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subscribe to style file blog via RSSarmani’s world-domination tour
November 12, 2007 4:27 pm
Last week belonged to Armani around the Pacific Rim, as Milan’s silver fox whistle-stopped Tokyo—to open a ten-story flagship in the Ginza—and Sydney, where Cate Blanchett and her husband, Andrew Upton, newly appointed co-creative directors of the Sydney Theatre Company, f?ted the designer for his patronage of the STC. So intense was the six-day itinerary, it might as well have been a fashion triathlon. By Sunday, when Armani’s entourage headed north to the Gold Coast for some essential R&R, its younger members (niece Roberta, for instance) were exhausted. But the notoriously exacting man himself seemed remarkably relaxed and accommodating throughout. "You learn to act a part," he conceded during a quiet moment on Bondi Beach. "It’s not an effort to be kind and nice to people."
And you get back what you give. Armani’s is one of the most generous ever individual financial gifts to an Australian theater company. On Tuesday, the pregnant Blanchett winged to Tokyo to switch on the lights in the Ginza shop, then flew straight back to Sydney. Round-trip? About 20 hours. "Absurd," she said. "But the very least I could do, given what Mr. Armani’s patronage is going to allow us to do for Australian theater."
If only Blanchett could’ve stayed one more night in Tokyo, she would’ve been able to take in the Armani spectacle at the Budokan, the renowned music venue (Cheap Trick, anyone?) that was specially transformed for a fashion-and-music event akin to the one Armani staged at Earls Court in London last year. The Yoshida Brothers dazzled like a samurai Flatt and Scruggs, Il Divo heaved with operatic emotion, and la diva Fergie brought heat and humor to a crowd that included local fashion icon Shiho (channeling Audrey Hepburn to an almost scary degree) and Japan’s Beckham, Hidetoshi Nakata. Then Armani & co. hit the town, taking in a Japanese hip-hop club and nightlife institution Velour. He was still going strong at 4 a.m., when less-intrepid members of his party had peeled off for bed.
After an overnight flight, Armani landed in Sydney early on Friday morning for his first visit to Australia. During an extensive afternoon tour of the STC, Blanchett was able to fully illuminate for Armani just exactly what his gift will foster (and it was revealed that he’ll dress the production of Joan Didion’s The Year of Magical Thinking that she’ll direct next year). The Blanchett-Upton dinner for the designer later that night continued the lovefest. Then, jet lag be damned, it was on to the opening night of the new club Trademark.
The following morning, Armani headed out to Maroubra Beach to experience the result of a different kind of philanthropic act. Among the sportsmen he’s been dressing around the world are the Rabbitohs, a legendary team of rugby league scrappers whom Russell Crowe has managed to haul up from hard times. They won the first game they wore their Armani suits to and they haven’t stopped winning since, so the designer’s name has taken on a talismanic glow. After the photo call, it was on to Icebergs, one of Sydney’s best restaurants. Armani stood lost in thought on the balcony, looking out over the stunning Bondi Beach scene below. What was on his mind? "I was feeling really sleepy," he said with a smile. Finally!
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