Stefano Ricci celebrates its 50th anniversary in style in Egypt
Stefano Ricci celebrated its 50th anniversary with a memorable fashion show on Sunday evening in Egypt. The Florentine house, specializing in very high end men's clothing, chose nothing less than the temple of Hatshepsut as the set for the show, on the outskirts of the city of Luxor, in one of the best-preserved temples with its majestic portico, backed by a chain of limestone cliffs overlooking the site of Deir el-Bahari. For this event, it gathered some 400 guests.
This is the first time ever that such a fashion show has been organized in this city. Founder Stefano Ricci could hardly hide his emotion. "This night is really very special for me. I fell in love with Luxor 25 years ago. When I visited this temple for the first time, I immediately thought that I would have dreamed of doing a fashion show there. And tonight, the dream has come true," he said with a big smile.
Exactly half a century ago, in October 1972, he founded with his wife Claudia a small tie workshop that has become, over the years, an ultra-luxurious men's ready-to-wear brand, 100% Made in Italy, supported for more than 15 years by his two sons, Filippo, in charge of style, and Niccolo, as general manager.
The Italian tenor Andrea Bocelli, a long-time friend of the entrepreneur, opened the evening in an elegant white suit, singing Aida, Verdi's opera, which takes place in Egypt. In the wake of this, the first models began to descend the grand staircase of the temple with the 25 giant statues of Queen Hatshepsut, sculpted with masculine features because she became pharaoh, as a backdrop. A very cinematographic decor and scenography, reminiscent of the peplums from Hollywood's golden age.
The show hit hard from the beginning with a series of superb evening outfits, starting with three first sparkling looks, composed of black pants and sumptuous jackets woven from golden silk threads. This was followed by tuxedos, double-breasted blazers and gold two-button jackets cut from shimmering blue or copper brocade.
The oriental influence is felt in the long maharajah jackets, but also in the jacquards inspired by ancient Egypt. "This is a celebratory collection, but it's not a retrospective. These are the models for spring-summer 2023 and most of them will be custom made in limited edition," Filippo Ricci explained. All the designs were woven in blended silks at the Antico Setificio Fiorentino, acquired by the Ricci family in 2010, one of the oldest silk factories in Europe, located in Fiesole, in the hills north of Florence.
The show continued with full white looks with gold buttons, then a series of colorful three-piece suits with matching shoes (red, sage green, yellow, rust, etc.) worn with striped shirts. Another series of jackets and outfits in royal blue is followed by fancy printed silk shirts, named Mandela and Madiba, after the legendary client who made them famous. Stefano Ricci has always dressed many presidents in the world, of which Nelson Mandela was certainly the most famous.
Meanwhile, two singers joined the show, with Bocelli singing a duet with his son Matteo, and the Swedish-Italian soprano Susanna Rigacci, who performed a song from the film Once Upon a Time in the West by Sergio Leone, composed by Ennio Morricone, with whom she has worked for a long time.
The 90-look show ended with more casual outfits like ultra-soft white knit ensembles with openwork knits and cardigans, cashmere sweaters, braided sweaters and embroidered tracksuits. In this billionaire's wardrobe, there were also suede jackets and crocodile jackets, while nine elegant and sporty looks in khaki or beige canvas suits with royal blue lining closed the show, complete with an Indiana Jones-style leather hat for a final cinematic touch.
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