FLORENCE – 4 years after its 90^th anniversary celebrations and fashion show with Carine Roitfeld, LuisaViaRoma returned to the panoramic Piazzale Michelangelo square here to stage the “Runway Icons” event with British Vogue on Wednesday.

The name of the open-air multibrand fashion show proved to be fitting. For the occasion, the retailer and glossy magazine tapped probably the most iconic Italian music artists for a live performance – Andrea Bocelli – and had considered one of the most important movie stars in attendance, as Leonardo DiCaprio led the guest list that also included Tobey Maguire, Julia Fox, Lucien Laviscount, Moses Sumney, Liam Payne, Charithra Chandran and Elsa Hosk, amongst others. 

These added to the style houses involved within the show – encompassing Giorgio Armani, Valentino, Versace, Loewe and Alexander McQueen – and its A-list casting including Natalia Vodianova, Eva Herzigová, Natasha Poly, Mariacarla Boscono, Irina Shayk, Ashley Graham, Imaan Hammam, Paloma Elsesser, Maye Musk and Pat Cleveland.

The one entry missing within the checklist was punctuality, because the event was not-so-fashionably really late, partly because of the afternoon pouring rain that caused multiple postponements and scrapped the organizers’ plans of a pre-show cocktail with a sunset view on the Arno River and Florence skyline. 

Although the style extravaganza eventually began three hours later than the unique time, Bocelli’s opening act was still emotionally charged as he performed hits like “Con Te Partirò” and the interpretation of Giacomo Puccini’s “Nessun Dorma” opera aria. 

“Andrea Bocelli was a dream, he was just magnificent,” enthused Fox afterwards, wrapped in a hearth red sequined gown from the graduate collection of designer Samuel Lewis.

The runway show followed the moment, opening with a bang via a series of tulle looks, the primary of which was a Giambattista Valli white gown donned by Vodianova. The lineup that then unfolded combined designs by established and emerging brands in no particular order, starting from Vivienne Westwood and Max Mara to Nensi Dojaka and Magda Butrym.

As reported, LuisaViaRoma and British Vogue’s editor-and-chief and soon-to-be Vogue’s global creative and cultural adviser Edward Enninful called around 50 international fashion houses and designers to affix the project by offering archival looks or create recent ones giving a contemporary interpretation to their signature pieces.

A few of them were seated front row, including Alberta Ferretti; Roberto Cavalli’s creative consultant Fausto Puglisi; Ferragamo’s creative director Maximilian Davis; Philosophy’s creative director Lorenzo Serafini; Blumarine’s Nicola Brognano ,and Palm Angels’ founder Francesco Ragazzi. Italian executives, like Moncler’s chairman and chief executive officer Remo Ruffini, were also in attendance.

Standout moments seen on the catwalk included Cleveland’s signature tackle runway walking – or quite performing; Shayk’s fierce strutting, and the finale that had all models walking in pairs and holding hands.

“The dimensions and spectacle of tonight’s event demonstrates the caliber of visionary talent inside our industry and I’m honored to bring this to life for thus many individuals. To be here alongside friends and collaborators, on this historic city, is a landmark moment,” said Enninful.

“I loved the show: attending to see all different outfits tonight was inspiring actually,” echoed Sumney in between the show and the exclusive dinner that followed, reserved for a collection of 300 guests out of the greater than 1,500 people on the show.

Fashion played a giant a part of the singer’s acting debut within the HBO series “The Idol,” which premiered last month on the Cannes Film Festival and where Sumney stars next to Abel “The Weeknd” Tesfaye, Lily-Rose Depp, Dan Levy, Troye Sivan and Eli Roth, amongst others. 

“It was really cool, as a musician, to be on set with real actors and real directors who’re more experienced than me. I had quite a lot of fun and I used to be very scared,” he recalled with amusing. “I feel essentially the most special thing were the garments. My character Izaak may be very on the market along with his fashion selections, very different than me. He wears color and I only wear black. So on a regular basis we’re fighting with the costume people,” joked Sumney, adding that “they convinced me to wear a leopard print underwear – that was the moment.” 

This was Sumney’s second trip to Florence, after having lived in town for a month last yr for a creative residency. He revealed plans to remain for a number of more days, before possibly touching base in Milan “for some fashion and for some pasta,” which teased he could be seen at other shows through the city’s men’s fashion week that starts Friday.

Meanwhile, a collection of pieces seen on the LuisaViaRoma x British Vogue catwalk was made available to buy through the @ShopWithGoogle Instagram account and at a dedicated section on LuisaViaRoma’s website right after the event, respecting a see now, buy now format.

The drop will likely be followed by 22 exclusive capsule collections developed with labels involved within the show. From Thursday to Nov. 16, tie-ups will likely be released every Thursday at midday CET, starting with those of Nensi Dojaka, Alexander McQueen and Mugler dropping concurrently this week. These will likely be followed by the likes of Moncler and Tom Ford, to finish with a variety by Paco Rabanne in the autumn.