Italian style

Persol Launches Limited Edition Steve McQueen Collection

Filed under: Celebrity Shopping, Men's Style

Legendary Italian eyewear brand Persol is re-issuing the classic foldable sunglasses made famous by the great Steve McQueen. An updated version of the brand's 714 model in tortoiseshell fitted with the King of Cool's custom blue lenses will be available in exclusive Sunglass Hut stores nationwide for $360. McQueen first sported the now-iconic shades in 1968's The Thomas Crown Affair. In 2006, a pair of Persol 714s from the actor's personal collection sold at auction for $70,000. The new Steve McQueen collection will be limited to just 10,000 handmade pieces.

In addition to the blue crystal lenses, the new 714's have an updated folding mechanism and McQueen's signature emblazoned on the inside of the temple arm as well as on the elegant accompanying leather case. The special edition models go through ten additional production phases compared to the original model. In addition, Persol will be launching a new ad campaign for 2011 featuring classic pix of McQueen sporting his Persols, shot by photographer William Claxton.

Gallery: Persol Steve McQueen Collection

Tags: ad campaign, celebrity, Italian style, Italy, Persol, Steve McQueen, sunglasses, The Thomas Crown Affair

Piaggio Planning a New Ferrari Jet

by Jared Paul Stern (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Luxury Cars & Autos, Wings

Piaggio chief executive Alberto Galassi just announced that plans are finally in place for a new Ferrari jet based on the Avanti turboprop plane (above) at the European Business Aviation Conference and Exhibition (EBACE) in Geneva. Piaggio, which is partly owned by Ferrari and is licensed to use its prancing horse logo, says its shareholders in Abu Dhabi and India are backing the project but declined to release many details. "I promise you one thing, this [will be] a beautiful airplane," Galassi said. "You would not expect anything more from Italian style and Ferrari."

They're not taking orders yet, however. "Who wants to hear about a new airplane, take orders and then wait 10 years for delivery?" Galassi asked. "You don't see Ferrari announcing a new model and then spending years developing it. Ferrari designs the car, builds it and then launches it. I want us to be close to first flight and with the latest technology before we tell people about it." He also joked, "It costs the same to design an ugly aircraft as it does a beautiful one, so we have the beautiful one."

[via JamesList]

Tags: airplane, EBACE, Ferrari, Italian style, ItalianStyle, Italy, jet, Piaggio, turboprop

Campari Celebrates Summer in Style

by Jared Paul Stern (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Spirits

In our Classicist column about Veuve Clicquot's collaboration with Riva Yachts the other day we fell to musing about Dolce Vita style on the Riviera. Of course, nothing exemplifies seaside sprezzatura quite like Campari, the classic Italian aperitif. The bold red spirit with the sexy ads starring Salma Hayek (above) has been around since 1860, but that doesn't mean they've run out of things to do with it. Campari and soda is the classic combo - and one of our seasonal staples - but the company has come up with several spiffy new cocktails for summer. See the gallery for recipes, including a couple that can be made in large quantities for parties.

Gallery: Campari Summer Style

Campari Sgroppino - created by mixologist Tony Abou-Ganim

Campari Passion - created by mixologist Jacques Bezuidenhout

Tags: Aperitif, Campari, Dolce Vita style, DolceVitaStyle, Italian Riviera, Italian style, ItalianRiviera, ItalianStyle, Italy, La Dolce Vita, LaDolceVita, Riviera, Salma Hayek, SalmaHayek, Summer cocktails, SummerCocktails

The Classicist: Veuve Clicquot Clicks with Riva Yachts

by Jared Paul Stern (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Spirits, Yachts & Sailing, The Classicist

Renowned French champagne house Veuve Clicquot has teamed up with luxury Italian motoryacht maker Riva to produce an amazing new Grande Dame Cruise Collection of coolers and accessories for discerning yachtsmen. It's nothing short of a match made in style heaven of two very chic European marques. The top offering from the collaboration is an $80,000 made-to-order cruising trunk that resembles a small boat in itself and harks back to the golden age of traveling in style which we reminisced about recently. For something done on such a grand scale it's rather refined, a luxurious design without resorting to odious "bling" to attract those with more money than sense.

The trunk comes packed with four bottles (1988) and two magnums (1998) of Clicquot's coveted La Grande Dame champagne, six Riedel crystal champagne flutes and elegant table settings for six people. A smaller limited edition Cruiser Bag comes with a single bottle of Grande Dame and two flutes for more intimate occasions, and a matching ice bucket is crafted with marine flair to spare. All pieces feature the same lacquer work, mahogany inlay, chrome detailing and leather trim found on Riva's beautiful boats.

Riva, which dates from the 1800s, is an icon of the Italian Riviera's Dolce Vita style. The company first captured the attention of movie stars and the international jet set in the '50s. Its classic wooden craft, which inspired the Cruise Collection, have been owned by the likes of Brigitte Bardot, Richard Burton, Sophia Loren, Aristotle Onassis and Prince Ranier of Monaco. Their yachts, including more modern designs, can be seen at the chic European seaside resorts where the bon ton gather, and they have their own line of elegant nautical-inspired clothing as well.

Gallery: Veuve Clicquot & Riva Yachts