Azzaro launches ultra-luxe line for both women and men

At Azzaro, everything had to shine. After laying the foundations at Haute Couture in July, Maxime Simoëns, who came to the helm as artistic director for the maison last spring, went wild this season.

Presented on Wednesday inside the Musée de l’Homme, the designer unveiled an all-new Azzaro Ateliers: an ultra-luxe premium ready-to-wear line for women and men.

With its feathers, pearls, sequins, crystals, metallic fringing and gemstones attaching themselves to rather dark clothing, the collection glittered, and lit up the night.

Mixing couture and ready-to-wear pieces, but also the masculine and feminine - the women's borrowing lightly from Monsieur and vice-versa - the designer willingly blurred the lines to give a new interpretation of couture and its evolution.

"This ready-to-wear is a new couture, adapted to our time with more pieces for the day. At the same time, there's this idea of craftsmanship that is perpetuated," the designer told FashionNetwork.com.

"The size of our atelier has been amplified. All our ready-to-wear is made in France, except for denim, and we use French fabrics most of the time. For the men's, suits sell from 1,500 to 2,00 euros. For our women's, dresses go for 1,000 to 4,000 euros and can go up to 10,000 euros for the most worked-on pieces," he added.

Shine or glitz, which is at the heart of the maison, made its way into the whole collection, presenting a sensual Azzaro woman; one who likes the night-life, but also her male counterpart.

"He's an audacious, flamboyant man, who likes to go out, with a rock attitude," said the designer, in describing the Azzaro man, dressing him in "longline and skinny silhouettes."

This idea translated into classic white shirts with fine silver chain linings. Jeans were ripped to reveal gold lurex underneath, while cracked leather jackets dripped in gold lamé. There were black silk carves with shiny chain fringing, and black jackets covered in crystal pieces, and even kimono-bathrobe coats made of tailoring fabrics.

The Azzaro woman wasn't without her reversible sequin leggings in both matte and sheeny finish, and dresses draped in reflective blue jersey lamé or burnt-out velvet with flecks of lurex thread. Not forgetting the Azzaro classics, such as the caftan, seen this time in black chiffon with crystals, and the knit crochet technique threaded with chains.

Elsewhere, a transparent dressed arrived in all-over embroidered pearls and pearl fringing, designed to create zebra stripes. A strapless black velvet dress carried cherry blossom-look flowers made from pearls and pieces of metal. The Azzaro woman expressed her festive spirit, most notably with a baby doll look and fuchsia pink ostrich feather coat. And naturally, just like her man, she adored the sequin shirt with Lavallieré bow.

"I wanted a collection that was both romantic and rock, inspired the 1970s, with a lot of diversity, as seen in our model casting for the show. Azzaro has always been a maison characterised by its openness to the world," added Simoëns.

This latest ready-to-wear line from Azzaro now completes the Paris maison's overall offering. The company, created in 1967 by French-Italian designer Loris Azzaro and bought by Andorre Reig Capital Group in 2006, sees this commercial offering as a mix of couture and fashion, as well as men's and women's. Azzaro Atelier joins other lines Azzaro Couture, sold in the company showrooms and via trunk shows, and Azzaro Paris, its men's diffusion line, which is managed under licence, but has seen design elements taken back in-house by the company recently.

"Azzaro Paris sales have seen good growth. In April, we are going to open our first men's store dedicated to the commercial line, in the Marais, in Paris," executive director, Gabriel de Linage told FashionNetwork.com.

"Sales for couture have doubled. We have found a good dynamic and there's high expectations for our ready-to-wear," he added.

Azzaro launches ultra-luxe line for both women and men

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