Julia Roberts Attends Calzedonia Fashion Show in Verona
VERONA — “Is everyone looking at my legs? Good, we’ve done the right thing,” said Academy Award winner Julia Roberts ahead of the first Calzedonia Leg Show, a fashion event focusing on the Italian company’s newest tights collection held here on Tuesday. Global face — and legs — of the label for the fourth year, Roberts proved to be the perfect ambassador for the hosiery specialist meeting the press sporting black fishnet tights. The actress styled them with a simple Equipment white shirt, Givenchy black miniskirt, Longchamp ankle boots and her signature, contagious smile.
“I’m just happy to work for a company that has the same values of family that I have,” said Roberts, who was in the city of Verona, Italy, for the first time. “I appreciate this collaboration because maybe four years ago I was getting a little lazy about my fashion and this [partnership] kind of brought me back into the fun of adding that element of stockings and tights,” she continued, adding that she was “a victim of enjoying the bare legs and I no longer am.”
Retracing her relationship with the fashion world since the early stages of her career, Roberts praised two designers in particular, both Italian.
“I really think the first designer that I felt kinship and in a relationship with was Giorgio Armani, who is just one of the kindest people and such a timeless, classic, incredible designer,” she revealed, adding that her attraction to men’s wear was the trigger that drew her to Armani. “He really [directed] me into the idea of what fashion can mean, so I’m very appreciative of him,” Roberts said.
The actress also underscored her relationship with Givenchy’s former creative director Riccardo Tisci, cemented two years ago through the advertising campaign she fronted for the French label.
“He understands me, understands what I like to wear, how he wants to see me look and how I want to look,” she said. “It’s a great a little combination of things, he gets me out of my comfort zone.”
Fashion aside, Roberts, who’s also the face of beauty label Lancôme, shared her secret for longevity, as she approaches her 50th birthday in a month.
“It really is about being happy in your life and surround yourself with people that are meaningful to you,” she said, mentioning her family on top of the list. “All those things translate and become what you look like.…You can kind of fake it in your twenties but in your fifties, how you feel is really just there on your face,” she said.
The milestone does not seem to undermine her optimistic approach. “I feel the whole panicking about age…is made up. I don’t think anybody is really panicking about getting older because the alternative is worse,” she joked. “I don’t feel panic, I might wake up Oct. 29 [her birthday] and weep but I doubt it, I don’t think it’s going to happen.”
In addition to birthday celebrations, Roberts’ agenda is full for the rest of the year, as her upcoming movie “Wonder” will bow in cinemas on November. Starring along with Owen Wilson, Jacob Tremblay and Daveed Diggs, the actress plays the protective mother of a young boy struggling to overcome a facial difference.
“I’m so enchanted by that story, I look forward to getting back together with my cast and supporting the release of the film,” she said.
Roberts will also work and star in her first TV show, named “Today Will Be Different,” in which she portrays a woman determined to be her best self over the arch of a single day. The actress revealed that the longer format is what intrigues her most of the project, as it will be “like [doing] five movies in the row. So I think that’s going to be exciting, probably a lot more work than I’m expecting.”
Before hitting the TV screens with this series, she will appear in her third Calzedonia TV spot, which was unveiled by the company’s founder Sandro Veronesi. Shot in Los Angeles by Academy Award-winning producer Grant Heslov, the TV spot serves as a sequel to the label’s latest commercial, where the actress was shopping at a brand’s store and leaving with bags in hands. Now she’s back at the shop, wearing a black dress and polka-dot tights and inspiring other customers to copy her look.
Held at the company’s headquarters, located a 20-minute ride from Verona, Calzedonia’s fashion show presented a wide assortment of tights, ranging from timeless fishnets to polka dots, from glittery options or styles showcasing creative patterns. Roberts attended the main show on Tuesday evening wearing a pink dress paired to polka dots black tights. In addition, another show was held in the morning at the presence of Italian top influencer and entrepreneur Chiara Ferragni.
Founded in Verona in 1986, Calzedonia is currently distributed in 43 countries through over 2,000 stores, 600 of which are located in Italy.
The label is the core brand of the Calzedonia Group, which also includes Intimissimi and Intimissimi Uomo, Tezenis, Falconieri and Atelier Emé fashion labels. In 2016, Calzedonia Group registered a turnover of 2.1 billion euros, up 5.4 percent compared to the previous year. The group currently counts 31,900 employees worldwide.
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