Style – It is the catwalks show-casing men’s fashion that have been spotlighted by the foreign press this week, first in Florence with Pitti Uomo and then other made in Italy brands on show in Milan. The New York Times concentrated its efforts on the excitement in Florence with a series of photos showing Pitti’s take on “street style” (June 20 – Street Style: Pitti Uomo*) having also written about what the fashion world has in store for kids this year (June 17 – In Florence, Boys Will Be Men*). Le Monde happily declared that the Florence event is the unmissable highlight of the men’s prêt-à-porter calendar (June 21 – La mode et les arts flirtent à Florence le temps d’un Salon).
The Washington Post featured on the Milan Fashion Week with a whole series of articles dedicated to some of the most important collections show, one dedicated to Gucci (June 20 – Jared Leto takes Gucci front row during Milan Fashion Week), another to Prada (June 19 – Prada treks the globe, Westwood launches Assange appeal), through Dolce&Gabbana (June 18 –Dolce&Gabbana jazz things up with fashion cacophony and Armani (June 21 – Milan: Kevin Spacey, Ricky Martin take Armani front row). Meantime Reuters ignored the catwalks, choosing instead to publish an interview with Ferragamo’s CEO, Michele Norsa, who explained how the Florence based company plans to respond to the slowdown in the luxury sector (June 19 – Italy’s Ferragamo CEO sees no let-up in luxury sector slowdown).
Shoes managed to hijack a few column inches, with the new Supergas presented at Pitti and dedicated to the man who took Italy into the upper echelons of the tennis world, Adriano Panatta, featuring in Expansión (June 20 – Superga Sport Panatta, las zapatillas que llevaron a Italia a la cima del tenis) and the innovative footwear by Vibram, produced by the company in the Chinese research center they set up 10 years ago, featured in an article in Les Echo (June 22 – En Chine, Vibram mise sur sa nouvelle chaussure-semelle pliable).
Culture – The Guardian featured an interview with Matteo Garrone who was talking about his new film “The story of stories” (June 17 – Gomorrah director Matteo Garrone on how Italy inspired his new film whilst el País ran an article about the 45 works by some of Italy’s best known artists Canaletto, Crespi and Tiepolo, currently on show in the Caixaforum in Saragozza (June 19 – Un regalo italiano).
Tourism – A subject that has already featured many times in the international press recently reappeared this week. Specifically, the so-called ‘Floating Piers’, the installation on Lake Iseo by Christo, that has proved to be a popular attraction drawing many visitors, all happy to take photos and talk about the experience of “walking on water”. (Wall Street Journal, June 17 – Building Christo’s ‘Floating Piers’*; New York Times, June 16 – Christo’s Newest Project: Walking on Water*;Time, June 17 – Now You Can Walk on Water Over an Italian Lake Thanks to This Beautiful Installation; The Guardian, June 18 – Walking on water: The Floating Piers – in pictures).
Other destinations also earned some space, for example, the New York Times uncovered the delights of Bergamo (June 22 – In the June Light of Northern Italy, the Bliss of Bergamo), whereas it was San Terenziano in Umbria that starred, in the same paper, as it sang the praises of a very traditional Italian specialty, the “porchetta” this town is famous for (June 21 – Paying Tribute to Porchetta, the Ancient Italian Pig Roast).
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