Articles by: Marisa Iallonardo

If we were to play that old word-association game—the one where I say a word and you say the first thing that comes to mind—“Italian fashion” would likely yield Gucci and Prada as answers. But what if I were to say “Italian-American fashion?” or even “fashion by Italian-Americans?” That’s where things get trickier. A mall mainstay like Armani Exchange? Possibly Lady Gaga—the fashion-loving singer does have Italian roots. But it turns out there’s no need to

venture very far from the runway: Ralph Rucci, one of American’s most prominent designers and a nearly 30-year industry vet, also happens to be Italian-American.

Born and raised in Philadelphia, both Rucci’s paternal and maternal grandparents hail from Italy—Abruzzo and Calabria, respectively. His father, who worked as a butcher, and his mother taught him to dream big, that he could do whatever he set his mind to. He told the South Philly Review, "Ever since I was a kid, they just instilled this ambition and belief that the world is your oyster and you're a fool if you don't pick it up and eat it."

And Rucci did just that. After his junior year studying philosophy at Temple University he high-tailed it to New York City. There, he worked for Halston, the iconic American designer who created, among other influential pieces, the pillbox hat Jackie Kennedy wore to her husband’s inauguration.

By 1994, the designer launched his own label, Chado Ralph Rucci. Chado is the name of a Japanese tea ceremony which, according to New York magazine, “represents respect, tranquility, and integrity.” And the description isn’t far from the designs themselves. Rucci creates sophisticated, architectural pieces in luxury fabrics. “Mr. Rucci’s palette, his poeticism with cut, and his almost illicitly sumptuous employment of extraordinary fabric form a pronounced demonstration of comely grace,” wrote Iké Udé in aRude magazine. As a testament to his talent, in 2002, Rucci became the first American since the 1930’s to show and create a couture collection for Chambre Syndicale de la Haute Couture in Paris—a honor that thrust him into the international spotlight. And since then, he’s been twice nominated as Womenswear Fashion Designer of Year by the Council of Fashion Designers of America and has had museum exhibits center around his work.

His most important relationship, however, may be with the women who buy his creations. While many designers skew their collections young, Rucci caters to a more mature audience. Martha Stewart is one of his most famed clients (she even narrated a 2008 documentary about him) and socialites like Deeda Blair are forever fans who don’t mind his high price tags. And Rucci’s admiration for them is mutual: “In a time when most shows are loaded with starlets, store buyers and media, you know a designer cares about his real end-customers when he saves them front row seats,” wrote Christina Binkley in theWall Street Journal of his most recent show at last month’s Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week in New York.

It was there that he debuted his Spring 2010 collection, which came in a palette of white, tan and black with a few pops of gold and red and featured feminine skirts, gowns and suits created in light, structural silhouettes. Inspired by the late German dancer Pina Bausch and the sculptures of Lynn Chadwick, Rucci says in his notes on the show, “This season the idea of evolution makes a literal impact on the collection in the form of embroidery techniques that can be construed as stairways, or ladders, rising up from the hems of garments and literally becoming more refined as they climb.”
 

And while you might not find many of his pieces in mainstream magazine editorials, the press praised his spring collection, which received a standing ovation after its debut on the runway. “If Ralph Rucci attracts customers of a certain age, it's partly because the clothes he designs, with their intricate handwork—the sheer paneling, the braided insets—are so very costly. But maybe it's time for the celebrity stylists out there to take another look.” wrote Nicole Phelps on style.com And blogger Cheryl Shops wrote, “Have you ever seen clothes so beautiful, they make you cry? Maybe exhaustion had something to do with it, but during the grand finale of Ralph Rucci's runway show, I was literally moved to tears.” And SFLuxe put it most simply, “It was Rucci at his most original and stunning best.”

And—sorry Lady Gaga—but when asked about fashions by Italian Americans, those might be the best words to come to mind. Here, a few of looks from Rucci’s Spring 2010 collection.

While women’s fashion usually gets the front row treatment—and comes chock-full of celebrities, gossip and ankle-breaking stilettos—men’s fashion often takes a backseat. But that wasn’t the case during the last week of June in Milan, when some 40 designers debuted their 2010 spring/summer menswear collections.  

And it couldn’t have come at a better time for Italy’s suffering fashion industry. Profits are still down and back in March, it even went so far as to ask for a government bailout. But there are signs of life: 15 percent more collections were shown this time around than in January, according to Mario Boselli, chairman of Italy’s National Chamber of Fashion. How did it go? “Designers at Milan's fashion week sought more to reassure rather than provoke with easy, familiar styles and vibrant colours for men next spring,” wrote the UK’s Telegraph in its headline on the week.  

To keep you on top of the trends, we rounded up a few of the must-have styles for next spring—whether you’ll be wearing them yourself or buying them for a boyfriend, brother, or that co-worker who wears the same t-shirt and jeans every.single.day.  

Grey skies:

Even though grey has been a trend in men and women’s wear for the past couple of seasons, it seems grey, which took center stage at Prada and Versace, is here to stay—and colored everything from suits to vests, trousers to sweaters. 

Denim all day:

Jeans, as we know, tend to be the cornerstone of most guy’s outfits, whether at a bar, or baseball game. And as luck would have it, D&G, Moschino and Trussardi, among others, are sending the message that anything goes next season: Ripped, almost-white, shiny, bedazzled or cowboy-esque, paired with button-downs, vests, or lots of plaid.  

See-through:

Transparency was all the rage on the runways, with filmy sleeves, sheer raincoats and leave-nothing-to-the-imagination tanks. A trend that the Financial Times likens to the current economic climate: “Calls for transparency have been a feature of political discourse for the past year, so maybe it was only a matter of time before the theme filtered down from men’s minds to men’s wear,” writes Godfrey Deeny.  

Shorts story:

The boys were showing some leg with to-the-knee shorts topped with traditional jackets, like in pin-stripes at Gianfranco Ferre. I’m not sure if I could actually see any men walking around in these suits, but maybe in the post-recession era attitudes and fashions will be equally laid-back.  

Bold and bright:

If fashion is known to mimic the feelings of the times, the strong colors present in many of the collections might indicate a much-needed reprieve from the recession—or at the very least a glimmer among the grey. To that end, Dsquared2 provided oranges, teals, greens, bright blues, Ferragamo added some yellow and Bottega Veneta displayed a full-on fiery red suit. 

Last week, I played in a Scopa tournament. Scopa, a game often associated with southern Italian men sitting around a table and dramatically slapping the cards down while either smiling triumphantly and/or grunting loudly, depending on the outcome of the match.

Well, at least a game I often associate that way. Because, oddly, that scene might very well be my first memory of the game, despite the fact that it  happens to be one of the most popular card games in Italy. As a kid I would see my grandfather and other men from the town gathered in front of the bar in piazza playing away a summer afternoon. Later, as winter approached back in the States, the scene would be of my grandfather getting annoyed that my grandmother always beat him. (but we won't mention that to the guys from the summer...)

The game itself is played using a 40-card deck. For the tournament we played with "napoletano" cards, although I hear, you can play with other variations, including American. Basically, the object of the game is to "sweep"—scopa means sweep in Italian—all the cards off the table. For more details, check out www.boardgamegeek.com.

What was different about this tournament, though, was that almost everyone playing was under 25. There were exceptions of course (to try and win, I had my grandmother as my partner – although, possibly because I'm not my grandfather, that didn't really go as planned), but overall the majority were twentysomethings who probably learned to play the game around Sunday afternoon dinner tables or on flights to Italy.

It was interesting to think that while so many Italian-American youths are often stereotyped as "guidos" or Mafiosi-wannabe's, here was a group of young people who actually have ties to a culture and an interest to play a game that goes back hundreds of years.

 I asked 21-year-old Tom Chianese, who helped organize the tournament, why he was interested in doing it and he said, "Being a second generation Italian-American, I surprisingly wasn't taught this game, so I learned it by myself. I find it important that the younger generation should play because it brings you back to a simpler time. Today, people are preoccupied with work and money and overlook the fundamentals of life, which is to have fun and relax. Scopa for my friends and I brings that old school mentally back. Just to sit around, talk, play a game and enjoy life."

And with a few triumphant smiles and/or loud grunts, that's exactly what we did.

Here are a few pics from the tournament. Oh, and today, I found this! www.scopacards.com - you can play online!

I really like lists. “The Top” of this, “The Best” of that, “5 Reasons Why” whatever—it’s no wonder I work in the consumer magazine business, we’re suckers for these kinds of nicely drawn determinations. You can imagine, then, that I was interested in reading Vanity Fair’s 2008 International Best Dressed List, which is set to appear in their September issue, but was also released online early last week.

Turns out the Italians had quite a nice showing.

Gracing the cover of the magazine is none other than Italian-born, French first lady Carla Bruni-Sarkozy. Born in Torino, the former top model is the subject of an entire feature in the magazine. Her style is high fashion without a doubt, and various articles have been written about her fashion choices, which tend to steer towards high-end names like Dior, Galliano and Yves Saint Laurent. They’re so high-end in fact, that Women’s Wear Daily wrote in April, “Who pays for Carla's clothes? That's a question that has been raging ever since Dior-clad French First Lady Carla Bruni-Sarkozy wowed the Brits last week on an official visit with her husband, French President Nicholas Sarkozy. British papers have had a field day speculating about who paid for the first lady's Dior coats, dresses, bags, shoes and evening gowns.” In the same article Bruni’s agent responds by saying she either “borrows or buys”—either way, the girl has style.

Next up is Lapo Elkann, the heir to Fiat and member of the Agnelli family. Once described by Vogue as “possibly the best-dressed man in the world,” Elkann is often pictured wearing a host of variously colored suits (check out this one, oh, and this one too), his hair often slicked back. He might have survived a near-fatal drug overdose a few years ago, but it seems that from starting Italia Independent, a fashion company and Independant Ideas, an advertising agency, that’s old news.

Joining him in the ranks of powerful families are brother Andrea and Pietro Clemente, sons of Naples-born painter Francesco Clemente. I can’t seem to find much on the brothers except that they were featured in Paper Magazine and seems to have an affinity for suits with t-shirts. And last but not least, Count Manfredi della Gherardesca, a descendant of the Fenzi family of Florence—who, as seen in this pic, has a quirky style all his own.

Taking the top honor in the 69^th annual poll was Michelle Obama, the wife of presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama. The magazine calls her “Our commander in sheath,” and her style is known for being sophisticated and classic, with a look that’s characterized with lots of belts, structured jackets and color. Her style has more commonly been compared to that of Jackie Onassis and The Wall Street Journal writes, “First there's the hair. Worn flipped or curled under, Mrs. Obama's style is reminiscent of the volumized "Swan" look that Mrs. Kennedy -- who would later be known as Mrs. Kennedy Onassis -- tucked beneath her pillbox hats. Then there are the accessories: single-strand pearls the size of grapes, as well as the three-strand version.” And it’s not just major fashion magazine’s that are taking notice: At her June appearance on the talk show The View Obama wore a $148 Donna Ricco black and white print dress which only a few days later almost completely sold out in stores.

On the rest of the list you’ll find celebrities like Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt, Tilda Swinton and Daniel Craig, royals like Kate Middleton (technically not a royal yet) and the Crown Princess Mathilde of Belgium and others including Iris Apfel, Carine Roitfeld and Karl Lagerfeld.