ELLE.COM.AU / @ELLEAUS 177
T
here’s one certainty at Milan Fashion
Week. It-girls may come and go, heel
heights may rise and fall, favourite gelato
flavours may fluctuate, but the Emporio
Armani show is a comforting constant.
Held at the Armani headquarters in the Armani
Teatro, a feat of modern architecture at via
Bergognone 59, the show draws the city’s movers
and shakers, international press and celebrities
alike. Each season the show-goers fight through
the Milanese traffic with their invitation in hand
(don’t even think of getting past security without
one) to weave their way through the increasingly
frantic street-style scene and take their place in the
stadium-style seating – front row if you’re
“someone”, bird’s-eye view if you’re someone else.
As the younger, more fun diffusion label of
Giorgio Armani, which shows a few days later,
there’s always an excited buzz to the Emporio
proceedings that calms only when the lights start
flickering – a sign to take your seat, per favore.
But this season, there was a glaring hole on
Milan’s SS17 calendar. Emporio Armani would
not show in the city but “exceptionally” in Paris,
just for one season, to celebrate the reopening of
the brand’s boutique and Emporio Armani Caffé
on Boulevard Saint-Germain. While the news no
doubt ruffled a few marabou feathers back home,
it was a cathartic moment for the brand – Armani
had planned a show and party in Paris in 1998 to
mark the opening of the store, but after months of
organisation and an estimated cost of $1 million,
the show was abruptly cancelled by the Paris
police, amid claims of security concerns.
So with all eyes on the refurbished store, there
was always going to have to be a big-impact
project. One that would make a statement,
showcase the merchandise on shelves and chime
with the company’s reputation for supporting the
arts. Cue Camille Walala. Apart from having
a surname we could happily sound out all day
long – “Wa-laa-laa” – the French-born, London-based designer is famous for her boldly geometric,
powerfully positive spacial works. Mr Armani saw
an immediate and perfect match for his AW16-17
New Pop collection. “I was just leaving for Milan
Design Week,” says Walala of the moment she
received the summons. “So I met the Armani
team directly, we went to their beautiful bar for
an informal meeting, and this is how it started!”
A graduate in textile design from the University
of Brighton in the UK, Walala established her
namesake brand in 2009, but it wasn’t long before
she had moved onto art direction and interior
design, nowadays known for blanketing pop-up
restaurants, living spaces, shopfronts (including
Australia’s Third Drawer Down), work spaces
(look up London’s Facebook headquarters) and
even the outside of a five-storey building with her
playful graphics. Her aim in life is to put a smile
on people’s faces, so when the artist was asked
to create a series of dedicated artworks and
a short film around the colourful, joy-inducing
accessories from Emporio, she rose to the
challenge. “I love the colours and graphics they
used in a very elegant way,” says Walala of the
pieces she was entrusted with, including colour-
blocked heels, metallic bucket bags and two-tone
eyewear. “I started to play with shapes and
colours. I really wanted to do something ‘pop’
with an optical illusion effect.”
It was a refreshing departure for a brand more
known for its sporty aesthetic and steamy
campaigns with the likes of Victoria and David
Beckham, Cristiano Ronaldo, Rihanna and Rafael
Nadal. The resulting imagery, with its strong
lines, bold hues and new perspectives, harks back
to the heady days of the ’80s when Armani was
firmly securing his position as industry king, and
fashion was an assault on the senses. But
dominating the slickly designed Emporio Armani
on Paris’ Left Bank, the artwork couldn’t have felt
more modern, or more upbeat. And the measure
of success when all was said and done? The
fashion set were smiling. qPROFILE
Artwork: Camille Walala courtesy of Emporio Armani.
Photography: Instagram: @camillewalala