Investors’ appetite for Italian luxury brands – A stock that fits like a glove for investors: the Milan stock market is ready for Moncler’s IPO and the foreign press is getting ready to report on the year’s biggest stock launch, with an estimated demand for shares 30 times the offer (Bloomberg, 11 dicembre- Moncler IPO Priced at Top of Range as Demand Exceeds $27 Billion). The company is estimated to be worth over 2.5 bln euro (Wall Street Journal, December 11 – Moncler Prices IPO at Top of Indicative Range).
According to the Financial Times and the Washington Post, the operation’s success is a sign of investors’ appetite for stock in the European luxury sector (December 12 – Moncler proves a neat fit for investors ; Moncler IPO shows strong investor appetite).
The foreign press is not only interested in Moncler. The Times also wrote about fashion last week, publishing an interview with Diego Della Valle who talked about the philosophy of Tod’s (December 6 – Diego Della Valle recommends . . .Tod’s Double Stripe Bags *), while the Wall Street Journal underlined the historic commitment of the Marches based company to the restoration of the Coliseum (December 6 – Diego Della Valle Gives Back to His Country).
And the connection between luxury goods and Made in Italy was not limited to fashion. According to Bloomberg, Fiat is getting ready to invest 9 billion euro to launch a high-end series in Italy (December 9 – Fiat Said to Spend $12 Billion for Made-in-Italy Luxury; and a report from O Globo – Fiat investirá até US$ 12 bi em carros de luxo fabricados na Itália ).
The international success of “The Great Beauty” – Paolo Sorrentino and Tony Servillo were the subject of articles on the cultural pages of the foreign press. The occasion was three awards for the film – best photograph, best director, and best actor – by the European Film Academy to “The Great Beauty” (New York Times, December 9 – Italian Film Wins Honors in Europe; Publico December 8 – Paolo Sorrentino foi o vencedor dos prémios europeus). El Pais ran an article about Servillo’s film career (December 6 – Servillo, en el teatro de la ‘dolce vita’), while Sorrentino was interviewed by the German weekly Die Zeit (December 8 – “Mein Film ist mutig!”).
Music and culture – There was also a great deal of interest in the world of music last week. El Pais wrote about how Italian opera houses are getting ready to celebrate the 200th anniversary of the birth of Giuseppe Verdi (December 8 – Italia vibra con Verdi). And in the middle of contrasting reviews of the La Traviata currently being performed at La Scala, there was interested in the opera house’s new musical director, Riccardo Chailly (December 10 su Washington Post – La Scala takes another step in artistic transition and the New York Times – La Scala Confirms Chailly Will Be Principal Conductor and Music Director).
The Wall Street Journal also wrote about music, although in terms of lifestyle, visiting the Tuscan buen retiro of Andrea Bocelli (December 6 – Andrea Bocelli and La Dolce Villa). The tenor was also the subject of an article in the Washington Post, which reported on the latest workshop at Boston’s MIT on tech support for the vision impaired with the help of the Andrea Bocelli Foundation (December 6 – Bocelli visits MIT for adaptive tech workshop).
Finally, El Pais ran a piece on painting, exploring the words of Pietro Bellotti, the “other” Canaletto, being shown in Venice (December 6 – Tras las huellas inéditas de Pietro Bellotti, el otro Canaletto). Finally, Le Figaro reported the news of the Legion of Honor, the highest medal given by the Republic of France, to RAI President Anna Maria Tarantola (December 10 – La présidente de la RAI reçoit la Légion d’honneur).
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