UNITED KINGDOM: Giorgio Armani makes a guest appearance at London Fashion Week, staging a huge fashion and music extravaganza with a little help from his famous friends

Giorgio Armani, the world's most powerful designer, on Thursday (September 21) blamed stylists and the media for playing a part in the fashion industry's obsession with ultra-thin women. In London to host a music and fashion extravaganza with A-list stars Beyonce, 50 Cent and Bono, Armani said no girl needed to be anorexic in order to be fashionable. "I have never wanted to use girls that are too skinny. I prefer girls that show off my clothes in the best way," Armani told Reuters Television. "Unfortunately though, the stylists and also the media have interfered and they now want models that are incredibly thin." A debate about models' weight has shaken the fashion world in recent days since Madrid banned excessively thin women from its catwalks. Armani, whose client list spans Hollywood to high finance, is a bellwether for the industry and the most powerful fashion insider yet to speak out on the weight debate. "No one thinks that for a girl to be fashionable she needs to be anorexic, that she must not eat. I will only take on healthy girls," he said. Armani made the comments on the red carpet of one of the most hotly anticipated events of the fashion calendar and the hottest ticket of this week's London Fashion Week. "London because it is a beautiful city. It is a city of fashion, a city where you can live in different ways. I have been in London many many years, I have many shops here, but I needed to have a closer relationship, to have a closer relationship with my clients," the designer explained the reasons behind bringing his show to London. Before rock stars and actors, the 72-year old designer hosted a three-hour show and launched a new fashion collection in support of PRODUCT RED, an activism venture of U2 rock star Bono, aimed at raising funds to fight AIDS in Africa. "To use your star power for the people who have no power at all, has got to be a good thing. I mean I'm as sick of celebrities as the next man and I am one I suppose although I hate that word but you know it's ridiculous to have this thing called celebrity but it is currency and I want to spend mine wisely and I think so do most of the people in there," Bono told Reuters on the red carpet. In the intervals, Beyonce brought the 1,300 guests to their feet with a performance of hit "Crazy" while rapper 50 Cent had them punching the air. Among the guests supporting the RED cause were Leonardo di Caprio, Andrea Boccelli, Alicia Keyes and Ashley Judd with Sean Penn and Penelope Cruz in video link up. Armani also sent more than 50 models down the runway to show his collections usually seen in Milan -- from haute couture gem-encrusted gowns through lilac Armani suits to the baby doll dresses of his younger line Emporio Armani. "It will be the biggest party I've ever hosted, bigger than anything in New York, Paris, Milan," he was quoted saying before the show. RED is a new global brand with special ranges from The Gap, American Express, Converse and Emporio Armani sales. The hope is that profits from the venture will generate a flow of money to support the Global Fund to Fight Aids, Tuberculosis and Malaria. They later watched as models wore Armani's spring/summer 2007 clothing collection.

ITN Source | September 28, 2006

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