Giorgio Armani Offers Soft, Fluid Looks at Milan Fashion Week

A model walks the runway of the Giorgio Armani show during the Milan Fashion Week Womenswear Spring/Summer 2024 on September 24, 2023 in Milan. (Photo by GABRIEL BOUYS / AFP)
A model walks the runway of the Giorgio Armani show during the Milan Fashion Week Womenswear Spring/Summer 2024 on September 24, 2023 in Milan. (Photo by GABRIEL BOUYS / AFP)
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Giorgio Armani Offers Soft, Fluid Looks at Milan Fashion Week

A model walks the runway of the Giorgio Armani show during the Milan Fashion Week Womenswear Spring/Summer 2024 on September 24, 2023 in Milan. (Photo by GABRIEL BOUYS / AFP)
A model walks the runway of the Giorgio Armani show during the Milan Fashion Week Womenswear Spring/Summer 2024 on September 24, 2023 in Milan. (Photo by GABRIEL BOUYS / AFP)

Italian designer Giorgio Armani presented soft, fluid looks at Milan Fashion Week on Sunday, offering plenty of lightness and shimmer for women's wardrobes next summer.
The 89-year-old fashion veteran opened the show, called "Vibes", with a champagne satin jacket and satin grey trousers. Several outfits with the same color combination followed - cropped shirts, jackets and strapless dresses over trousers, Reuters reported.
Satin trousers featured heavily in the Spring/Summer 2024 line, often paired with sheer blouses, light jackets and sparkling tops.
Wave patterns adorned jackets, belts and shaped crop tops as well as buttons.
"Vibrations - that means colors, movement, a structure that moves on the body, that's the inspiration,″ Armani told reporters backstage.
For the evening, there were plenty of shimmering looks - sparkling tops, skirts and trousers, the last of which were white.
Models, whose hair was styled wavy, clutched small sparkling bags and wore flat shoes.
The colors shifted from champagne and grey to blues, greens and pale pinks.



Kering Posts 11% Drop in Q2 Sales, Sees Weak Second Half

The logo of luxury brand Gucci is seen in Tokyo on June 22, 2021. (AFP)
The logo of luxury brand Gucci is seen in Tokyo on June 22, 2021. (AFP)
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Kering Posts 11% Drop in Q2 Sales, Sees Weak Second Half

The logo of luxury brand Gucci is seen in Tokyo on June 22, 2021. (AFP)
The logo of luxury brand Gucci is seen in Tokyo on June 22, 2021. (AFP)

Kering reported a bigger-than-expected drop in second-quarter sales and forecast a weak second half, as the French luxury group struggles to revive its key label Gucci and worries grow about a prolonged downturn in high-end spending.

Sales at the French luxury group which owns labels Gucci, Boucheron and Balenciaga, fell to 4.5 billion euros ($4.9 billion), an 11% drop on an organic basis, which strips out currency effects and acquisitions.

The figure was below analyst expectations for a 9% drop, according to a Visible Alpha consensus.

It also said second-half operating income could fall by around 30%, following a 42% drop in the first half.

Sales at Gucci fell 19%, showing no improvement from the first quarter, and below analyst expectations for a 16% decline, according to a Visible Alpha consensus.

Kering has been revamping Gucci, the century-old Italian fashion house which accounts for half of group sales and two-thirds of profit.

Minimalist designs from new creative director Sabato de Sarno, which began trickling into stores earlier this year, are key to the design reset and push upmarket, in a bid to cater to wealthier clients who are more immune to economic headwinds.

Kering chief financial officer Armelle Poulou told reporters that the designs had been well received and the rollout was on track.

But the efforts have been complicated by a downturn in the global luxury market, while China's rebound - traditionally Gucci's most coveted market - was clouded by a property crisis and high youth unemployment as Western markets came down from a post-pandemic splurge.

Earnings from sector bellwether LVMH on Tuesday missed expectations as sales rose 1%, offering few signs that a pickup is around the corner, sending shares in luxury goods companies down on Wednesday. Kering traded at its lowest level since 2017.