flooring. The ceiling is covered with wood, and wooden panels continue onto the walls and alternate with wallpaper-covered sections that provide a backdrop for product displays.

The choice of natural materials in light colors from gray to almond give the space a light and airy feel.

The store carries both women’s and men’s lines, including Emporio Armani ready-to-wear, accessories and small leather goods, as well as Emporio Armani watches, jewelry and sunglasses.

A fall 2022 ad image from Emporio Armani. - Credit: courtesy shot.
A fall 2022 ad image from Emporio Armani. - Credit: courtesy shot.

courtesy shot.

Last year, Armani celebrated the 40th anniversary of Emporio Armani, a brand that has been through several iterations but remains key to the designer’s business strategy. There are now more than 250 Emporio Armani stores globally.

In Canada, Emporio Armani is carried in Holt Renfrew, Harry Rosen and Hudson Bay.

In a WWD interview in September, Armani described Emporio Armani this way: “The brand has very much evolved, finding an expanded design offer and larger public. Emporio Armani today is extremely varied, in accordance with the times, which have changed.

“Youth today is not a question of age, as much as a sensation, a way of being,” he continued. “So Emporio continues to be a container brand, in which everyone can find something. The spirit is free, metropolitan and dynamic.” — LISA LOCKWOOD

CULTURE CLUB: Continuing to flex its cultural muscles, Saint Laurent said it will produce a 30-minute English-language movie by Spanish auteur Pedro Almodóvar.

It’s a Western starring Ethan Hawke and Pedro Pascal and filming is to start in August, with a release expected at a yet-to-be-determined film festival in 2023.

Pedro Almodóvar - Credit: Lexie Moreland for WWD
Pedro Almodóvar - Credit: Lexie Moreland for WWD

Lexie Moreland for WWD

All characters will be costumed in Saint Laurent clothes and accessories designed by its creative director Anthony Vaccarello.

Vaccarello has made bespoke films a key feature of his tenure, with Saint Laurent producing the movies in addition to wardrobing them. They’re part of his Self project that launched in 2018 and is meant as an artistic commentary seen through the lens of Saint Laurent.

Previous iterations included films and photography signed by author Bret Easton Ellis, performance artist Vanessa Beecroft, photographer Daido Moriyama, film director Gaspar Noé, as well as a chapter curated by Hong Kong’s Wong Kar-Wai and directed by Wing Shya. Noé’s film debuted at the Cannes Film Festival in 2019.

Vaccarello has been tightening ties between Saint Laurent and different creative fields, including photography, art and design, commissioning exclusive works that related to brand values like self-expression, while giving each artist creative freedom.

According to IndieWire, which like WWD is owned by Penske Media Corp., Almodovár’s “Strange Way of Life” follows a pair of estranged, middle-aged gunslingers, with much of the action taking place in the desert region of Spain’s Almería region, where Sergio Leone famously shot “The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly.” — MILES SOCHA

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