Italian fashion designer Giorgio Armani, who died aged 91, will be buried on Monday in a private family ceremony in a village near Milan, local officials said.

Thousands filed past his coffin over the weekend, on display next to the headquarters of his multi-billion-euro lifestyle company in Milan.

Armani, who died last Thursday, will be buried in the medieval village of Rivalta south of Milan, where his mother is also interred, the local association for the castles in the region said on Sunday.

Security will be deployed to “ensure the privacy of the funeral,” scheduled for mid-afternoon, the association said on social media.

Milan mayor Giuseppe Sala also announced a day of mourning in his city on Monday.

The Armani company told AFP that its shops in Italy would close on Monday afternoon as a sign of respect.

Hollywood stars, politicians, and sports figures have been paying tribute to the fashion legend since his death.

AFP

A Miss South Africa contestant whose Nigerian heritage sparked a national controversy and a government investigation withdrew from the beauty pageant Thursday.

Chidimma Adetshina’s announcement that she would not take part in Saturday’s final came a day after the Home Affairs ministry accused her mother of fraud and identity theft.

“After much careful consideration, I have made the difficult decision to withdraw myself from the competition for the safety and wellbeing of my family and I,” Adetshina, 23, wrote on Instagram.

Adetshina, a law student, has been the subject of vicious, xenophobic attacks on social media since she was announced as a finalist in July, with many — including cabinet ministers — questioning her credentials because of her Nigerian descent.

Adetshina has previously told local media she was born in Soweto to a Nigerian father and a South African mother of Mozambican descent.

The ruckus led to an investigation into her citizenship following a request from the pageant’s organisers.

On Wednesday, home affairs minister Leon Schreiber said the investigation uncovered “prima facie indications” that Adetshina’s mother might have committed fraud and stolen the identity of a South African woman.

The ministry said it was obtaining legal advice on the implications of this on the citizenship of Adetshina, who was an infant at the time of the alleged fraud.

South Africa grants citizenship by birth to anyone born in the country after 1995 to a South African parent or permanent resident.

Adetshina’s participation in the pageant stoked anti-foreigner sentiment in the nation, which has witnessed violent, and at times deadly, attacks on immigrants in the past.

Politicians, celebrities and ordinary citizens weighed in on the debate. While many came to her defence, others argued she should be disqualified.

Announcing her decision to quit, Adetshina thanked everyone who “stood beside me right from the start of my Miss South Africa journey”.

“I am really grateful for all the love and support I have been shown,” she wrote.

Saudi Arabia held its first fashion show featuring swimsuit models on Friday, an envelope-pushing step in a country where less than a decade ago women were required to wear body-covering abaya robes.

The poolside show featuring the work of Moroccan designer Yasmina Qanzal included mostly one-piece suits in shades of red, beige and blue. Most models had exposed shoulders and some had their midriffs partially visible.

A model presents a creation from the summer beachwear collection by Moroccan designer Yasmina Q, during the Red Sea Fashion Week in Saudi Arabia’s Red Sea resort of Ummahat Island on May 17, 2024. (Photo by Fayez Nureldine / AFP)

“It’s true that this country is very conservative but we tried to show elegant swimsuits which represent the Arab world,” Qanzal told AFP.

“When we came here, we understood that a swimsuit fashion show in Saudi Arabia is a historic moment, because it is the first time to have such event,” she said, adding it was “an honour” to be involved.

The show took place on the second day of the inaugural Red Sea Fashion Week at the St Regis Red Sea Resort, situated off Saudi Arabia’s western coast.

The resort is part of Red Sea Global, one of the so-called giga-projects at the heart of Saudi Arabia’s Vision 2030 social and economic reform programme overseen by Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.

Prince Mohammed, who became first in line to the throne in 2017, has initiated a series of dramatic social reforms in a bid to soften Saudi Arabia’s austere image stemming from its historical championing of a purist form of Islam known as Wahhabism.

Those changes have included sidelining stick-wielding religious police who used to chase men out of malls to pray, re-introducing cinemas and organising mixed-gender music festivals.

They have coincided with ramped-up repression targeting dissent, including from conservative clerics who might protest such moves.

Shouq Mohammed, a Syrian fashion influencer who attended Friday’s show, said it was not surprising given Saudi Arabia’s attempt to open up to the world and grow its fashion and tourism sectors.

The fashion industry in 2022 accounted for $12.5 billion, or 1.4 percent of national GDP, and employed 230,000 people, according to a report published last year by the official Saudi Fashion Commission.

“It’s the first time to have a swimsuit fashion show in Saudi Arabia, but why not? Seriously why not?” Mohammed said.

“It’s possible and we have it here.”

Raphael Simacourbe, a French influencer who also attended on Friday, said there was nothing risque to his eyes but in the Saudi context it was a major achievement.

“That’s very brave from them to do that today, so I am very happy to be part of it,” he said.

AFP