Armani wins award in Japan

The Japan Fashion Editor Club named Giorgio Armani Designer of the Year. The stylist is also in Tokyo for last Friday evening's inauguration of the Giorgio Armani Exhibition. Produced by Solomon R. Guggenheim at the Mori Art Museum, the exhibition is of the most representative examples of Armani's work throughout his 30-year career.

Japan is worth almost 1/5 of the label's turnover. 'I must say', the stylist explained to Il Sole 24 Ore, 'that the Japanese market has given us great satisfaction: despite the current great international crisis and domestic economic downswing we have always held our positions, without launching into expansion operations. But Tokyo has changed a lot compared to seven years ago, there is more emphasis on fashion so we have to adopt new strategies: above all we need a stronger presence and must make our products more evident. We must also aim at accessories which, until now, we have considered as being in addition to the ready-to-wear collections, but which have proved to be the real success in recent years. Suffice to mention Gucci, Prada and Chanel'.