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IN the 1950s, Rome was known for la
dolce vita (the sweet life), and last night the Italian
capital recaptured its former glory with a glittering
event, Una Notte a Roma (One Night in Rome).
The three big hitters of Italian fashion
- Giorgio Armani, Donatella Versace and Valentino Garavani,
known as just Valentino - showed collections created for
the televised event held in Rome's Piazza Navona.
Sitting in the front row were actors
Gwyneth Paltrow and Rupert Everett. Everett was seated
beside Dontella's daughter, Allegra Versace, who took
control of her inheritance - 50 per cent of the Versace
empire valued at $140 million - on her 18th birthday last
June.
Valentino, Versace and Armani were joined
on the catwalk by another fashion stalwart, Gianfranco
Ferre, to applause at the end of the evening.
For Armani, the celebration topped off
a good week during which the designer completed an agreement
to lend his vision to a $US1 billion ($1.3billion) project.
He will create interiors and oversee all the fashion aspects
of seven hotels and three resorts in Dubai for Dubai-based
developers Emaar Properties.
The first hotel is expected to open by
2008 and will be in the Burj Dubai building, which will
be the world's tallest residential and commercial tower
at 800m when it is completed.
In February, Armani announced he had
signed a letter of intent to team with Emaar to launch
a collection of luxury hotels and resorts. Over the next
seven years, 10 hotels and four resorts are expected to
be opened in London, Paris, New York, Tokyo, Shanghai,
Milan and Dubai.
Many friends of the designer were in
the audience for One Night in Rome, including Ornella
Muti, Margherita Buy, Vittoria Belvedere and Walter Nudo,
while Biagio Antonacci and Lucio Dalla performed on stage.
Armani is celebrating 30 years in business
this year, and at the half-way mark the successful brand
looks set to outlive its 70-year-old designer.
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