By Booth Moore,Christos Instagram
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Armani’s Earliest Inspiration Was Film
Fashion lost one of the greats last week, and so did Hollywood.
Giorgio Armani defined style without excess over the last half century, establishing the supple power suit as a uniform in the 1980s, 1990s and beyond for Michael Ovitz, Sherry Lansing and other power players.
He also helped usher in the era of high-stakes celebrity red carpet dressing. Building on attention he got in the U.S. for designing Richard Gere’s suits for the 1980 film “American Gigolo,” Armani became the first European designer to open a Los Angeles VIP dressing office in 1988, which was helmed for years by the incomparable Wanda McDaniel.
The investment paid off. Julia Roberts wore one of his off-the-rack men’s suits to the Golden Globes in 1990, and the look is still among fashion’s most influential when it comes to gender-bending style.
Jodie Foster, stung from landing on worst dressed lists, asked Armani to dress her for the 1992 Oscars when she won Best Actress for “Silence of the Lambs.” The publicity for her tasteful pantsuit was so off the charts, other brands came to L.A., and the red carpet fashion machine we know today was born.
What’s less known, perhaps, was how personally influenced Armani was by film. “The cinema was our aesthetics training academy,” he told me in a 2015 interview.
That training started when he was growing up in post-World War II Italy, where movies were an escape. Marlene Dietrich, Greta Garbo, Lauren Bacall, Gary Cooper, Cary Grant and James Dean influenced him and eventually his development of soft, sensual suiting for men and women in his signature muted “greige” hues.
“In the 1980s, when color was the rage everywhere, I explored myriad shades of gray, casting yearning looks at 1940s movies, which have always struck me for their elegance and refinement,” he wrote in his 40th anniversary book of his fondness for black-and-white films.
“How was a woman rising up the ranks of power going to be credible, in an environment that was still all-male, if she was dressed like a doll or restrained by excessively formal feminine clothing? How was a young, dynamic and uninhibited man going to contrast with the old modes of thinking if he was constrained inside a suit that denied his individuality and oppressed his energy and physique? The discrepancy was what I decided to resolve.”
And he did, building a $10 billion empire of clothing, interiors, hotels, restaurants, even chocolate shops. He also created costumes for “The Untouchables,” “The Dark Night,” “The Wolf of Wall Street” and other films, and continued to dress celebs on the red carpet, including Cate Blanchett in Venice just last week.
An Oscars In Memoriam tribute is definitely in order.
Gothic Glam Gems
Tiffany & Co. has a role in Guillermo del Toro’s “Frankenstein,” lending archival pieces and contemporary high jewelry for the film. Costume designer Kate Hawley also contributed custom designs.
The on-screen collection with Netflix features 27 pieces, including necklaces, bracelets, rings, earrings, brooches, pendants, sterling silver objects, a hair comb and a pocket watch. Nearly every jewel, including the stunning double choker above, is worn by Mia Goth as Elizabeth, while Charles Dance wears the pocket watch as Leopold Frankenstein.
This is not the first time the Louis Vuitton Moët Hennessy-owned brand has integrated into film; Tiffany & Co. worked with costume designer Catherine Martin to create 1920s jewelry for Baz Luhrmann’s “The Great Gatsby” in 2013, and rolled out a capsule collection inspired by it in stores. No word yet on whether a “Frankenstein” collection will follow suit. The film opens in theaters Oct. 17 and streams on Netflix Nov. 7.
Prada Marfa Artists Through the Looking Glass
In 2025, it feels a bit like we’ve stepped through the looking glass, which makes Elmgreen & Dragset’s new exhibition at L.A.’s Pace gallery particularly timely. Opening Sept. 13, “The Alice in Wonderland Syndrome” will explore psychological distortion as part of the artists’ practice of investigating how physical places shape our sense of self.
They are using the gallery as a framework for scenes of doubling and resizing inspired by the neurological condition Alice in Wonderland Syndrome, or Dysmetropsia, in which shifts in perception, often triggered by fatigue, alter one’s experiences of distance and scale.
The first work visitors will see is a hyper-realistic sculpture of a gallery assistant slumped over a reception desk. What follows could be a dream or maybe a trip. Mushrooms are optional.
The show coincides with the 20th anniversary of the Scandinavian duo’s famed Prada Marfa installation, a commentary on consumerism and luxury branding unveiled in 2005 Texas.
Pace will host a conversation with the artists and author Ottessa Moshfegh (who, incidentally, wrote a limited edition book for the Prada brand last year) followed by an opening reception Sept. 12 at 6:30 p.m. Info here and RSVP here.
Fashion and Art Collectors Piece
Jonathan Anderson’s terrific swan song of a fall collection for Loewe is now in stores. It includes a collaboration with the Josef and Anni Albers Foundation that brings his square color theory paintings to Puzzle totes and crinkle skirts, and her textural weavings to coats and Flamenco bags.
Also from the collab, the above bag, which could just as easily be a tabletop object. I really think that launching this Albers tie-in this season was clever, as it helped ensure Anderson’s final collection for the brand would be must-have despite the fact that it’s a lame duck since he’s already onto Dior.
Resale King Christos Garkinos Wants to Create Colette on Instagram Live
Now that Christos Garkinos’ digital resale empire Covet by Christos has surpassed the $100 million sales mark offering Birkins by the boatload, the entrepreneur and author is adding brand new bags and clothing to the mix with “Discover Covet by Christos.”
“The idea is to build my own version of Colette. It’s brands that I love and it’s highly curated,” the former Bravo TV star shared at a recent lunch to celebrate the launch, co-hosted by Monet Mazur with Kathy Hilton, Garcelle Beauvais and several fashion designers in the garden at the Chateau Marmont. (He’s referring to the epic concept store in Paris that shuttered in 2017.)
Garkinos has already kicked off the HSN-style “Discover” show on IG Live with artisan sandal and accessories brand Amanu by Anita Patrickson (who did almost $100,000 in sales); boho print queen Natalie Martin; Sage & Salt fragrance and crystal brand founder Corbin Chamberlin; and Anemos swim and loungewear designers Lauren Arapage and Joshua Shaub.
“It’s a new frontier,” said Chamberlin of live selling.
The show schedule is available at the Covet By Christos Instagram account and website.
Le Grove C’est Chic
Following success at the Brentwood Country Mart, cheap-chic French brand Sézane has opened an Appartement at The Grove until January 2026 and possibly beyond.
Behind the cute facade, the store has all of the brand’s must-haves, including the new Valentin ballerinas and Gabin tote bags, as well as a selection of only-in-California items.
“The Grove is a place where so many people come to gather, to discover and to enjoy themselves — it feels like the perfect backdrop for a little Parisian magic,” said founder Morgane Sézalory.
Louis Vuitton Makes Beauty a Must-Have Accessory
Louis Vuitton has finally entered the beauty category with La Beaute Louis Vutton, helmed by makeup artist par excellence Dame Pat McGrath, mastermind of the brand’s (and many others’) runway looks.
The collection is available online and at select stores. It has 55 lipsticks, 10 lip balms and eight eyeshadow palettes in shades like 854 Rouge Louis, 051 Monogram Touch and 150 Beige Memento. LV in-house perfumer Jacques Cavallier-Belletrud added a signature fragrance to the products mixing mimosa, jasmine and rose, and all the packaging is refillable.
Lipsticks are $160 each, positioning them as the most expensive in the market, a strategy designed to reinforce LV’s reputation as a luxury leader.
What’s got me most excited are the small leather goods harking back to the trunk maker’s first vanities from the 1920s. The monogram lipstick and eyeshadow cases ($495 and $595) would be perfect companions for a Marko Monroe blingy Labubu.
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