Giorgio Armani blasts Anna Wintour for skipping his fashion show

[Koibito]

'It's not professional'

By MISTY WHITE SIDELL

Giorgio Armani has called Anna Wintour 'unprofessional' for skipping his fall 2014 show in favor of flying on to Paris Fashion Week.

Mr Armani is so furious that he held a press conference to openly denounce the U.S. Vogue editor after his fashion show on Monday - Milan Fashion Week's final day.

‘She took an airplane, dumped [me] and went to Paris…’ said the designer, 79, whose brand is a major advertiser in Ms Wintour's magazine. 'It's not professional.’

He added: ‘She is influential and powerful. But, perhaps, I’m influential as well.’

Mr Armani says Ms Wintour assured him that other high-ranking representatives from her publication attended the show in her place.

But the designer was not impressed by this.

‘She said she was sending her people. But if you go to see your dentist and he puts you in the hands of his assistant, what’s your reaction?’ he said.

A spokesperson for Vogue told WWD that ‘Anna has the greatest respect for Giorgio Armani and everything he has done for Italy and fashion worldwide.

‘Unfortunately, with the fashion calendar now running for more than a month, there are some shows that Anna is not able to attend.’

Mr Armani blames Ms Wintour’s absence on the fact that he is the only influential designer to show on the final day of Milan Fashion Week – a prestigious schedule slot that he has held for the past two decades.

He told reporters backstage after his preview show that the Milan Fashion Week calendar needs to be altered to maintain high-profile designers until the end.

Mr Armani explained that the Camera della Moda, which presides over the schedule, is at fault.

‘When we decided to show the last day, other big brands were involved. But currently this is an empty day,’ he said.

In the last few years Mr Armani has been an outspoken critic of the Camera della Moda’s refusal to coordinate its fashion week dates with the world’s other major fashion weeks.

Currently, there is an overlap, giving fashion editors and buyers a maximum of twelve hours between the end of one city's fashion week and the beginning of another.

Ms Wintour has been known to leave Milan Fashion Week early for this reason. She also often leaves Paris Fashion Week early to return to New York to publish Vogue.

However, this season she may stay for Paris’s entire duration in order to catch Nicolas Ghesquière’s debut show for Louis Vuitton, which is scheduled for March 5 – the event’s final day.

Mario Boselli, the Camera della Moda president told WWD that his organization spoke with Mr Armani after his press conference to resolve their issues.

‘We met Mr Armani earlier and he is totally fine now. In a certain way, it’s right that the important journalists stay until the end of the week, and next season, we will try to guarantee the presence of other big brands the last day,’ he said.

dailymail.co.uk

 

[Starry]

I think the relationship between Armani and Wintour has been frozen for quite a few years already no? You can notice that Armani seldom puts any advertisement in Vogue US (except a few perfume ads once in a while)and the magazine seldom uses pieces from his collections.

 

[Thefrenchy]

Oh gosh... Cry me a river, Giorgio! What's also not professional is to be so tacky and make those declarations publicly.

 

[GivenchyAddict]

Oh gosh... Cry me a river, Giorgio! What's also not professional is to be so tacky and make those declarations publicly.

You're right. Seriously i find this ...childish. It's not like any members of US Vogue weren't at his show. Criticize directly Anna Wintour whereas it's not entirely her fault, it's really stupid.

 

[CATO]

Oh gosh... Cry me a river, Giorgio! What's also not professional is to be so tacky and make those declarations publicly.

i can understand his disappointment cause all designers work so hard for that appreciation - but it would have been better to choose a diplomatic communication way

 

[Littleathquakes]

Yes Giorgio, this sort of behavior will definitely get her to your show next season.

 

[MyNameIs]

I'm all for standing up to Anna, but this is such a stupid way to do it. Call up a press conference and complain about it? What is that gonna do? It makes him look like a wimp, tbh. You think she slighted you, you slight her back. Stop advertising in US Vogue, for example. Make a backhanded comment if someone asks about it. Something where you actually have a chance to come out on top.

 

[VogueDisciple93]

He was in a feisty mood, he also went after Prada and Dolce & Gabbana

Giorgio Armani Sounds Off
February 25, 2014
From: WWD Issue 02/25/2014
By Alessandra Turra

MILAN — Giorgio Armani was feeling feisty on Monday, taking on some of his favorite targets at his postshow press conference: Anna Wintour, other Italian designers and the Camera della Moda.

His combative mood appeared to be triggered by the noticeable absence of Vogue’s editor in chief from his front row earlier in the morning.

“There are some who prefer to snub the Giorgio Armani show and go to Paris,” he said. Although the designer didn’t name names, there was little mystery as to whom he was referring.

“She took an airplane, dumped Mr. Armani and went to Paris,” continued Armani, who, in the past, has strongly criticized Wintour, accusing her of attempting to truncate Milan Fashion Week’s schedule and forcing designers to change their show dates.

According to Armani, Wintour’s absence was due to the fact that he is the only major designer to show on the last day of Milan Fashion Week.

“Anna has the greatest respect for Giorgio Armani and everything he has done for Italy and fashion worldwide,” Vogue communications director Hildy Kuryk told WWD later in the afternoon. “Unfortunately, with the fashion calendar now running for more than a month, there are some shows that Anna is not able to attend.”

“When we decided to show the last day, other big brands were involved. But currently this is an empty day,” Armani said, accusing the Italian Fashion Chamber of inefficiency. “Does this mean protecting the Italian fashion? Where is the Camera? I rejoined it but I can always exit again. I can just put in a phone call….”

Armani couldn’t rein in his anger, nor his disappointment. “Why should I always be the moron [translating from an Italian expletive] to be penalized because of a person, who, for better or for worse, like or dislike it, is powerful? I feel penalized,” he noted. “She said she was sending her people. But if you go to see your dentist and he puts you in the hands of his assistant, what’s your reaction? They told me ‘She went to see the Privé in Paris; she has no time to see the ready-to-wear in Milan.’ She is influential and powerful. But, perhaps, I’m influential as well.”

A possible solution to keep power people in Milan for the duration of the shows could be to “take turns in showing on the last day,” Armani suggested.

“This is not an option,” retorted Camera della Moda president Mario Boselli, reached by phone later in the day. “But we met Mr. Armani earlier and he is totally fine now. In a certain way, it’s right that the important journalists stay until the end of the week, and next season, we will try to guarantee the presence of other big brands the last day.”

Armani set the tone for the press conference from the moment he sat down, needling the competition with Italian journalists: “I wanted to bring an owl with me this morning,” a reference to Dolce & Gabbana’s collection, which featured looks decorated with nocturnal birds of prey.

Armani spared no words in criticizing other Italian brands’ approach to fashion. “I think that the exaltation of the idea that designers can be just completely free to express their fantasy is really dangerous,” he said. “I’m very happy that others do what they do. I respect my colleagues. I’m happy with what I do, but I feel like a black swan in doing clothes with a function and with an attention to the commercial aspect.

“It’s very easy to do a V-neck dress with a bold print. It’s more difficult to make a suit or a jacket look new. It’s easier to freewheel,” he continued, in what appeared to be a veiled reference to this season’s Prada collection.

According to Armani, focusing on pure creativity and setting aside the business vision, Italy’s fashion companies cannot insist on receiving concrete help by the nation’s government institutions.

“Nobody is courageous enough to say that if the fashion industry wants to be supported by the Italian government, we have to offer a product which is not only smoke and mirrors but that has a functionality and can bring economic results,” he said. “Otherwise, fashion loses its credibility.

“We should talk about economy, competition. Others are copying us,” Armani pointed out, mentioning the case of “a store on Via Montenapoleone, which sells the same clothes I did 10 years ago.” The designer confirmed to journalists at the press conference that he was referring to Giada, a Chinese-backed Italian fashion label.

And Anna was in London, not Paris as he presumed.

 

[StoneSkipper]

So, in sum: "WAH WAH WAH NOBODY GETS ME I'M BEING COMPLETELY MISUNDERSTOOD! ANNA WINTOUR DOESN'T WANNA SEE MY SHOW (andyesiknowshesentsomeonefromherteambutiwantherit'snotfair!1!11!) SHE ONLY WANTS TO SEE OTHER RIDICULOUS DESIGNERS THAT MAKE AWFUL SUCKY CLOTHES I'M THE ONLY ONE WHO MAKES CLOTHES THAT PEOPLE CAN WEAR AND SHE DOESN'T CARE ABOUT ME WAH WAH WAH SO I WILL SHAME HER IN PUBLIC AND CALL OUT THE WHOLE PRESS BECAUSE I'M JUST AS GREAT AS SHE IS WAH WAH WAH!!!!111!11!"

How old are you again, Mr Armani? 79, you say? More like 7 and 9 months. This is teenage attention-wh*ring behavior, dude.

 

[Phuel]

I enjoy these toddler-like temper-tandrums from our resident, older designers.

He's immature alright. But, I think, once designers like him and Oscar, reach that point in their careers-- where fame and wealth create this illusion of demigod-dom that fuels their ego, it's an ivory-tower-world, and life that's completely out of touch with reality. The fact that he refers to himself in the third-person-- and so formally as "Mr. Armani", is enough to tell me what a runaway ego this man is possessed with. Laughable and amusing to us-- but I'm sure it's the end of the world to him to be "disrespected" like this.

(As for him being influential: It's been some time ago since he's been influential-- in the 1980s and 1990s, yes. But he's got to be delusional if he thinks his designs still holds sway in the current fashion-dom. Although, his Emporio Armani underwear line is huge with Guidos and rentboys. So he's got them to impress.)

 

[AgrenateD]

i may not be able to comprehend the complete repercussions of Giorgio not being able to show his collection to Anna Wintour, but my, what a hissy fit! to host a fullscale conference just to announce your displeasure to a person

 

[TREVOFASHIONISTO]

im glad she skipped it, lackluster and no diversity

 

[Melancholybaby]

i may not be able to comprehend the complete repercussions of Giorgio not being able to show his collection to Anna Wintour, but my, what a hissy fit! to host a fullscale conference just to announce your displeasure to a person

Rich people's temper tantrums are hilarious!

 

[Serenity Soul]

Quote:
Originally Posted by AgrenateD View Post

i may not be able to comprehend the complete repercussions of Giorgio not being able to show his collection to Anna Wintour, but my, what a hissy fit! to host a fullscale conference just to announce your displeasure to a person

Rich people's temper tantrums are hilarious!

It's also just the nature of the ever emotional Italians. I should know, I'm one of them!

 

[Street_a_Licious]

lbr, once you attended ONE Armani show, you attended them all for the next 3 years.

i always kinda dread working with Armani stuff, cause they lack any excitement...

 

[Littleathquakes]

It's also just the nature of the ever emotional Italians. I should know, I'm one of them!

FYI, if you ever want to quote more than one person, there's the "multi-quote" button next to the "reply with quote" button. Just click the multi-quote button and then go to the next post you want to quote and click it again, until you're ready to reply. The last post you want to quote will be the one where you click "reply with quote" and that will list all the prior quotes for you, and you can start typing away.

 

[Serenity Soul]

FYI, if you ever want to quote more than one person, there's the "multi-quote" button next to the "reply with quote" button. Just click the multi-quote button and then go to the next post you want to quote and click it again, until you're ready to reply. The last post you want to quote will be the one where you click "reply with quote" and that will list all the prior quotes for you, and you can start typing away.

Thanks so much! I had tried to use the multi-quote function but must have been doing something wrong because only the last quote was appearing.