In time for the Qixi Festival, often branded in the occident as the Chinese Valentine’s Day, Net-à-Porter has unveiled its social media campaign featuring five short romantic videos, of people meeting their loved ones at different ages. In addition, celebrity couple model Emma Pei (裴蓓) and Rojamtic Wang (王朱筱寅), who had appeared together promoting Princess Cruises in 2016, have appeared in the new Net-à-Porter campaign.
   The retailer will also launch an art exhibition centred around the festival, in association with Leica, featuring the works of photographers Tan Sibo (覃斯波), Vincent Keyue Zhang (章轲越), and Laurent Bu. Bloggers and illustrators will also publish their works.
   Participating brands in the promotion include: Buccellati, which is offering an exclusive, limited-edition series of necklaces and bracelets; Ahkah, with a little red heart necklace and bracelet; and Baume & Mercier, with an exclusive Net-à-Porter Classima ladies’ mechanical watch.
   The promotion began on the 19th in the lead-up to the Qixi Festival on the seventh day of the seventh lunar month, or August 25 on the Gregorian calendar this year. There are limited-edition greeting cards with love poems and special packaging. More information can be found via Tmall or Taobao, using the keyword NAP, or visit the Net-à-Porter Tmall store.

Malo Cashmere has released its autumn–winter 2020–1 collections for men and women, dubbed Heritage & Future. The Italian label likens its textures, patterns and geometric designs to the architecture of Firenze, which inspired the collection. The theme is based around mesh and weaves, reinterpreting its Florentine heritage in a contemporary way. Colours are natural, reflecting the land, planets and minerals. As befitting the label, the yarns are of the highest quality, and wearers can be assured of comfort.

Sterling Forever has the answer to one of 2020’s questions: what earrings go with my face mask? Given that most masks—with the exception of translucent and transparent ones—obscure the face, the ears do have it, being one way we might be able to identify someone. Sterling Forever has a comprehensive earring sets’ page, with plenty of designs.

We never thought we’d see Airstream’s brand extended to footwear, but Sanuk, a division of Deckers Brands, has done such that with its capsule-collection collaboration with the manufacturer of trailers and coaches.
   The jandals don’t look like Airstream trailers, but some of the footwear has some stylistic connections, such as the men’s Vagabond design, which has a modernist simplicity to its lines. Sanuk points out there are embroidered trailer patches, pink lawn flamingo prints and green turf soles—perhaps the connection is in the idea of travel and relaxation?
   That aside, the shoes do look comfortable, and the prices are a very reasonable US$35 to US$55. More at www.sanuk.com.

Stefano Lanza

In another sign of Italy beginning to open up again in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, Malo, the Florentine cashmere knitwear brand, will open a new boutique in Verona, at 41, Corso Porta Borsari, behind Piazza della Erbe, on July 14. And it appears to be the first in a line of openings.
   â€˜The opening of a new boutique in the historic center of Verona represents another important step for the company and also a strong sign of trust … By the end of the year, we also set another ambitious goal: the opening of a boutique in New York,’ says Malo president Walter Maiocchi.
   The Verona boutique is the second in the Veneto, with the first in Venezia.
   Maiocchi continues, ‘We are convinced that the “real” and online must go hand in hand, without one going to the detriment of the other. In December 2019, we launched the e-boutique on our website, and during the lockdown, it was a source of great satisfaction. However, in addition to this possibility, we want to offer our customers more and more boutiques where they can live the Malo experience, touching our fine yarns and our precious garments with their hands. A real sensory world that allows them to really perceive the quality of our “made in Italy”, which we love to define as “made in Malo”.’

Filippo P.

Stefano Lanza

Filippo Monteforte; Maria Moratti/Contigo

Lady Gaga is now officially the face of one of Valentino’s perfumes, the upcoming Voce Viva, by creative director Pierpaolo Piccioli with Valentino Beauty.
   The new campaign breaks in September with the perfume’s release.
   â€˜Lady Gaga means freedom, self-consciousness, pure hear,’ said Piccioli. ‘Her participation in this campaign elevates the symbolic power of the project to the highest level. She is the icon of a generation. Her message of freedom, passion for art, self-consciousness and equality is the same our Valentino community stands for. I am so proud for having her in.’
   On the new scent, the house said in a release, ‘Imagined as a voice to spread a message around the world, Valentino Voce Viva invites everyone to touch hearts, inspire others and live their dreams. Expressing the Maison’s values of inclusivity and individuality, Voce Viva celebrates one of the women’s most intimate sense.’
   Lady Gaga, already a modern-day icon and the only artist to receive an Oscar, Grammy, BAFTA and Golden Globe in the same year (for A Star Is Born), has recently released ‘Rain on Me’, a duet with Ariana Grande, and created her own beauty line.
   The star said in the release, ‘Be yourself, love who you are, and never give up your dreams.’

Above: SKP in Xi’an.

Dirk Weiblen; Univochi; Alan Grilo

Above: Designs by Vudafieri Saverino Partners for SKC’s men’s, women’s, lifestyle, home and footwear spaces.

With China and Italy steadily reopening, it’s little surprise that a great deal of news is from those countries.
   Vudafieri Saverino Partners, the Milanese architectural firm with a base in Shanghai, has announced that it was behind the interiors of two SKP (Shin Kong Place) malls in Beijing and Xi’an. SKP retails exclusive European brands, such as Chanel, Hermès, Louis Vuitton, Dior, Prada, Gucci, Bulgari, and Cartier.
   Vudafieri Saverino Partners worked on a total of 6,000 m² over five floors in Beijing and four in Xi’an.
   Each floor has its own distinct theme based on which products were sold and the target audience. The furniture and partitions have also been designed by the firm. All the spaces have a functional and flexible design.
   Men’s sections have an automotive-inspired design; women’s have more classic furnishings; while the lifestyle sections reflect innovation and technology. The home section references domestic settings, with furnishings also created by Vudafieri Saverino Partners. The footwear section uses soft lines, warm colours and few materials, to emphasize the product.

Alan Grilo

As some celebrities and models continue with lockdown, and others are starting to emerge from theirs, their Instagrams are a far more mixed bag than when we began peering into them again earlier this year.
   While a few months ago, there were express acknowledgements of the COVID-19 pandemic, this week there was no caption from Kylie Jenner as she posted a selfie of herself in a bra and jeans, love heart aside, with half-sister Kim Kardashian exclaiming ‘WOW’ with six flame emojis. And being Jenner the photo received 10·6 million likes, and Kardashian’s comment, at the time of writing, had 11,999—it’ll easily be over 12,000 by the time you read this.
   In Milano, where things are beginning to open up again, Chiara Ferragni showed off her pride capsule collection, sharing the link in her Instagram Stories. The home-shot top showcases its rainbow stripes proudly, with ‘Love fiercely’ emblazoned on the front.
   It’s outside for singer–model Hilde Osland modelling Bombshell Sportswear, showing off the red autumn leaves in Western Australia, as that country’s COVID-19 infections dwindle. German actress Franziska Knuppe went further afield, into the Baltic Sea on board a boat for a photo shoot, doing her own make-up (using Shiseido) and hair (using Schwarzkopf), but beyond that, it’s a ‘secret project’ and we’re to wait to see just what this is.
   Bar Refaeli had a far simpler, more relaxed post on her ’Gram, looking natural in Tel Aviv with the simple caption, ‘Favorite time of the day. ME TIME’, a sentiment which many of us would embrace. Just as blissful was a post from Marina Laswick to her one million followers, her husband Kev Dukes holding her up. They’re making a Q&A video to answer questions about their successful marriage, and among the comments is an admission that Kev is usually behind the lens of Laswick’s photographs.
   Silvana Araujo, with nearly a million followers as fans of her fitness advice, is the only one in our round-up who mentions her quarantine (in Bogotá) directly. Wearing a bikini, she’s alerting fans to her upcoming fitness videos.
   Finally, Lucire cover alumna, actress Violett Beane, who turned 24 earlier this month, showed off a new hair colour (‘Extremely-faded-dark-brown-box-dyed’) and ’do.