They say travel broadens the mind. That clearly includes fashion designers. One-off shows in far-flung, exotic places have become something of a fixture on the big-brand fashion calendar over the past few years. It got under way well before the pandemic but it has redoubled in the past year, with brands vying with each other to come up with ever more memorable backdrops against which to present their new collections. Last spring, Gucci showed men’s and women’s together in Puglia. Just couple of days later, Kim Jones’s Dior Men showed in Venice Beach to assorted press and influencers.
Just a week ago, Florentine men’s brand Stefano Ricci went one up on both and staged three nights of cocktails, dinners, and excursions in Luxor, Egypt. Several hundred of Ricci’s most faithful and spendiest customers—along with a handful of international press—were ushered from one mind-blowing moment to the next against the backdrop of 3,000-year-old temples, the Nile, and of course the famous tombs across it in the Valley of the Kings and, nearby, the lesser-known Valley of the Queens. In the background were 400 crew including four tailors, 45 models, and 200 chefs (flown in from Florence, Italy, naturalmente).
Logistics aside, there was nothing random or merely triumphant about selecting Luxor (in antiquity, Thebes) as a location for the Florentine brand’s 50th anniversary celebrations. As a Florentine brand, Ricci draws on an already-rich local Italian culture dating back to the Renaissance and beyond. But for him, Ancient Egypt represents something otherworldly in the almost-spiritual pursuit of beauty and luxury, something he has been at pains to foster in the men’s collections at Stefano Ricci since he started out in 1972 with a collection of silk ties. Ancient Egypt’s history and archaeology has held a special place in his heart since the inception of his brand, so much so that Ricci published a book called simply “Luxor of Egypt” almost twenty years ago, to celebrate the rich artistic culture of the ancient Egyptians. The book was signed in gold ink with a foreword by then-Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak and created with the assistance of Egypt’s own archeological superstar Zahi Hawass. Ricci had the limited edition run printed for gifting to friends and customers, though you can pick one up occasionally for around $500.
Daytimes on the Nile were spent Indiana Jonesing about in the more famous tombs, including Tutankhamun’s and a bevy of Rameses. A high point was a breakfast lecture from Zahi Hawass himself. Hawass, we learned, is hot on the trail of one of the most sought-after and, as yet, unidentified tombs, that of Queen Nefertiti. Dinner in the Temple of Luxor, a vast complex marooned in the bustling modern city, seemed like the high point of festivities, until the finale. In a fashion show spanning an hour, 90 looks in ten groups of models sashayed down the steep entrance ramp of the Mortuary Temple of Hatshepsut, built into the high cliffs of Deir el-Bahri around 1470 BCE, a thousand years before the Parthenon in Athens. The modern temple was reconstructed from of its ruins in the 1990s.
The collection ran from opulent brocaded evening wear—its cloths woven at an ancient 18th century silk weaver in the heart of Florence, the Antico Setificio Fiorentino, which was saved and is now owned and operated by the Ricci family—through patrician tailoring to what can only be described as mega sportswear with bells on, reflecting more casual tastes in clothes, even amongst Ricci’s most affluent customers. That much of this diverges sharply from the prevailing streetwear dominated looks on other runways is key.
And that is exactly how Ricci’s customers want it. Service—i.e., giving the customers what they want, rather than leading them by the nose—is the Ricci family’s unique selling proposition. After faltering in key markets like Russia and China during the pandemic, sales are, by all accounts, bouncing back not least in the USA, where the brand is about to unveil its latest flagship on Madison Avenue. This being a proudly Italian brand, you could not really expect to get away without a little opera, which was furnished live, mid-show, by friend of the brand, tenor Andrea Bocelli. Given the locale, there was a spot of Aida, naturally, but also the stirring Nessun Dorma from Turandot, which echoed powerfully off the cliffs above to add to the grandeur.
