From La Repubblica online Palermo edition:
Sicily
Sicilians Do It Better: Dolce & Gabbana Present Their Alta Moda in Palermo
July 12, 2017
From Vogue magazine:
The arrival of a sleekly suited and enigmatic-looking man flanked by three watchful, headset-wearing bodyguards whose hands hovered above the meaningful bulges beneath their jackets did not, at first, seem that remarkable.
After all, around 430 clients, many of them new, travelled from across the world to the Sicilian capital of Palermo to experience the 126-look swoon that was Dolce & Gabbana’s latest Alta Moda show last night. And at Alta Moda, personal security detachments are ten a penny: The wealth that enables these super shoppers to spend hundreds of thousands of dollars, and sometimes considerably more, buying into this couture-but-beyond iteration of idealized Italian-ness comes with its own burdens.
Yet this new face was a man without a woman at a womenswear show who spent a great deal of time shaking hands with people he didn’t know. It seemed strange. When he shook my hand all became clear: This was no less that Rosario Crocetta, the President of Sicily, a son-of-a-seamstress communist anti-corruption campaigner who has been the target of at least three Mafia assassination plots. Wow. So why was he here? The president said: “As far as I am concerned Dolce and Gabbana are the best interpreters in Sicilian style. It is in their blood, and they do a lot for Sicily.”
Here is their high-fashion jewelry show at Palazzo Gangi, Palermo.
Read More
The arrival of a sleekly suited and enigmatic-looking man flanked by three watchful, headset-wearing bodyguards whose hands hovered above the meaningful bulges beneath their jackets did not, at first, seem that remarkable.
After all, around 430 clients, many of them new, travelled from across the world to the Sicilian capital of Palermo to experience the 126-look swoon that was Dolce & Gabbana’s latest Alta Moda show last night. And at Alta Moda, personal security detachments are ten a penny: The wealth that enables these super shoppers to spend hundreds of thousands of dollars, and sometimes considerably more, buying into this couture-but-beyond iteration of idealized Italian-ness comes with its own burdens.
Yet this new face was a man without a woman at a womenswear show who spent a great deal of time shaking hands with people he didn’t know. It seemed strange. When he shook my hand all became clear: This was no less that Rosario Crocetta, the President of Sicily, a son-of-a-seamstress communist anti-corruption campaigner who has been the target of at least three Mafia assassination plots. Wow. So why was he here? The president said: “As far as I am concerned Dolce and Gabbana are the best interpreters in Sicilian style. It is in their blood, and they do a lot for Sicily.”
Here is their high-fashion jewelry show at Palazzo Gangi, Palermo.
Read More
Man creates map of Palermo's 3,000+ monuments
January 24, 2017
An unknown person, presumably of Palermo, single-handedly created this detailed map of Palermo's 3,000+ monuments.
Enjoy some peace in Mistretta, Nebrodi Mountains
December 31, 2016
2017: "Hope for the Best, Expect the Worst" -- Mel Brooks
Islamic feast of the sacrifice celebrated outdoors in Palermo
September 13, 2016
A thousand faithful and Palermo Mayor Leoluca Orlando celebrate the Islamic Feast of the Sacrifice held seaside in the Foro Italico.
More hexagons
January 24, 2016
Via Cartari is one of the few historic streets to retain its hexagonal paving stone. I lived just a block from this little street and saw it every time I walked to the Antica Focacceria San Francesco. This was the paper makers' street. A great neighborhood. Gotta tell you that the photographer had smelly Read More
Cityscape: Piazzetta degli Angelini
January 6, 2016
The paving stones are honeycomb-shaped! Author Giuseppe Di Lampedusa's family home gave onto this piazzetta. It was destroyed by an American bomb during WWII, rebuilt and now, just recently, turned into apartments. There used to be a water tower and fountain here that brought icy cold water from the mountains, and thirsty aristocrats would Read More
rainy day today in Palermo
November 29, 2015
It's been raining in Palermo. Pilons that hold up bridges have moved out of place on the Palermo-Sciacca highway, a boulder rolled off a mountain and killed an 88-year-old woman asleep in her bed in Mondello ( maybe the house was built illegally close to the mountain) and Corso Vittorio Emanuele stones shone under this bike.
La Favorita Park from on high
November 17, 2015
Parco della Favorita, on the north end of downtown Palermo, by Siculdrone. Splendid.