Crafting Luxury Experiences in Montenegro

Underscoring the role of exclusive experiences in fanning fashion purchases today, designers from Paris, Milan and Dubai converged on Montenegro over the weekend to offer just that.

Faith Connexion conscripted up-and-coming singer and DJ Yohanna Nicoll to perform in a baggy T-shirt and black tights alongside its edgy fashions; eco designer Tiziano Guardini delivered an impassioned speech while a trio of ballet dancers in mesh bodysuits and kimonos leaped around the runway, and Filipino couturier Ezra Santos stationed helpers at each end of the raised runway to fluff the enormous trains of his fantastical gowns.

The sixth annual International Fashion Festival Porto Montenegro, attended by about 1,200 people, also highlighted the rising stature of resort destinations for luxury retailers and independent designers, including homegrown fashion hero Boris Calic, who created a beachwear range for a summer pop-up at the One&Only in nearby Porto Novi.

It was Italian brand Genny‘s second time participating in the festival. Creative director Sara Cavazza Facchini said Montenegro lies at an “important crossroads” for fashion into eastern Europe.

“Luxury brands are always exploring new extensions of the brand, moments to be attractive to their customers,” she said. “Holidays, away from the work stress associated with cities, is one of these moments.”

“Creating events — especially around fashion — is super important,” agreed Angelo Zuccala, area general manager of InterContinental Hotels Group in the Balkans, and general manager of the Regent in Porto Montenegro, a historic sponsor of the fashion festival, held in an outdoor venue nearby that was lorded over by antique submarines. “It’s all about glamour, and this is very important to us because we are representing glamour as well in this hotel.”

Last year, the Regent inaugurated a Bulgari boutique opposite its bustling Rolex store, and Zuccala hinted that more big luxury names will be setting up shop soon within close proximity to the hotel, whose grandeur is only rivaled by the super yachts moored in its vast, palm-lined marina.

Zuccala reported an occupancy rate of 100 percent during the festival, including tourists from the U.S., the U.K., Russia, Ukraine and from across the Balkans attracted to Montenegro’s spectacular Adriatic coastline, and burgeoning array of luxury attractions.

Maria Buccellati, president of Faith Connexion, also raved about Montenegro’s landscape of beautiful people, who dressed to the nines to attend two nights of open-air fashion shows that are broadcast on national television, plus after parties.

“I’m really in a mood for new places, and I feel we have to explore,” she said in an interview, wearing one of the draped gowns in filmy jersey created especially for the Montenegro showcase. “I’m getting energy from the fantastic creativity in places that we don’t expect.”

Bowled over by Calic’s minimalist, but sexy shantung dresses, which she deems perfect for her recent home base of Miami, she hopes to bring the designer to L.A. Fashion Week, or a similar showcase in Florida.

Buccellati is plotting a Faith Connexion event in Doha, Qatar, at the end of October, and will pop into Paris for the Olympic Games to toast Peruvian designer Fortuna, which Faith Connexion spotlighted at an inaugural itinerant fashion event with see now, buy now product drops in Miami last November. She also hinted at upcoming events in Miami during Art Basel and in Shanghai.

This year’s edition of the festival took on sustainability as a theme, with Guardini taking to the mic over gentle guitar music to talk about the fragility of the planet.

“We are part of nature.…We are all part of a delicate balance, we are all connected, and the feeling is we can design, make and then produce in harmony,” he said, describing his purpose as giving consumers the opportunity “to buy fashion in connection with, and in respect of, life.”

Calic said he was thrilled with the opportunity to gain visibility for his brand at an international festival, and to confer with peers like Guardini, who shared his belief in physical pop-ups over strictly online distribution, vital for gaining feedback from clients.

Calic worked with London-based Serbian designer Roksanda Ilinčić earlier in his career, and is on a mission to widen the perception of fashion from Montenegro, a country of only 600,000 people.

“In Montenegro, the only market that is developed is eveningwear: Everybody wants to buy dresses and they want to invest only in dresses for special occasions like parties,” he said. “I’m trying to break the system.”

Dubai-based Santos, who designed a gown for Heart Evangelista’s 2015 wedding and is looking to widen his international client base, said he was impressed with the architecture, culture and natural beauty of Montenegro.

“Seeing it yesterday already inspired me to create my next collection,” he said. “It’s always wonderful to see different parts of the world.”