Rationalist Roberto Menichetti to Debut in Florence
By Godfrey Deeny
June 08, 2004 @ 10:19 AM - Paris
Call it a double debut. Designer Roberto Menichetti will stage his first signature collection runway show this month in Florence, hosting the debut catwalk show in an architecturally distinguished new setting for fashion.
Menichetti will stage his spring/summer 2005 menswear collection in Manifattura Tabacchi, a giant former tobacco plant designed by Pierluigi Nervi, to many the greatest Italian architect of the 20th century.
Nervi, who designed the Papal Audience Hall, the Pirelli skyscraper in Milan and the Palazzetto dello Sport for 1960 Rome Olympics, was the leader of the architectural movement known as Rationalism. Nervi took seven years to complete the Manifattura Tabacchi on a 14-acre site in Florence, first completing a cigar rolling facility.
The Menichetti show is the key runway event in this summerÕs edition of Pitti Uomo, the most important trade show in the menswear business, which this season will feature 765 labels.
Menchetti will stage his show on June 24 Thursday 7.30 pm, one day after Pitti features a live performance of VB53 by artist Vanessa Beecroft in the Tepidarium del Roster.
Last month, as first revealed by FWD, Menichetti succeeded Michael Kors as creative director of Celine, and will present his debut collection for the French label in Paris this fall.
A motorbike-fanatic, who recently completed a tour of Egypt on his high-powered hog, Menichetti was born in Buffalo, NY, but grew up with his family in Gubbio. They own a key apparel plant, which produces for such designers as Helmut Lang, in this small city in the central Italian province of Umbria.
thanks for taking the time to post all those pictures runner.
