PARIS — Luca Guadagnino was among the first to arrive at the event celebrating the collaboration between Stefano Pilati and Zara on Thursday here.
Yet the Italian director soon found himself surrounded by a who’s who in fashion, with designers, top models, makeup artists and hairstylists joining hosts Pilati and Marta Ortega Pérez, the non-executive chair of Zara parent company Inditex.
The packed affair included the likes of Pierpaolo Piccioli and Pieter Mulier; top models such as Kate Moss, Gisele Bündchen, Caroline Trentini, Rianne Van Rompaey, and Liya Kebede; makeup artists comprising Pat McGrath and Tom Pecheux, and hairstylists like Guido Palau and Duffy. Mario Sorrenti, David Sims, Juergen Teller, Iris Law, Lila Moss and Romeo Beckham were also in attendance.
Even with the dim lighting of the location, filled with candles and dark furniture as set-up, many guests took the chance to already show off pieces of the range, which will go on sale worldwide on Oct. 3. These included Moss wearing a blazer jacket adorned with little strawberries and Bündchen opting for a polka dot halter-neck top with a long train, worn over black pants.
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Bündchen knows the look well as she appears in the collection’s campaign wearing it, flanked by Pilati himself. Photographed by Steven Meisel, the images were released earlier in the day ahead of the event, along with a look-book also fronted by the duo, as reported.
The casting choice is in sync with Pilati’s distinct and much-admired personal style being at the core of the whole project, which crowns a long-lasting friendship between the designer and Ortega Pérez, too.
“It was the right time, the right collaboration. Marta and I, we spoke for years about maybe doing something one day and it has been really nice because we’re friends, we didn’t put any pressure on each other,” Pilati said at the event. “From the start until now, everything felt right… Even the process of doing the collection. Obviously it’s a different approach, I didn’t have an atelier but I had a great team.”
“So on one hand, it’s a great fashion moment, for them, for me — it’s the first time I do a collection under my name,” he continued. On the other, Pilati underscored the sentimental value of the project since “there’s an admiration and affection for each other [with Ortega Pérez] that goes on for 10 years.”
The coed collection highlights the voluptuous tailoring and sensual drape of Pilati’s designs, as well his knack for eye-catching accessories. In particular, Pilati knew immediately that he wanted to include in the range “the jacket and the tailoring [in general] because I was really looking to have long-fit jackets: I haven’t seen them around for a while and I felt that I wanted to bring them back to wear them myself,” he said.
As for defining his personal style, he struggled a little bit more, even to sum it up in just three words. “It’s tough, this one. I would say chic, for sure. And I’d say the opposite of loud: I wouldn’t say silent, but kind of. And it’s very personal. I mean if you have another minute, I can start with a list,” he concluded with a laugh.
