Sabtu, 30 Juni 2012
Jumat, 29 Juni 2012
Jonathan Newhouse, Condé Nast International chairman, declares War On Carine Roitfeld.
It’s war between Condé Nast and former French Vogue editor Carine Roitfeld. Sources say Condé’s International chairman Jonathan Newhouse has been ordering photographers and editors not to work with Roitfeld for her new magazine CR Fashion Book.
“People love Carine but are more frightened of the Condé Nast machine.” VIA NYPOST
OMG!!! Jonathan..... We don't like this story !!!!
Humor Chic Fashion War - Preview 'Issue 0′ of Carine Roitfeld's New Magazine. CR Fashion Book "MERDE à VOGUE !!"
Jonathan Newhouse, Condé Nast International chairman, declares War On Carine Roitfeld.
It’s war between Condé Nast and former French Vogue editor Carine Roitfeld. Sources say Condé’s International chairman Jonathan Newhouse has been ordering photographers and editors not to work with Roitfeld for her new magazine CR Fashion Book.
“People love Carine but are more frightened of the Condé Nast machine.” VIA NYPOST
OMG!!! Jonathan..... We don't like this story !!!!
Kamis, 28 Juni 2012
Paola Pollo, FASHION BLOGGER KILLER SPRAY
by aleXsandro Palombo
Le Fashion Bloggers? Solo figuranti passeggere. Le giornaliste fashion bloggers? Lascio a loro farsi fotografare con un cestino di cincilla vivi fuori dai defilé…
Intelligente e arguta lo è, gentile e coraggiosa pure, critica, diretta e spiazzante sempre, sincera come solo alcune poche e grandi giornaliste sanno ancora essere... sicuramente. Sguardo attento e fisico atletico, un connubio perfetto per una donna che da quasi vent’anni corre da una capitale all’altra della moda per seguire e raccontare in presa diretta tutto quello che le grandi griffe presentano. Un suo difetto, fotografarla è un impresa impossibile, da sempre restia alle pose da front row preferisce nutrire di continuo la sua curiosità e il suo brillante cervello, stiamo parlando di Paola Pollo, fashion editor super schiva e riservata del più importante quotidiano italiano il “Corriere della Sera”. Humor Chic l’ha incontrata per farsi raccontare il suo esclusivo ed originale punto di vista sul pianeta fashion Bloggers.
Humor Chic - Ci sono tonnellate di adolescenti e giovani che hanno aperto un blog dove postano ogni giorno foto di se stessi con outfits sempre diversi, danno consigli in fatto di look ai loro seguaci, si chiamano Fashion Blogger. Puoi dirci cosa ne pensi?
Paola Pollo – Penso sia un fenomeno della rete e per la rete. Non trovo abbia i suoi riscontri nella macro esistenza. Non più di un paio di mesi fa ero ad una presentazione insieme alla direttrice, non più giovanissima, di un settimanale diciamo di costume. Era tutta entusiasta di aver scoperto da poco (e parliamo di febbraio!!!) le fashion bloggers: “Sì, sì la moda ha ragione a corteggiarle! Trascinano le folle….”. Non credevo alle mie orecchie. “Le folle? Scusa ma sei mai andata fuori da un liceo o da una università? Per caso vedi qualcuno/a conciata in quel modo?”. “No, no – mi ha risposto – mia figlia per prima non si vestirebbe così stravagante”. “Ecco appunto – le rispondo io –, ma sicuramente fuori dalle sfilate ne vedi tante”.
Humor Chic – In sostanza credi sia un fenomeno di nicchia che colpisce una cerchia ristretta?
Paola Pollo - Sì, riflettori sotto i riflettori dello stesso mondo. Un mondo che ama i riflettori. E amare i riflettori è un’attitudine che gratifica se stessi, innanzitutto. Ecco le foto e la voglia di mettersi in mostra. Con più o meno gusto. Ma mai parlerei di mestiere, no. Solo di nuove figuranti di un carrozzone quello della moda che fa salire e scendere, di tanto in tanto, qualcuno.
Humor Chic – Una frase forte la tua, ma per figuranti cosa intendi a chi ti riferisci?
Paola Pollo - Pensa alle top model che non ci sono più! Molte cadute in disgrazia, qualcuna ha recuperato dopo una serie di pessime figure (vedi Kate Moss, per esempio). Ci si ricorda di Cindy (Crawford) ma alzi la mano chi sogna di essere Daria (Werbowy), la bellissima modella polacca che spopola su passerelle e pubblicità da almeno quattro anni? Tutti, anzi tutte, previa cliccata su Google, perché pochissime – ne sono sicura – ne hanno presente il volto.
Humor Chic – Molti stilisti hanno iniziato a regalare abiti e accessori a molte di loro che non perdono occasione per pubblicarli online e far sapere ai loro seguaci qual’è l’ultimo regalo che lo stilista di turno gli ha inviato, proprio come fossero dei trofei da esporre. Cosa ne pensi a riguardo?
Paola Pollo - Ma il mondo della moda adora essere adorato e adorare. A prescindere. Dunque se “A” mi adora e anche solo 1000 persone la guardano sul web, mille persone potrebbero adorare me. E io adoro A. Ora non so se regalando ad A la borsetta cool servirà a vendere 1000 borsette cool: forse se è una Carpisa da 50 euro ma una Valentino da 2000 euro sinceramente non ci credo. Per carità posso sbagliarmi. E se il fashion system è impazzito per loro e le vuole ovunque e comunque, nessun problema. E’ la corte, bellezza. Contenti loro. Personalmente penso che a guadagnarci in notorietà e attenzione siano solo e unicamente le fashion bloggers. Tutto qui.
Humor Chic – Sono stati gli stessi giornalisti di moda a dare visibilità alle fashion bloggers, però adesso tra giornaliste di moda e fashion bloggers sembra che qualcosa si sia raffredato, direi inceppato, forse vengono avvertite come una minaccia?
Paola Pollo – Effettivamente è vero che sono stati i giornalisti di moda a parlare di loro per primi. La rete è un fenomeno con tutti i suoi fenomeni che siano gli avatar o i blogger. Detto questo no, non mi sono mai sentita “in pericolo” per il ruolo delle fashion bloggers. Sinceramente non sono mai neppure stata sfiorata dal dubbio, il mio mestiere è quello della giornalista: vado, vedo e scrivo.
Humor Chic – E cosa pensi delle giornaliste di moda che hanno aperto un loro blog e come fossero delle ragazzine ogni giorno pubblicano una loro foto con outfits sempre diversi, qualcuna poi per giustificare la triste fotina farcisce la minestrina con punti di vista fashion, non pensi siano ridicole?
Paola Pollo – Sono passati trent’anni dal mio primo articolo e diciotto dalla prima settimana della moda e posso ancora entusiasmarmi o annoiarmi di una sfilata. Non mi interessa farmi fotografare con un cestino di cincilla vivi fuori dai defilée… Né corro a postarmi se una mattina mi vedo cool con una scarpa a forma di banana! Se qualche collega è passata dall’altra parte, evidentemente aveva quell’attitudine e chissà che, dopo una collezione farà anche un film. Il mio sogno non è disegnare un paio di jeans ma intervistare John Galliano, il punto è che quì si fà una gran confusione di ruoli.
Humor Chic – Non trovi che ci sia una galoppante superficialità e un invasione di mediocrità, un pericoloso pressapochismo che ha invaso il sistema?
Paola Pollo - Se mi chiedi se un certo pressapochismo e una certa superficialità ci siano, ti rispondo che forse sì.
Humor Chic – Forse bisogna tornare a mettere l’accento sulla parola serietà, professionalità, sacrificio, passione, formazione più che improvvisazione?
Paola Pollo - Dal momento in cui decidi di diventare giornalista a quando firmerai il primo pezzo su un quotidiano importante potrebbero passare – se ti va bene – dieci anni (laurea, scuola-praticantato, stage, primo contatto) per postare la tua foto con il cestino di cincilla vivi basta un click… Ma questo i signori della moda, lo sanno. O no?
Humor Chic – Probabilmente in molti lo hanno dimenticato, non credi?
Paola Pollo - E allora il pallino lo passerei a loro, per capire meglio.
E noi di Humor Chic attendiamo con trepidante attesa la risposta degli stilisti...
Au revoir chicest
Humor Chic intervista esclusiva - Paola Pollo, la brillante fashion editor del Corriere della Sera parla di fashion bloggers con Humor Chic
Paola Pollo, FASHION BLOGGER KILLER SPRAY
by aleXsandro Palombo
Le Fashion Bloggers? Solo figuranti passeggere. Le giornaliste fashion bloggers? Lascio a loro farsi fotografare con un cestino di cincilla vivi fuori dai defilé…
Intelligente e arguta lo è, gentile e coraggiosa pure, critica, diretta e spiazzante sempre, sincera come solo alcune poche e grandi giornaliste sanno ancora essere... sicuramente. Sguardo attento e fisico atletico, un connubio perfetto per una donna che da quasi vent’anni corre da una capitale all’altra della moda per seguire e raccontare in presa diretta tutto quello che le grandi griffe presentano. Un suo difetto, fotografarla è un impresa impossibile, da sempre restia alle pose da front row preferisce nutrire di continuo la sua curiosità e il suo brillante cervello, stiamo parlando di Paola Pollo, fashion editor super schiva e riservata del più importante quotidiano italiano il “Corriere della Sera”. Humor Chic l’ha incontrata per farsi raccontare il suo esclusivo ed originale punto di vista sul pianeta fashion Bloggers.
Humor Chic - Ci sono tonnellate di adolescenti e giovani che hanno aperto un blog dove postano ogni giorno foto di se stessi con outfits sempre diversi, danno consigli in fatto di look ai loro seguaci, si chiamano Fashion Blogger. Puoi dirci cosa ne pensi?
Paola Pollo – Penso sia un fenomeno della rete e per la rete. Non trovo abbia i suoi riscontri nella macro esistenza. Non più di un paio di mesi fa ero ad una presentazione insieme alla direttrice, non più giovanissima, di un settimanale diciamo di costume. Era tutta entusiasta di aver scoperto da poco (e parliamo di febbraio!!!) le fashion bloggers: “Sì, sì la moda ha ragione a corteggiarle! Trascinano le folle….”. Non credevo alle mie orecchie. “Le folle? Scusa ma sei mai andata fuori da un liceo o da una università? Per caso vedi qualcuno/a conciata in quel modo?”. “No, no – mi ha risposto – mia figlia per prima non si vestirebbe così stravagante”. “Ecco appunto – le rispondo io –, ma sicuramente fuori dalle sfilate ne vedi tante”.
Humor Chic – In sostanza credi sia un fenomeno di nicchia che colpisce una cerchia ristretta?
Paola Pollo - Sì, riflettori sotto i riflettori dello stesso mondo. Un mondo che ama i riflettori. E amare i riflettori è un’attitudine che gratifica se stessi, innanzitutto. Ecco le foto e la voglia di mettersi in mostra. Con più o meno gusto. Ma mai parlerei di mestiere, no. Solo di nuove figuranti di un carrozzone quello della moda che fa salire e scendere, di tanto in tanto, qualcuno.
Humor Chic – Una frase forte la tua, ma per figuranti cosa intendi a chi ti riferisci?
Paola Pollo - Pensa alle top model che non ci sono più! Molte cadute in disgrazia, qualcuna ha recuperato dopo una serie di pessime figure (vedi Kate Moss, per esempio). Ci si ricorda di Cindy (Crawford) ma alzi la mano chi sogna di essere Daria (Werbowy), la bellissima modella polacca che spopola su passerelle e pubblicità da almeno quattro anni? Tutti, anzi tutte, previa cliccata su Google, perché pochissime – ne sono sicura – ne hanno presente il volto.
Humor Chic – Molti stilisti hanno iniziato a regalare abiti e accessori a molte di loro che non perdono occasione per pubblicarli online e far sapere ai loro seguaci qual’è l’ultimo regalo che lo stilista di turno gli ha inviato, proprio come fossero dei trofei da esporre. Cosa ne pensi a riguardo?
Paola Pollo - Ma il mondo della moda adora essere adorato e adorare. A prescindere. Dunque se “A” mi adora e anche solo 1000 persone la guardano sul web, mille persone potrebbero adorare me. E io adoro A. Ora non so se regalando ad A la borsetta cool servirà a vendere 1000 borsette cool: forse se è una Carpisa da 50 euro ma una Valentino da 2000 euro sinceramente non ci credo. Per carità posso sbagliarmi. E se il fashion system è impazzito per loro e le vuole ovunque e comunque, nessun problema. E’ la corte, bellezza. Contenti loro. Personalmente penso che a guadagnarci in notorietà e attenzione siano solo e unicamente le fashion bloggers. Tutto qui.
Humor Chic – Sono stati gli stessi giornalisti di moda a dare visibilità alle fashion bloggers, però adesso tra giornaliste di moda e fashion bloggers sembra che qualcosa si sia raffredato, direi inceppato, forse vengono avvertite come una minaccia?
Paola Pollo – Effettivamente è vero che sono stati i giornalisti di moda a parlare di loro per primi. La rete è un fenomeno con tutti i suoi fenomeni che siano gli avatar o i blogger. Detto questo no, non mi sono mai sentita “in pericolo” per il ruolo delle fashion bloggers. Sinceramente non sono mai neppure stata sfiorata dal dubbio, il mio mestiere è quello della giornalista: vado, vedo e scrivo.
Humor Chic – E cosa pensi delle giornaliste di moda che hanno aperto un loro blog e come fossero delle ragazzine ogni giorno pubblicano una loro foto con outfits sempre diversi, qualcuna poi per giustificare la triste fotina farcisce la minestrina con punti di vista fashion, non pensi siano ridicole?
Paola Pollo – Sono passati trent’anni dal mio primo articolo e diciotto dalla prima settimana della moda e posso ancora entusiasmarmi o annoiarmi di una sfilata. Non mi interessa farmi fotografare con un cestino di cincilla vivi fuori dai defilée… Né corro a postarmi se una mattina mi vedo cool con una scarpa a forma di banana! Se qualche collega è passata dall’altra parte, evidentemente aveva quell’attitudine e chissà che, dopo una collezione farà anche un film. Il mio sogno non è disegnare un paio di jeans ma intervistare John Galliano, il punto è che quì si fà una gran confusione di ruoli.
Humor Chic – Non trovi che ci sia una galoppante superficialità e un invasione di mediocrità, un pericoloso pressapochismo che ha invaso il sistema?
Paola Pollo - Se mi chiedi se un certo pressapochismo e una certa superficialità ci siano, ti rispondo che forse sì.
Humor Chic – Forse bisogna tornare a mettere l’accento sulla parola serietà, professionalità, sacrificio, passione, formazione più che improvvisazione?
Paola Pollo - Dal momento in cui decidi di diventare giornalista a quando firmerai il primo pezzo su un quotidiano importante potrebbero passare – se ti va bene – dieci anni (laurea, scuola-praticantato, stage, primo contatto) per postare la tua foto con il cestino di cincilla vivi basta un click… Ma questo i signori della moda, lo sanno. O no?
Humor Chic – Probabilmente in molti lo hanno dimenticato, non credi?
Paola Pollo - E allora il pallino lo passerei a loro, per capire meglio.
E noi di Humor Chic attendiamo con trepidante attesa la risposta degli stilisti...
Au revoir chicest
Rabu, 27 Juni 2012
Paola Pollo, the brilliant fashion editor of “Corriere della Sera”, talks about fashion bloggers and much else to Humor Chic.
Fashion Bloggers? Only ephemeral and small time. Blogger fashion journalists? Let them have their pictures taken with a basket of live chinchillas outside the fashion shows ...
She is definitely intelligent and witty, kind and courageous, critical, direct and always surprising, as only a few sincere and still great journalists can be. A watchful gaze and an athletic body, a perfect combination for a woman who has spent nearly two decades running from one capital to another to follow fashion at first hand and write up everything the big names present. Her one fault is it’s impossible to photograph her, ever reluctant to adopt a front row pose, she prefers to nurture her curiosity and her brilliant mind.
We are talking about Paola Pollo, super elusive fashion editor for Italy’s most important newspaper, the “Corriere della Sera”. Humor Chic met her to talk about her unique and original perspective on the world of fashion bloggers.
Humor Chic - There are scores of teenagers and young adults who have started blogs where they post pictures of themselves every day in ever-changing outfits and giving advice about style to their followers. Known as fashion bloggers, can you tell us what you think of them?
Paola Pollo - I think it’s a phenomenon of the Web and for the Web. I don’t believe it has any parallel in macro life. No more than a couple of months ago I was at a presentation along with the editor, no longer young, of a weekly which deals, let’s say, with modern living. She was all thrilled to have recently discovered the fashion bloggers (I’m speaking of February!). "Yes, yes, fashion is right to court them! They pull in the crowds .... " I couldn’t believe my ears. "Crowds? Have you never been outside a high school or university? Do you really see anyone, male or female, in an outfit of that kind? "
“No, no,” she said. “My daughter would be the first not to dress so oddly.”
“That's exactly it,” I tell her , “but definitely outside the fashion shows I see a lot like that.”
Humor Chic– So basically you think it's a niche phenomenon affecting just a small circle?
Paola Pollo – Yes. They love being in the spotlight of the world. A world that loves the spotlight. And loving the spotlight is an attitude that gratifies them first of all. Hence all the photos and the desire to show off. With more or less taste. But I’d never speak of skill, certainly not. They’re just new bit players who leap on the fashion bandwagon that keeps taking people aboard and setting them down.
Paola Pollo – Yes. They love being in the spotlight of the world. A world that loves the spotlight. And loving the spotlight is an attitude that gratifies them first of all. Hence all the photos and the desire to show off. With more or less taste. But I’d never speak of skill, certainly not. They’re just new bit players who leap on the fashion bandwagon that keeps taking people aboard and setting them down.
Humor Chic – Yours is a harsh judgment, but what do you mean by bit players?
Paola Pollo – I’m thinking of the supermodels who don’t exist any more! A lot fall from grace, some have recovered after a string of errors (see Kate Moss, for example). You remember Cindy (Crawford), but raise your hand if you dream of being Daria (Werbowy), the beautiful model from Poland who was all the rage on the catwalks and advertising agencies for at least four years? All the guys, in fact all the girls, will have clicked on Google, because very few - I'm sure – remember her face.
Paola Pollo – I’m thinking of the supermodels who don’t exist any more! A lot fall from grace, some have recovered after a string of errors (see Kate Moss, for example). You remember Cindy (Crawford), but raise your hand if you dream of being Daria (Werbowy), the beautiful model from Poland who was all the rage on the catwalks and advertising agencies for at least four years? All the guys, in fact all the girls, will have clicked on Google, because very few - I'm sure – remember her face.
Humor Chic – A lot of fashion designers have started giving away clothes and accessories. A lot of bloggers never not miss a chance to publish them online and let their followers know what was the last gift a stylist sent them, just as if they were trophies to be displayed. What do you think about this?
Paola Pollo - The fashion world loves to be adored and worshiped. Regardless. So if A loves me and even just 1000 people look at it on the web, thousands of people might adore me. And I love A.
Now I don’t know whether giving A a really cool purse will help sell 1000 cool handbags. Perhaps it’s a Carpisa costing 50 euros or a Valentino at 2000 euros, but I honestly don’t believe it. For goodness’ sake, I could be wrong. And if the fashion industry has gone crazy for them and wants them anywhere and everywhere, no problem. It’s the adulation, baby. As long as they’re happy. Personally I think it’s only the fashion bloggers that gain notoriety and attention. That's all.
Paola Pollo - The fashion world loves to be adored and worshiped. Regardless. So if A loves me and even just 1000 people look at it on the web, thousands of people might adore me. And I love A.
Now I don’t know whether giving A a really cool purse will help sell 1000 cool handbags. Perhaps it’s a Carpisa costing 50 euros or a Valentino at 2000 euros, but I honestly don’t believe it. For goodness’ sake, I could be wrong. And if the fashion industry has gone crazy for them and wants them anywhere and everywhere, no problem. It’s the adulation, baby. As long as they’re happy. Personally I think it’s only the fashion bloggers that gain notoriety and attention. That's all.
Humor Chic – It was the fashion journalists themselves who gave visibility to the fashion bloggers, but now something seems to have cooled between fashion journalists and fashion bloggers, or even got blocked. Maybe they’re being perceived as a threat?
Paola Pollo – You’re right. It was the fashion journalists who started talking about them first. The web is a phenomenon with all its phenomena like avatars or bloggers. That said, no, I’ve never felt endangered by the role of fashion bloggers. I honestly have never even been touched in the slightest by doubt. My job is to be a journalist: I go, I see, I write.
Humor Chic – And so what do you think of fashion journalists who have opened their own blogs and as if they were little girls every day publish a photo of themselves in ever-changing outfits. Some of them, just to justify the sad little photo, then spice up the soup with a fashion point of view. Do you think they’re ridiculous?
Paola Pollo - Thirty years have passed since my first article and eighteen from my first fashion week and I still get excited or bored at fashion shows. I don’t want my picture taken with a basket of live chinchillas outside a show ... And I don’t hurry to post myself if one morning I see I’m cool in banana-shaped shoes! If a colleague has gone over to the other side, clearly she had that attitude and who knows, after her collection she’ll even make a movie.
My dream isn’t to design a pair of jeans but to interview John Galliano, the point here being that it makes for a confusion of roles.
My dream isn’t to design a pair of jeans but to interview John Galliano, the point here being that it makes for a confusion of roles.
Humor Chic– Don’t you find there’s a rampant superficiality and mediocrity, a dangerous carelessness that has taken over the system?
Paola Pollo - If you ask me whether a there’s a certain carelessness and a certain superficiality, I'd answer I daresay there is.
Paola Pollo - If you ask me whether a there’s a certain carelessness and a certain superficiality, I'd answer I daresay there is.
Humor Chic -Perhaps we ought to go back and put the accent on words like integrity, professionalism, sacrifice, passion and training more than improvisation?
Paola Pollo - From the time you decide to become a journalist to when you sign your first article in a major newspaper it could take – if you're lucky – ten years (graduation, specialist school, internships, the first contact). To post your picture with a basket of live chinchillas it takes just a click ... But the lords of fashion know this. Or don’t they?
Humor Chic – A lot of them have probably forgotten, wouldn’t you say?
Paola Pollo - Then the ball’s in their court. They ought to understand things better.
And we at Humor Chic look forward anxiously, awaiting the response of
the designers ...
And we at Humor Chic look forward anxiously, awaiting the response of
the designers ...
Au revoir chicest.
Humor Chic special report on Fashion Bloggers – Exclusive interview with Paola Pollo, fashion editor of the Corriere della Sera. Fashion Blogger Killer Spray !!!
Paola Pollo, the brilliant fashion editor of “Corriere della Sera”, talks about fashion bloggers and much else to Humor Chic.
Fashion Bloggers? Only ephemeral and small time. Blogger fashion journalists? Let them have their pictures taken with a basket of live chinchillas outside the fashion shows ...
She is definitely intelligent and witty, kind and courageous, critical, direct and always surprising, as only a few sincere and still great journalists can be. A watchful gaze and an athletic body, a perfect combination for a woman who has spent nearly two decades running from one capital to another to follow fashion at first hand and write up everything the big names present. Her one fault is it’s impossible to photograph her, ever reluctant to adopt a front row pose, she prefers to nurture her curiosity and her brilliant mind.
We are talking about Paola Pollo, super elusive fashion editor for Italy’s most important newspaper, the “Corriere della Sera”. Humor Chic met her to talk about her unique and original perspective on the world of fashion bloggers.
Humor Chic - There are scores of teenagers and young adults who have started blogs where they post pictures of themselves every day in ever-changing outfits and giving advice about style to their followers. Known as fashion bloggers, can you tell us what you think of them?
Paola Pollo - I think it’s a phenomenon of the Web and for the Web. I don’t believe it has any parallel in macro life. No more than a couple of months ago I was at a presentation along with the editor, no longer young, of a weekly which deals, let’s say, with modern living. She was all thrilled to have recently discovered the fashion bloggers (I’m speaking of February!). "Yes, yes, fashion is right to court them! They pull in the crowds .... " I couldn’t believe my ears. "Crowds? Have you never been outside a high school or university? Do you really see anyone, male or female, in an outfit of that kind? "
“No, no,” she said. “My daughter would be the first not to dress so oddly.”
“That's exactly it,” I tell her , “but definitely outside the fashion shows I see a lot like that.”
Humor Chic– So basically you think it's a niche phenomenon affecting just a small circle?
Paola Pollo – Yes. They love being in the spotlight of the world. A world that loves the spotlight. And loving the spotlight is an attitude that gratifies them first of all. Hence all the photos and the desire to show off. With more or less taste. But I’d never speak of skill, certainly not. They’re just new bit players who leap on the fashion bandwagon that keeps taking people aboard and setting them down.
Paola Pollo – Yes. They love being in the spotlight of the world. A world that loves the spotlight. And loving the spotlight is an attitude that gratifies them first of all. Hence all the photos and the desire to show off. With more or less taste. But I’d never speak of skill, certainly not. They’re just new bit players who leap on the fashion bandwagon that keeps taking people aboard and setting them down.
Humor Chic – Yours is a harsh judgment, but what do you mean by bit players?
Paola Pollo – I’m thinking of the supermodels who don’t exist any more! A lot fall from grace, some have recovered after a string of errors (see Kate Moss, for example). You remember Cindy (Crawford), but raise your hand if you dream of being Daria (Werbowy), the beautiful model from Poland who was all the rage on the catwalks and advertising agencies for at least four years? All the guys, in fact all the girls, will have clicked on Google, because very few - I'm sure – remember her face.
Paola Pollo – I’m thinking of the supermodels who don’t exist any more! A lot fall from grace, some have recovered after a string of errors (see Kate Moss, for example). You remember Cindy (Crawford), but raise your hand if you dream of being Daria (Werbowy), the beautiful model from Poland who was all the rage on the catwalks and advertising agencies for at least four years? All the guys, in fact all the girls, will have clicked on Google, because very few - I'm sure – remember her face.
Humor Chic – A lot of fashion designers have started giving away clothes and accessories. A lot of bloggers never not miss a chance to publish them online and let their followers know what was the last gift a stylist sent them, just as if they were trophies to be displayed. What do you think about this?
Paola Pollo - The fashion world loves to be adored and worshiped. Regardless. So if A loves me and even just 1000 people look at it on the web, thousands of people might adore me. And I love A.
Now I don’t know whether giving A a really cool purse will help sell 1000 cool handbags. Perhaps it’s a Carpisa costing 50 euros or a Valentino at 2000 euros, but I honestly don’t believe it. For goodness’ sake, I could be wrong. And if the fashion industry has gone crazy for them and wants them anywhere and everywhere, no problem. It’s the adulation, baby. As long as they’re happy. Personally I think it’s only the fashion bloggers that gain notoriety and attention. That's all.
Paola Pollo - The fashion world loves to be adored and worshiped. Regardless. So if A loves me and even just 1000 people look at it on the web, thousands of people might adore me. And I love A.
Now I don’t know whether giving A a really cool purse will help sell 1000 cool handbags. Perhaps it’s a Carpisa costing 50 euros or a Valentino at 2000 euros, but I honestly don’t believe it. For goodness’ sake, I could be wrong. And if the fashion industry has gone crazy for them and wants them anywhere and everywhere, no problem. It’s the adulation, baby. As long as they’re happy. Personally I think it’s only the fashion bloggers that gain notoriety and attention. That's all.
Humor Chic – It was the fashion journalists themselves who gave visibility to the fashion bloggers, but now something seems to have cooled between fashion journalists and fashion bloggers, or even got blocked. Maybe they’re being perceived as a threat?
Paola Pollo – You’re right. It was the fashion journalists who started talking about them first. The web is a phenomenon with all its phenomena like avatars or bloggers. That said, no, I’ve never felt endangered by the role of fashion bloggers. I honestly have never even been touched in the slightest by doubt. My job is to be a journalist: I go, I see, I write.
Humor Chic – And so what do you think of fashion journalists who have opened their own blogs and as if they were little girls every day publish a photo of themselves in ever-changing outfits. Some of them, just to justify the sad little photo, then spice up the soup with a fashion point of view. Do you think they’re ridiculous?
Paola Pollo - Thirty years have passed since my first article and eighteen from my first fashion week and I still get excited or bored at fashion shows. I don’t want my picture taken with a basket of live chinchillas outside a show ... And I don’t hurry to post myself if one morning I see I’m cool in banana-shaped shoes! If a colleague has gone over to the other side, clearly she had that attitude and who knows, after her collection she’ll even make a movie.
My dream isn’t to design a pair of jeans but to interview John Galliano, the point here being that it makes for a confusion of roles.
My dream isn’t to design a pair of jeans but to interview John Galliano, the point here being that it makes for a confusion of roles.
Humor Chic– Don’t you find there’s a rampant superficiality and mediocrity, a dangerous carelessness that has taken over the system?
Paola Pollo - If you ask me whether a there’s a certain carelessness and a certain superficiality, I'd answer I daresay there is.
Paola Pollo - If you ask me whether a there’s a certain carelessness and a certain superficiality, I'd answer I daresay there is.
Humor Chic -Perhaps we ought to go back and put the accent on words like integrity, professionalism, sacrifice, passion and training more than improvisation?
Paola Pollo - From the time you decide to become a journalist to when you sign your first article in a major newspaper it could take – if you're lucky – ten years (graduation, specialist school, internships, the first contact). To post your picture with a basket of live chinchillas it takes just a click ... But the lords of fashion know this. Or don’t they?
Humor Chic – A lot of them have probably forgotten, wouldn’t you say?
Paola Pollo - Then the ball’s in their court. They ought to understand things better.
And we at Humor Chic look forward anxiously, awaiting the response of
the designers ...
And we at Humor Chic look forward anxiously, awaiting the response of
the designers ...
Au revoir chicest.
COVER - Kemp Muhl and Eden Rice
aleXsandro Palombo Portrait
Anna Wintour and Donatella Versace Humor Chic by aleXsandro Palombo
Bernard Arnault, Diane Pernet and Karl Lagerfeld
Exclusive - XOXO The Mag June 2012 (Istanbul, Turkey): Interview with aleXsandro Palombo
COVER - Kemp Muhl and Eden Rice
aleXsandro Palombo Portrait
Anna Wintour and Donatella Versace Humor Chic by aleXsandro Palombo
Bernard Arnault, Diane Pernet and Karl Lagerfeld
Senin, 25 Juni 2012
Minggu, 24 Juni 2012
"I LOVE SAINT LAURENT PARIS"
YSL Cofounder Pierre Bergésupports Hedi Slimanechanging the name of the brand to Saint Laurent Paris.
... Monsieur Bergé says he was happy when Stefano Pilati left the Brand. OMG!! Mr Pierre Bergé you are an asshole!!
... Monsieur Bergé says he was happy when Stefano Pilati left the Brand. OMG!! Mr Pierre Bergé you are an asshole!!
Humor Chic - Pierre Bergé, the partner of Yves Saint Laurent, a chic Asshole!!
"I LOVE SAINT LAURENT PARIS"
YSL Cofounder Pierre Bergésupports Hedi Slimanechanging the name of the brand to Saint Laurent Paris.
... Monsieur Bergé says he was happy when Stefano Pilati left the Brand. OMG!! Mr Pierre Bergé you are an asshole!!
... Monsieur Bergé says he was happy when Stefano Pilati left the Brand. OMG!! Mr Pierre Bergé you are an asshole!!
Jumat, 22 Juni 2012
Hedi Slimane is changing the iconic name of Yves Saint Laurent to Saint Laurent Paris....
It is like the first sniff of cocaine, now you won't be able to stop....
Au revoir chicest!
Humor Chic Cult - NEW AD CAMPAIGN, the first sniff of Yves Saint Laurent, Hedi Slimane for "SAINT LAURENT PARIS" by aleXsandro Palombo
Hedi Slimane is changing the iconic name of Yves Saint Laurent to Saint Laurent Paris....
It is like the first sniff of cocaine, now you won't be able to stop....
Au revoir chicest!
Kamis, 21 Juni 2012
the Interational Cinema and Fashion Festival which from July 22nd to 24th will be staged in Milan
Humor Chic Fashion Simpsons - VOGUE COVER, Diane Pernet and Anna Wintour, a true Fashion Film....!!!
the Interational Cinema and Fashion Festival which from July 22nd to 24th will be staged in Milan
Rabu, 20 Juni 2012
Fashion Simpsons
Anna Wintour and Diane Pernet
Where is fashion going? The exclusive point of view of Diane Pernet on the relationship between the Fashion System and Fashion Bloggers.
Humor Chic met the eclectic and charismatic Diane Pernet on the eve of "ASVOFF ASHADED VIEW ON FASHION FILM", the Interational Cinema and Fashion Festival which from July 22nd to 24th will be staged in Milan. The project is created and curated by the icon and founder herself, Diane Pernet, together with the brilliant journalist and talent scout Stefania Seoni and the talented journalist and curator Federico Poletti.
Stylist, designer, fashion journalist, blogger, curator and promoter of important artistic and cultural events, as well as being a pioneer in the promotion of the fashion-film partnership, Diane Pernet is certainly a great visionary with a fine mind. She is also the founder of ASVOFF, a competition event for fashion short films.
To try and tell the story of Diane's life is a little like taking a journey into a modern "Divine Comedy". However there is one thing which we believe truly sets this woman apart making here unique, and that is her amazing mix of sensuality and humanity, so rare and perfect.
With Diane Pernet begins Humor Chic's special report on "Fashion Bloggers" and the latest dynamics which are taking fashion by storm and maybe even redesigning it.
Humor Chic - There are tons of teenagers and youngsters who spend their time posing in front of a camera wearing outfits of their own creation to share on their website/ blog. They call themselves Fashion Blogger. Can you tell us what you think about Fashion Bloggers?
Diane Pernet - I guess I have not been paying that much attention to them but they can be amusing, I think. I am familiar, of course, with Tavi. I love the way she puts herself together.
Humor Chic - Some Brands involve the Fashion Bloggers in co-branding collaborations of some capsule collection, or more frequently the Brands fill them with individual attentions (fashion houses gifts) which so many Fashion Bloggers can't wait to post on their blog as real trophies. What does this mean?
Diane Pernet - First, I might add that journalists at major publications, except WWDand IHT, have been accepting gifts forever. I think if they really like and believe in the product, why not . If it is posted as some sort of trophy then it feels a little pathetic to me.
Humor Chic - Fashion journalists were the first to encourage and pay tribute to Fashion Bloggers, and many newspapers and media were involved. But after the initial stage of interest, many journalists are now looking at them with reluctance and suspicion. Why?
Diane Pernet - I think they were always looking at them with reluctance and suspicion. Remember the Stephen Jones Bow on Tavi incident with the Grazia editor seated behind her? That was years ago so I don’t feel the printed press ever embraced bloggers. I think brands are finding it effective to communicate with bloggers. If it was not working for them I doubt that they would do it.
Humor Chic - During the last catwalk shows in March, Suzy Menkes wrote that wherever she looked, she could see wasps' nests of Fashion Bloggers, an invasion! Is it good or ... bad? And why in your opinion?
Diane Pernet - Yes, they are increasing in numbers but the way I look at it is if they love fashion so much, that is a good thing. They are having fun with it, it is like The Blogger Paparazzi.
Humor Chic - A few Fashion Bloggers were sitting in the front row. In Milan, some of them where sitting next to the most influential Fashion Journalists in the world. This has bothered many italian fashion journalists. What was that? A provocation? A marketing action or... just a PR mistake?
Diane Pernet - I’d say a marketing action which was to provoke as well it did. I heard how it was quite icy between the bloggers and the established press. Sometimes I wonder how the seating arrangements are made but, again, I think it must be working for the brands or they would not keep enlisting their support.
Humor Chic - In your opinion, are the Designers doing well by giving so much importance to the Fashion Bloggers?
Diane Pernet - I think many of the bloggers are the consumers of these designers so how is that a disservice to them? Maybe it is good, it shakes up the established fashion press a bit because it decreases their power. Honestly I feel there is room for both respected journalists and fashion loving bloggers. They both have a different perception of the fashion.
Humor Chic - Some very seasoned fashion editors have been influenced by the wave of these young Fashion Bloggers, and some of them have started a Blog, posting a photo of their look every day, in many cases posing like a teenage girl, some enriching it with a post, trying to make a point about Fashion. Do you think that it's ridiculous?...
Diane Pernet - Yes, I think it is ridiculous.
Humor Chic - Don't you think that all this could become a big boomerang that turns back to the detriment of the real Fashion System in the long run?
Diane Pernet - No, the bloggers are the consumers, I think it is interesting that they have a voice. I do not read that many so I am far from an authority on this as I spend my time on my own content.
Humor Chic - How do you see the future of Fashion Bloggers?
Diane Pernet - Who knows, could loose its luster but for now, as long as it appears to be working for the brands I suppose it will continue. It will last as long as it will last. Nothing lasts forever.
Humor Chic - And the future of the Fashion System?
Diane Pernet - I think the system is in perpetual change, the biggest impact over the last years is the internet between live streaming shows , NOW Fashion, instant stills , all of this would have been unheard of a few years before, now it is the norm. E commerce vs brick and mortar stores, huge change in the way of doing commerce. The rise of fashion films makes me really happy as that is something that I strongly believe in. Hopefully there will be more and more interesting collaborations.
Humor Chic special report on Fashion Bloggers – Exclusive interview with DIANE PERNET, when an icon is perfect!
Fashion Simpsons
Anna Wintour and Diane Pernet
Where is fashion going? The exclusive point of view of Diane Pernet on the relationship between the Fashion System and Fashion Bloggers.
Humor Chic met the eclectic and charismatic Diane Pernet on the eve of "ASVOFF ASHADED VIEW ON FASHION FILM", the Interational Cinema and Fashion Festival which from July 22nd to 24th will be staged in Milan. The project is created and curated by the icon and founder herself, Diane Pernet, together with the brilliant journalist and talent scout Stefania Seoni and the talented journalist and curator Federico Poletti.
Stylist, designer, fashion journalist, blogger, curator and promoter of important artistic and cultural events, as well as being a pioneer in the promotion of the fashion-film partnership, Diane Pernet is certainly a great visionary with a fine mind. She is also the founder of ASVOFF, a competition event for fashion short films.
To try and tell the story of Diane's life is a little like taking a journey into a modern "Divine Comedy". However there is one thing which we believe truly sets this woman apart making here unique, and that is her amazing mix of sensuality and humanity, so rare and perfect.
With Diane Pernet begins Humor Chic's special report on "Fashion Bloggers" and the latest dynamics which are taking fashion by storm and maybe even redesigning it.
Humor Chic - There are tons of teenagers and youngsters who spend their time posing in front of a camera wearing outfits of their own creation to share on their website/ blog. They call themselves Fashion Blogger. Can you tell us what you think about Fashion Bloggers?
Diane Pernet - I guess I have not been paying that much attention to them but they can be amusing, I think. I am familiar, of course, with Tavi. I love the way she puts herself together.
Humor Chic - Some Brands involve the Fashion Bloggers in co-branding collaborations of some capsule collection, or more frequently the Brands fill them with individual attentions (fashion houses gifts) which so many Fashion Bloggers can't wait to post on their blog as real trophies. What does this mean?
Diane Pernet - First, I might add that journalists at major publications, except WWDand IHT, have been accepting gifts forever. I think if they really like and believe in the product, why not . If it is posted as some sort of trophy then it feels a little pathetic to me.
Humor Chic - Fashion journalists were the first to encourage and pay tribute to Fashion Bloggers, and many newspapers and media were involved. But after the initial stage of interest, many journalists are now looking at them with reluctance and suspicion. Why?
Diane Pernet - I think they were always looking at them with reluctance and suspicion. Remember the Stephen Jones Bow on Tavi incident with the Grazia editor seated behind her? That was years ago so I don’t feel the printed press ever embraced bloggers. I think brands are finding it effective to communicate with bloggers. If it was not working for them I doubt that they would do it.
Humor Chic - During the last catwalk shows in March, Suzy Menkes wrote that wherever she looked, she could see wasps' nests of Fashion Bloggers, an invasion! Is it good or ... bad? And why in your opinion?
Diane Pernet - Yes, they are increasing in numbers but the way I look at it is if they love fashion so much, that is a good thing. They are having fun with it, it is like The Blogger Paparazzi.
Humor Chic - A few Fashion Bloggers were sitting in the front row. In Milan, some of them where sitting next to the most influential Fashion Journalists in the world. This has bothered many italian fashion journalists. What was that? A provocation? A marketing action or... just a PR mistake?
Diane Pernet - I’d say a marketing action which was to provoke as well it did. I heard how it was quite icy between the bloggers and the established press. Sometimes I wonder how the seating arrangements are made but, again, I think it must be working for the brands or they would not keep enlisting their support.
Humor Chic - In your opinion, are the Designers doing well by giving so much importance to the Fashion Bloggers?
Diane Pernet - I think many of the bloggers are the consumers of these designers so how is that a disservice to them? Maybe it is good, it shakes up the established fashion press a bit because it decreases their power. Honestly I feel there is room for both respected journalists and fashion loving bloggers. They both have a different perception of the fashion.
Humor Chic - Some very seasoned fashion editors have been influenced by the wave of these young Fashion Bloggers, and some of them have started a Blog, posting a photo of their look every day, in many cases posing like a teenage girl, some enriching it with a post, trying to make a point about Fashion. Do you think that it's ridiculous?...
Diane Pernet - Yes, I think it is ridiculous.
Humor Chic - Don't you think that all this could become a big boomerang that turns back to the detriment of the real Fashion System in the long run?
Diane Pernet - No, the bloggers are the consumers, I think it is interesting that they have a voice. I do not read that many so I am far from an authority on this as I spend my time on my own content.
Humor Chic - How do you see the future of Fashion Bloggers?
Diane Pernet - Who knows, could loose its luster but for now, as long as it appears to be working for the brands I suppose it will continue. It will last as long as it will last. Nothing lasts forever.
Humor Chic - And the future of the Fashion System?
Diane Pernet - I think the system is in perpetual change, the biggest impact over the last years is the internet between live streaming shows , NOW Fashion, instant stills , all of this would have been unheard of a few years before, now it is the norm. E commerce vs brick and mortar stores, huge change in the way of doing commerce. The rise of fashion films makes me really happy as that is something that I strongly believe in. Hopefully there will be more and more interesting collaborations.
Selasa, 19 Juni 2012
Senin, 18 Juni 2012
Anna Wintour Solicits for Barack Obama Campaign
United States 2012 Presidential Election
Humor Chic - Anna Wintour and Barack Obama, "I LOVE OBAMA"
Anna Wintour Solicits for Barack Obama Campaign
United States 2012 Presidential Election
Minggu, 17 Juni 2012
Sabtu, 16 Juni 2012
Just laugh…it will change your life !!!
Humor Chic Video - Erik Hartman. Just laugh…it will change your life !!!
Just laugh…it will change your life !!!
Kamis, 14 Juni 2012
Rabu, 13 Juni 2012
Selasa, 12 Juni 2012
HUMOR CHIC CALENDAR 2013
Fashion Simpsons
by aleXsandro Palombo
Diane Pernet, Karl Lagerfeld, Anna Wintour, Donatella Versace, Allegra Versace, Coco Chanel, Alber Elbaz, Grace Coddington, Suzy Menkes, Marc Jacobs,
Hilary Alexander, Dita Von Teese, Iris Apfel,
Homer Simpson and Anna Wintour... !!
Humor Chic Calendar 2013 by aleXsandro Palombo
HUMOR CHIC CALENDAR 2013
Fashion Simpsons
by aleXsandro Palombo
Diane Pernet, Karl Lagerfeld, Anna Wintour, Donatella Versace, Allegra Versace, Coco Chanel, Alber Elbaz, Grace Coddington, Suzy Menkes, Marc Jacobs,
Hilary Alexander, Dita Von Teese, Iris Apfel,
Homer Simpson and Anna Wintour... !!
Humor Chic by aleXsandro Palombo
Iris Apfel, Suzy Menkes, Hilary Alexander, Marc Jacobs, Diane Pernet, Karl Lagerfeld, Alber Elbaz, Anna Wintour, Donatella Versace, Allegra Versace,
Coco Chanel, Dita Von Teese, Grace Coddington
Fashion Simpsons Poster Humor Chic by aleXsandro Palombo
Humor Chic by aleXsandro Palombo
Iris Apfel, Suzy Menkes, Hilary Alexander, Marc Jacobs, Diane Pernet, Karl Lagerfeld, Alber Elbaz, Anna Wintour, Donatella Versace, Allegra Versace,
Coco Chanel, Dita Von Teese, Grace Coddington
Dolce and Gabbana to face trial over tax evasion
Milan judge Giuseppe Gennari gave the green light for prosecutors to bring the fashion duo to court over allegations of tax evasion offences totalling around 1 billion euros ($1.25 billion).
The decision in the long-running case came after a higher court overturned a previous acquittal of the two glamorous designers, who have denied any wrongdoing.
"Everyone knows that we haven't done anything," Stefano Gabbana said in a tweet on Friday.
Well said!!
Via Reuters
Humor Chic - Domenico Dolce and Stefano Gabbana face $1B tax trial. The Hurricane Tweet !!
Dolce and Gabbana to face trial over tax evasion
Milan judge Giuseppe Gennari gave the green light for prosecutors to bring the fashion duo to court over allegations of tax evasion offences totalling around 1 billion euros ($1.25 billion).
The decision in the long-running case came after a higher court overturned a previous acquittal of the two glamorous designers, who have denied any wrongdoing.
"Everyone knows that we haven't done anything," Stefano Gabbana said in a tweet on Friday.
Well said!!
Via Reuters
Sabtu, 09 Juni 2012
Humor Chic Exclusive Report
Read this Piece Chico Forti, an Italian who received a life sentence for investigating the murder of Gianni Versace
Exclusive Report - Gianni Versace "I Stand for Chico Forti"
Humor Chic Exclusive Report
Read this Piece Chico Forti, an Italian who received a life sentence for investigating the murder of Gianni Versace
Kamis, 07 Juni 2012
Gianni Versace and Chico Forti
Fashion designer Gianni Versace was murdered in Miami on July 15th 1997. According to the reconstruction by the police, Versace was killed by a notorious gigolo called Andrew Cunanan, who in turn committed suicide after carrying out the crime.
A lot has been written and said about the Versace case, but from the outset doubts were raised about the truth of the story. If the Miami Police Department was convinced the culprit was the gigolo Cunanan, its opinion was not shared by all those who at that time followed closely the investigations conducted by an Italian named Chico Forti.
A lot has been written and said about the Versace case, but from the outset doubts were raised about the truth of the story. If the Miami Police Department was convinced the culprit was the gigolo Cunanan, its opinion was not shared by all those who at that time followed closely the investigations conducted by an Italian named Chico Forti.
Enrico Chico Forti is an Italian originally from Trento, a television producer and investigative cameraman. At the time of the Versace murder he took a lot of pains to find out the truth and bravely went about poking his nose into prohibited places, even managing to buy the houseboat where Cunanan was found dead (and which sank mysteriously shortly thereafter). Chico Forti was going to shoot a documentary and therefore, as stated in the Italian newspaper “Il Resto del Carlino,” also went to talk to Mario Puzo, author of The Godfather, who said: “You’re looking for the truth about the Versace case? You’re really looking for trouble! Look, this is not poker or blackjack. Maybe it's roulette, but it’s Russian roulette. Do you really want to play with a pistol pointed to your head?” A lot of people tried to discourage him, they wanted him off the case. Even the police were not at all happy about his meddling. “Do you really think you can make allegations and get away with them?” a police officer in Miami asked him one day.
Chico Forti, a man always dedicated to nonviolence, went bravely on his way, and after spending months on the investigation he collected all the documents in his possession and finally succeeded in making an important short film titled “The Smile of the Medusa,” a documentary broadcast in Italy on Raitre, one of the national TV Channels.
With this documentary Chico Forti succeeded in demolishing the official version put out by the Miami Police Department. “What I have shown is that the gigolo Andrew Cunanan was dead when he was taken to the houseboat. The story of his suicide is just a farce,” declared Forti.
With this documentary Chico Forti succeeded in demolishing the official version put out by the Miami Police Department. “What I have shown is that the gigolo Andrew Cunanan was dead when he was taken to the houseboat. The story of his suicide is just a farce,” declared Forti.
His powerful allegations not only undermined the entire work of the Miami Police Department but also its credibility and authority. They were contained in a documentary that opened up new scenarios and controversy. Just think of the important statements made in recent years by exponents of the Italian underworld, like the case of the ’Ndrangheta supergrass Giuseppe Di Bella, who told Italian investigators that Versace was not assassinated by Cunanan but by a hitman hired by senior leaders of the mob, because Versace was heavily in debt to the 'Ndrangheta and no longer able to pay. Today the 'Ndrangheta is one of the world’s most powerful criminal organizations. It has succeeded in ousting Cosa Nostra from the U.S. and teamed up with Mexican and Colombian gangsters to control the monopoly in the import of cocaine to Europe. The Washington Government rates it a “growing threat,” the equal of terrorist organizations like Al Qaeda. It is global in reach and uses a network very similar to Al Qaeda’s, explains the FBI leadership, citing the latest report of the anti-mafia parliamentary committee. In the recession-stricken States it is buying everything from New York to Miami. The 'Ndrangheta has now expanded like wildfire and in Florida it is one of the few criminal organizations capable of infiltrating everywhere and supplying capital to an economy in crisis. This is why the statements made by the 'Ndrangheta boss are never to be underestimated. Another valuable source apart from Giuseppe di Bella is an important member of the Calabrian crime world named Coco Trovato. He told the Judiciary that the Italian 'Ndrangheta regularly supplied the Versace Family with drugs. More recently, “Paolo Martino,” another important criminal of the 'Ndrangheta arrested by police in Milan, during an interview with the magistrates in Milan, spoke of his relationship with the fashion elite. Referring to Santo Versace (Gianni's brother) and said “He saw me growing up”
( read This piece in Humor Chic ).
( read This piece in Humor Chic ).
In this whole story the information that emerges is very murky, with vested interests, debts and loans, the flow of drugs, contacts and crime all circling around the “Maison Versace.” So let's just step back a moment and try to understand how Chico Forti fits into all this. At the end of February 1998 the “Miami Herald” published an article about an Italian businessman 39 years old called Chico Forti, who was arrested in Miami suspected of defrauding the owner of a hotel chain, Anthony Pike, whose son had been killed a few days earlier in circumstances that remain unclear. Moreover, the “Miami Herald” added that Forti wanted to make a film about the murder of Gianni Versace and so bought exclusive rights to shoot the scenes in the houseboat where Cunanan killed himself. He concluded by writing that Forti had been denied freedom on bail and the Miami police did not specify whether he was also suspected of murdering Pike.
Not long after his arrest Chico Forti was handed his final conviction. Held in Florida since October 11, 1999, he received a life sentence for murdering Dalle Pike, killed with the same type of pistol used to shoot Versace: two bullets in the head. A connection, ritual or sheer coincidence?According to the reconstruction by the Miami Police Department, Anthony Pike was the owner of a hotel that Chico Forti was interested in purchasing. Forti attempted to defraud Anthony Pike and, when his son Dale Pike discovered this, Forti decided to kill him. Forti pleaded innocent from the very start and says he was convicted on very flimsy evidence, cobbled together by the police in retaliation for having investigated the death of Gianni Versace and casting suspicion on the Miami Police Department. Furthermore, the Court completely acquitted Forti of the charge of fraud. So there is no motive, no witnesses, no weapons, no DNA, nothing.
So why has Chico Forti been incarcerated in Everglades prison on a life sentence ever since June 2000, exactly 12 years?
So why has Chico Forti been incarcerated in Everglades prison on a life sentence ever since June 2000, exactly 12 years?
Just read the incredible words with which the prosecution closed its indictment:
“There is no need to prove that the accused is the murderer to demonstrate that the defendant is guilty.”
What? We don’t need evidence to confirm that the accused is the murderer? This is not justice but a trap, as confirmed by judge and lawyer Ferdinando Imposimato after carefully analyzing the judicial record, including documents that have “disappeared ” or are still secret. Imposimato explains with legal arguments why the life sentence handed down to Chico Forti violates the basic principles of due process.
So who framed Chico Forti?
“There is no need to prove that the accused is the murderer to demonstrate that the defendant is guilty.”
What? We don’t need evidence to confirm that the accused is the murderer? This is not justice but a trap, as confirmed by judge and lawyer Ferdinando Imposimato after carefully analyzing the judicial record, including documents that have “disappeared ” or are still secret. Imposimato explains with legal arguments why the life sentence handed down to Chico Forti violates the basic principles of due process.
So who framed Chico Forti?
Chico Forti has the right to a retrial, a proper trial, the kind he never had. Events like this are a tragedy that could strike down any of us. Conscience has to take precedence over the sea of indifference. Only by breaking down the wall of silence can we reclaim the right to hope.
Courage Chico!
Following is the video documentary made by Chico Forti with his investigation of Gianni Versace’s murder.
Courage Chico!
Following is the video documentary made by Chico Forti with his investigation of Gianni Versace’s murder.
Partial - Report TV by Chico Forti - Versace, Cunanan. Miami
Complete Report
Report TV (1 / 5) by Chico Forti - Versace, Cunanan. Miami
Report TV (2/ 5) by Chico Forti - Versace, Cunanan. Miami
Report TV (3 / 5) by Chico Forti - Versace, Cunanan. Miami
Report TV (4 / 5) by Chico Forti - Versace, Cunanan. Miami
Report TV (5 / 5) by Chico Forti Versace, Cunanan. Miami
The true story of Chico Forti.
The incredible story of Enrico "Chico" Forti
An innocent man sentenced to life in prison
The facts
On June 15th, 2000, after a twenty-five day trial, the Italian entrepreneur from Trento, Enrico Forti, called "Chico", was found guilty of murder by a jury from Dade County in Miami, "for having personally and/or with another person or persons still unknown to the State, acting as the instigator and accomplice, each for their own participation and/or execution of a common criminal plan, intentionally and pre-meditated caused the death of Dale Pike."
The sentence left everyone present, along with those who had also followed the trial, astonished, incredulous that a jury could emit “without a reasonable doubt” a guilty verdict based solely on feeble and mixed up circumstantial evidence.
Afterwards, careful inspection and examination of the “circumstantial evidence” produced great doubt and suspicion that the events had transpired in a completely different way than what the prosecution had stated.
A meticulous evaluation of all the accusations, one by one, of the facts and prior events, reveals tampering of “circumstantial evidence” by the prosecution, whose sole purpose was to secure a guilty verdict.
Prior Event
Enrico Forti, called “Chico”, was born in Trento in 1959 where he lived until he graduated from the local science high school in 1978. Following that, he moved to Bologna to attend Isef, the physical education university.
Physically gifted, he dedicated himself to practicing many sports, particularly windsurfing, and in the 1980’s he had great success at a worldwide level.
In the 1990’s, he moved to Miami, Florida, where he took on the role of filmmaker and television presenter. ater he dedicated himself to real-estate mediation and it was while carrying out this activity that he met Anthony Pike, who presented himself as the owner of a hotel, of the same name, on the island of Ibiza in Spain.
This hotel had enjoyed a certain amount of notoriety in the 1980’s as many people from the international jet-set scene frequented it but soon after it suffered a disastrous decline.
Towards the end of 1997, Anthony Pike traveled to Miami, a guest of a German man named Thomas Knott, who had been staying at Williams Island for some time in an apartment right below Enrico Forti’s apartment. The two men had been “friends” during the Ibiza hotel’s golden age, as Knott was a regular guest there. Only later, the true background of these two came out. First of all, in that time period, Pike found himself in financial difficulty.
Knott was a“schemer” who was sentenced to six years in jail in Germany for billionaire scams; he had disappeared during a probationary period and had reappeared in Miami (as a guest of other Germans) in Williams Island, where he used the cover as a “tennis instructor” using fake documents (procured for him by Pike). In reality he continued his “profession” as a scam artist (25 charges in little less than 6 months) with his final scam being the one he attempted on Enrico Forti, summoning Anthony Pike in Miami with the intent of selling Forti this hotel, even though it had not been under Pike’s possession for over a year at that point.
During this negotiation Anthony’s son, Dale Pike, came into the picture, even though he had been distanced from the Ibiza hotel in the past due to serious disagreements with his father and probably also with Thomas Knott, his trouble-making friend. Dale Pike had to quickly leave Malaysia, for unknown reasons, and ran to his father for help, since he found himself without any money.
Anthony Pike didn’t have any financial funds available either, so he asked Enrico Forti, with whom he was negotiating with for the sale of the hotel, for some help. Forti was helpful and at the end of January 1998 he paid for Dale Pike’s flight from Malaysia to Spain.
Fifteen days later, Anthony Pike telephoned Enrico Forti once more telling him about an upcoming visit of his to Miami, this time accompanied by his son Dale. They were expected to arrive Sunday, February 15, 1998. He convinced Enrico Forti to front the money to pay for the airline tickets and Forti once again agreed to pay for both tickets.
Two days before the departure, Anthony made one last call to Enrico Forti, claiming to have personal problems, and moving their appointment in New York to the following Wednesday, February 18th.
His son Dale, would, however, still be travelling alone to Miami on Sunday February 15th, and Anthony asked Forti if he could go and pick him up at the airport and allow him to stay at his house.
Forti agreed, but after being picked up at the airport, Dale asked him if he could drop him off at a Key Biscayne restaurant’s parking lot, where some of Knott’s friends were waiting for him and with whom he would be staying with for a few days, until his father arrived.
So, Forti gave him a ride to where Dale asked to be taken and left him at the parking lot around 7pm on that Sunday.
His contact with Dale Pike, who he had never seen nor met before that day, lasted about half an hour.
On February 16th, a surfer found Dale Pike’s corpse in a grove along the beach not too far from where Enrico Forti had left him.
He had been “executed” with two shots to the head from a .22 caliber gun, stripped naked yet left with the green piece of paper handed out by customs when you enter the United States.
There were also other personal objects, which made identifying the body simple.
The time of death was estimated to have been between 8pm and 10 pm the previous day, a short time after bidding farewell to Enrico Forti.
It was shown that at 8pm Enrico Forti had been at the Fort Lauderdale airport.
In fact, at the trial he was accused and condemned as the “mastermind” behind the murder.rior events
The deceit
The accusations brought against Enrico Forti were based on the fact that at the beginning he kept quiet about the circumstances of Dale Pike’s arrival on Sunday, February 15, 1998, and he omitted the truth about their meeting at the Miami airport.
In the days following the murder, it seemed that Enrico Forti was not at all worried about Dale Pike’s fate. In fact, it was only on Wednesday the 18th, while he was visiting his father in New York, that he came to know of the homicide.
Since the meeting with Anthony Pike had been skipped and he hadn’t heard from him, Forti immediately returned to Miami the next day, February 19th. He willingly went to the police department, to respond to a summons since he was a person thought to be informed of the facts.
It was during this summons – during which he ended up being interrogated as a main suspect in the homicide – that the police falsely informed him that aside from Dale, his father Anthony has also been found murdered in New York.
In reality, Anthony Pike was alive and had been under police protection since the day before.
Terrorized by the occurring events, Forti denied having met Dale Pike.
On the evening of February 20th, having realized the seriousness of the situation, he returned to the police to deliver a series of documents related to his business dealings with the victim’s father.
Naively, he presented himself without an attorney present, in part due to the fact that he had talked to an ex-chief of the homicide team that he knew, who had assured him that all they needed was to clear up some information to help the police with their investigation.
Instead, he was immediately arrested and underwent an exhausting interrogation that lasted 14 hours, during which he admitted to having met Dale Pike on February 15th in the hours before his murder and to having accompanied him to the Rusty Pelican’s parking lot in Virginia Key.
This admission came about thanks to a trap, which was made in order to confuse him, therefore forcing him to lie subjugated from the fear and desperation. This is a legitimate and admissible technique, according to the American system, but his admission was treacherously obtained by way of deceit.
The prosecutions fabrications
Immediately, with the first arrest, Enrico Forti was accused of fraud, circumvention of incapacity and complicity in murder.
The jury, however, was deceived in their final judgment because they were never informed that Enrico Forti had previously been absolved of all charges of fraud and circumvention of incapacity.
Released on bail, during the following twenty months he was, in fact cleared of all charges that dealt with fraud (eight).
Fraud was unjustly used as a motive for the murder.
We quote a literal translation from the introductory text of the states theory on which the prosecution based their accusations.
“The State’s theory about the case is that Enrico Forti had Dale Pike murdered because Forti knew that Dale would have interfered with Forti’s plan to acquire, in a fraudulent manner, 100% of the interest from a hotel in Ibiza from his demented father. Dale had traveled to Miami from the island of Ibiza so that Forti could “show him the money” – four million dollars requested for the transaction – for the purchase of the hotel from his father. Forti simply didn’t have it. Instead, Forti met Dale at the airport and led him to his death.”
There is not a single word of truth in this statement.
It is not true that Dale Pike, the victim, was an obstacle for Forti’s plan to acquire the hotel. He had no power.
It was not true that his father, the hotelier, Tony Pike, was old sick and disabled, incapacitated and senile. On the contrary, at the time many considered him an astute and sharp businessman. However, at the trial there were no documents presented to prove his presumed dementia, either by the court or by any medical committee.
It is not true that Enrico Forti wanted to take 100% possession of the hotel via fraudulent means. In reality, it was discovered that the hotelier was trying to sell a hotel to Forti that hadn’t been in his possession for quite some time. This was the real case of fraud. Anthony Pike had admitted it in a deposition in London before the trial, clearly stating that he intended to sell Chico a “white elephant”
The prosecutor kept this fact hidden from the jury.
It isn’t true that Dale had traveled to Miami to “see the money”, four-five million dollars that Forti would have had to pay. The sale agreement stipulated that the payment would be made in the arc of six months, part of it in cash, part of it through the exchange of two apartments and part of it with the accession of the hotel’s debt through banks. The overvaluation of putting the price of the hotel at four-five million dollars was an invented estimate. Even now, its real value is less than a third of that.
As can be seen, fraud was used as the basis for all the accusations.
Instead, the exact opposite is true. The hotelier was trying to sell a hotel that hadn’t been his property for quite some time. Therefore, Enrico Forti was the one who was swindled and not the swindler and therefore the motive was completely made up and inexistent.
The prosecutions speech
Thursday, June 15, 2000, around noon.
The Prosecutor Reid Rubin had just finished his closing argument, eyeing the jury as if he has just presented his “masterpiece”.
It truly was a masterpiece, from the moment in which he had been able to build and move forward an argument for a trial without any supporting evidence to uphold the allegations.
Rubin certainly left nothing to improvisation, as it took him twenty-eight months to prepare his closing argument.
A record for U.S. courts, since usually most trials are concluded within 6 months of the arraignment.
Certainly, this enormous use of time and (Florida State’s) money must have meant a lot for his career or for the interests of the court if he was able to easily obtain a series of extensions, until his masterpiece was ready.
Undoubtedly, the artist Reid Rubin had a lot of advantages in reaching his conclusions.
First of all, he had the incredible advantage of giving his closing argument without the defense being able to counter, so that any theory he wished to bring to the jury, whether real or alleged, relying solely on an imaginative reconstruction of events, was no longer disputable.
Anything can be said when you run no risk of being called out on it.
How is it possible that in a case where a man’s life hangs in the balance, that the last word comes from the prosecutor?
Simple: the American legal process foresees that the final word awaits the defense when the defendant exercises his right of not responding or is not called to the witness stand.
Who was aware of this rule? Certainly not Enrico Forti!
The prosecutor obviously knew about it, and he took advantage of this opportunity, placing all his “bets” on this final statement he was allotted and also taking advantage of the fact that the jury had to make it’s verdict based solely on their memories of the trial. It is therefore logical that what the jury remembers best is the prosecution’s final words, rather than the defense’s. This is especially true when the speaker is particularly good, and there is no doubt that Reid Rubin is just that.
The main responsibility, however, lies on the defense lawyers: they also knew about this rule. Therefore, it is normal to ask oneself: why concede this huge advantage to the prosecution and why wasn’t anything done to avoid this trap?
The explanation given by Enrico Forti’s lawyers for counseling him not to take the stand is alarming: “You lied, therefore exposing yourself to the massacre the prosecution could take on your image. It’s best not to risk it. Furthermore, since there is no evidence, no jury in the world would be able to issue a guilty verdict against you!”
Naturally, the prosecutor was careful not to call Enrico Forti to the stand either. His plan was based on this possibility: being able to have the last word in order to convince a jury that, as it happens in the majority of cases, might not have been very attentive during the trial.
A bit too late in the case, during the prosecutor’s case, the defense made an infinite number of objections, many of which were overruled, some were sustained, but with little effect.
The judge, on almost all occasions, would tell the lawyers to raise the question in an appeal, an appeal which would then be systematically refused.
The Verdict
After the conclusion of the prosecution’s closing argument, the jury retired to a closed session to deliberate.
Thursday, June 15, 2000, around 4pm. A few hours were enough for the jury to emit a guilty verdict.
The court’s decision in their sentencing, of which there is a literal translation below, was incredible and incomprehensible:
“The court does not have the evidence that you, Mr. Forti, pulled the trigger, but I have a feeling, beyond every doubt, that you were the instigator of the crime. Your accomplices have not been found, but they will be one day and they will also meet your fate. Take this man to the state penitentiary. I sentence him to life in prison without the possibility of parole”!
Civil death was inflicted on Enrico Forti based solely on a “feeling”!
Afterwards, regardless of the fact that it was clearly shown that Enrico Forti was a victim of a gross miscarriage of justice, the various courts, without justification or explanation, all systematically rejected five appeals for review of the trial.
Humor Chic Exclusive Report - Chico Forti, an Italian who received a life sentence for investigating the murder of Gianni Versace
Gianni Versace and Chico Forti
Fashion designer Gianni Versace was murdered in Miami on July 15th 1997. According to the reconstruction by the police, Versace was killed by a notorious gigolo called Andrew Cunanan, who in turn committed suicide after carrying out the crime.
A lot has been written and said about the Versace case, but from the outset doubts were raised about the truth of the story. If the Miami Police Department was convinced the culprit was the gigolo Cunanan, its opinion was not shared by all those who at that time followed closely the investigations conducted by an Italian named Chico Forti.
A lot has been written and said about the Versace case, but from the outset doubts were raised about the truth of the story. If the Miami Police Department was convinced the culprit was the gigolo Cunanan, its opinion was not shared by all those who at that time followed closely the investigations conducted by an Italian named Chico Forti.
Enrico Chico Forti is an Italian originally from Trento, a television producer and investigative cameraman. At the time of the Versace murder he took a lot of pains to find out the truth and bravely went about poking his nose into prohibited places, even managing to buy the houseboat where Cunanan was found dead (and which sank mysteriously shortly thereafter). Chico Forti was going to shoot a documentary and therefore, as stated in the Italian newspaper “Il Resto del Carlino,” also went to talk to Mario Puzo, author of The Godfather, who said: “You’re looking for the truth about the Versace case? You’re really looking for trouble! Look, this is not poker or blackjack. Maybe it's roulette, but it’s Russian roulette. Do you really want to play with a pistol pointed to your head?” A lot of people tried to discourage him, they wanted him off the case. Even the police were not at all happy about his meddling. “Do you really think you can make allegations and get away with them?” a police officer in Miami asked him one day.
Chico Forti, a man always dedicated to nonviolence, went bravely on his way, and after spending months on the investigation he collected all the documents in his possession and finally succeeded in making an important short film titled “The Smile of the Medusa,” a documentary broadcast in Italy on Raitre, one of the national TV Channels.
With this documentary Chico Forti succeeded in demolishing the official version put out by the Miami Police Department. “What I have shown is that the gigolo Andrew Cunanan was dead when he was taken to the houseboat. The story of his suicide is just a farce,” declared Forti.
With this documentary Chico Forti succeeded in demolishing the official version put out by the Miami Police Department. “What I have shown is that the gigolo Andrew Cunanan was dead when he was taken to the houseboat. The story of his suicide is just a farce,” declared Forti.
His powerful allegations not only undermined the entire work of the Miami Police Department but also its credibility and authority. They were contained in a documentary that opened up new scenarios and controversy. Just think of the important statements made in recent years by exponents of the Italian underworld, like the case of the ’Ndrangheta supergrass Giuseppe Di Bella, who told Italian investigators that Versace was not assassinated by Cunanan but by a hitman hired by senior leaders of the mob, because Versace was heavily in debt to the 'Ndrangheta and no longer able to pay. Today the 'Ndrangheta is one of the world’s most powerful criminal organizations. It has succeeded in ousting Cosa Nostra from the U.S. and teamed up with Mexican and Colombian gangsters to control the monopoly in the import of cocaine to Europe. The Washington Government rates it a “growing threat,” the equal of terrorist organizations like Al Qaeda. It is global in reach and uses a network very similar to Al Qaeda’s, explains the FBI leadership, citing the latest report of the anti-mafia parliamentary committee. In the recession-stricken States it is buying everything from New York to Miami. The 'Ndrangheta has now expanded like wildfire and in Florida it is one of the few criminal organizations capable of infiltrating everywhere and supplying capital to an economy in crisis. This is why the statements made by the 'Ndrangheta boss are never to be underestimated. Another valuable source apart from Giuseppe di Bella is an important member of the Calabrian crime world named Coco Trovato. He told the Judiciary that the Italian 'Ndrangheta regularly supplied the Versace Family with drugs. More recently, “Paolo Martino,” another important criminal of the 'Ndrangheta arrested by police in Milan, during an interview with the magistrates in Milan, spoke of his relationship with the fashion elite. Referring to Santo Versace (Gianni's brother) and said “He saw me growing up”
( read This piece in Humor Chic ).
( read This piece in Humor Chic ).
In this whole story the information that emerges is very murky, with vested interests, debts and loans, the flow of drugs, contacts and crime all circling around the “Maison Versace.” So let's just step back a moment and try to understand how Chico Forti fits into all this. At the end of February 1998 the “Miami Herald” published an article about an Italian businessman 39 years old called Chico Forti, who was arrested in Miami suspected of defrauding the owner of a hotel chain, Anthony Pike, whose son had been killed a few days earlier in circumstances that remain unclear. Moreover, the “Miami Herald” added that Forti wanted to make a film about the murder of Gianni Versace and so bought exclusive rights to shoot the scenes in the houseboat where Cunanan killed himself. He concluded by writing that Forti had been denied freedom on bail and the Miami police did not specify whether he was also suspected of murdering Pike.
Not long after his arrest Chico Forti was handed his final conviction. Held in Florida since October 11, 1999, he received a life sentence for murdering Dalle Pike, killed with the same type of pistol used to shoot Versace: two bullets in the head. A connection, ritual or sheer coincidence?According to the reconstruction by the Miami Police Department, Anthony Pike was the owner of a hotel that Chico Forti was interested in purchasing. Forti attempted to defraud Anthony Pike and, when his son Dale Pike discovered this, Forti decided to kill him. Forti pleaded innocent from the very start and says he was convicted on very flimsy evidence, cobbled together by the police in retaliation for having investigated the death of Gianni Versace and casting suspicion on the Miami Police Department. Furthermore, the Court completely acquitted Forti of the charge of fraud. So there is no motive, no witnesses, no weapons, no DNA, nothing.
So why has Chico Forti been incarcerated in Everglades prison on a life sentence ever since June 2000, exactly 12 years?
So why has Chico Forti been incarcerated in Everglades prison on a life sentence ever since June 2000, exactly 12 years?
Just read the incredible words with which the prosecution closed its indictment:
“There is no need to prove that the accused is the murderer to demonstrate that the defendant is guilty.”
What? We don’t need evidence to confirm that the accused is the murderer? This is not justice but a trap, as confirmed by judge and lawyer Ferdinando Imposimato after carefully analyzing the judicial record, including documents that have “disappeared ” or are still secret. Imposimato explains with legal arguments why the life sentence handed down to Chico Forti violates the basic principles of due process.
So who framed Chico Forti?
“There is no need to prove that the accused is the murderer to demonstrate that the defendant is guilty.”
What? We don’t need evidence to confirm that the accused is the murderer? This is not justice but a trap, as confirmed by judge and lawyer Ferdinando Imposimato after carefully analyzing the judicial record, including documents that have “disappeared ” or are still secret. Imposimato explains with legal arguments why the life sentence handed down to Chico Forti violates the basic principles of due process.
So who framed Chico Forti?
Chico Forti has the right to a retrial, a proper trial, the kind he never had. Events like this are a tragedy that could strike down any of us. Conscience has to take precedence over the sea of indifference. Only by breaking down the wall of silence can we reclaim the right to hope.
Courage Chico!
Following is the video documentary made by Chico Forti with his investigation of Gianni Versace’s murder.
Courage Chico!
Following is the video documentary made by Chico Forti with his investigation of Gianni Versace’s murder.
Partial - Report TV by Chico Forti - Versace, Cunanan. Miami
Complete Report
Report TV (1 / 5) by Chico Forti - Versace, Cunanan. Miami
Report TV (2/ 5) by Chico Forti - Versace, Cunanan. Miami
Report TV (3 / 5) by Chico Forti - Versace, Cunanan. Miami
Report TV (4 / 5) by Chico Forti - Versace, Cunanan. Miami
Report TV (5 / 5) by Chico Forti Versace, Cunanan. Miami
The true story of Chico Forti.
The incredible story of Enrico "Chico" Forti
An innocent man sentenced to life in prison
The facts
On June 15th, 2000, after a twenty-five day trial, the Italian entrepreneur from Trento, Enrico Forti, called "Chico", was found guilty of murder by a jury from Dade County in Miami, "for having personally and/or with another person or persons still unknown to the State, acting as the instigator and accomplice, each for their own participation and/or execution of a common criminal plan, intentionally and pre-meditated caused the death of Dale Pike."
The sentence left everyone present, along with those who had also followed the trial, astonished, incredulous that a jury could emit “without a reasonable doubt” a guilty verdict based solely on feeble and mixed up circumstantial evidence.
Afterwards, careful inspection and examination of the “circumstantial evidence” produced great doubt and suspicion that the events had transpired in a completely different way than what the prosecution had stated.
A meticulous evaluation of all the accusations, one by one, of the facts and prior events, reveals tampering of “circumstantial evidence” by the prosecution, whose sole purpose was to secure a guilty verdict.
Prior Event
Enrico Forti, called “Chico”, was born in Trento in 1959 where he lived until he graduated from the local science high school in 1978. Following that, he moved to Bologna to attend Isef, the physical education university.
Physically gifted, he dedicated himself to practicing many sports, particularly windsurfing, and in the 1980’s he had great success at a worldwide level.
In the 1990’s, he moved to Miami, Florida, where he took on the role of filmmaker and television presenter. ater he dedicated himself to real-estate mediation and it was while carrying out this activity that he met Anthony Pike, who presented himself as the owner of a hotel, of the same name, on the island of Ibiza in Spain.
This hotel had enjoyed a certain amount of notoriety in the 1980’s as many people from the international jet-set scene frequented it but soon after it suffered a disastrous decline.
Towards the end of 1997, Anthony Pike traveled to Miami, a guest of a German man named Thomas Knott, who had been staying at Williams Island for some time in an apartment right below Enrico Forti’s apartment. The two men had been “friends” during the Ibiza hotel’s golden age, as Knott was a regular guest there. Only later, the true background of these two came out. First of all, in that time period, Pike found himself in financial difficulty.
Knott was a“schemer” who was sentenced to six years in jail in Germany for billionaire scams; he had disappeared during a probationary period and had reappeared in Miami (as a guest of other Germans) in Williams Island, where he used the cover as a “tennis instructor” using fake documents (procured for him by Pike). In reality he continued his “profession” as a scam artist (25 charges in little less than 6 months) with his final scam being the one he attempted on Enrico Forti, summoning Anthony Pike in Miami with the intent of selling Forti this hotel, even though it had not been under Pike’s possession for over a year at that point.
During this negotiation Anthony’s son, Dale Pike, came into the picture, even though he had been distanced from the Ibiza hotel in the past due to serious disagreements with his father and probably also with Thomas Knott, his trouble-making friend. Dale Pike had to quickly leave Malaysia, for unknown reasons, and ran to his father for help, since he found himself without any money.
Anthony Pike didn’t have any financial funds available either, so he asked Enrico Forti, with whom he was negotiating with for the sale of the hotel, for some help. Forti was helpful and at the end of January 1998 he paid for Dale Pike’s flight from Malaysia to Spain.
Fifteen days later, Anthony Pike telephoned Enrico Forti once more telling him about an upcoming visit of his to Miami, this time accompanied by his son Dale. They were expected to arrive Sunday, February 15, 1998. He convinced Enrico Forti to front the money to pay for the airline tickets and Forti once again agreed to pay for both tickets.
Two days before the departure, Anthony made one last call to Enrico Forti, claiming to have personal problems, and moving their appointment in New York to the following Wednesday, February 18th.
His son Dale, would, however, still be travelling alone to Miami on Sunday February 15th, and Anthony asked Forti if he could go and pick him up at the airport and allow him to stay at his house.
Forti agreed, but after being picked up at the airport, Dale asked him if he could drop him off at a Key Biscayne restaurant’s parking lot, where some of Knott’s friends were waiting for him and with whom he would be staying with for a few days, until his father arrived.
So, Forti gave him a ride to where Dale asked to be taken and left him at the parking lot around 7pm on that Sunday.
His contact with Dale Pike, who he had never seen nor met before that day, lasted about half an hour.
On February 16th, a surfer found Dale Pike’s corpse in a grove along the beach not too far from where Enrico Forti had left him.
He had been “executed” with two shots to the head from a .22 caliber gun, stripped naked yet left with the green piece of paper handed out by customs when you enter the United States.
There were also other personal objects, which made identifying the body simple.
The time of death was estimated to have been between 8pm and 10 pm the previous day, a short time after bidding farewell to Enrico Forti.
It was shown that at 8pm Enrico Forti had been at the Fort Lauderdale airport.
In fact, at the trial he was accused and condemned as the “mastermind” behind the murder.rior events
The deceit
The accusations brought against Enrico Forti were based on the fact that at the beginning he kept quiet about the circumstances of Dale Pike’s arrival on Sunday, February 15, 1998, and he omitted the truth about their meeting at the Miami airport.
In the days following the murder, it seemed that Enrico Forti was not at all worried about Dale Pike’s fate. In fact, it was only on Wednesday the 18th, while he was visiting his father in New York, that he came to know of the homicide.
Since the meeting with Anthony Pike had been skipped and he hadn’t heard from him, Forti immediately returned to Miami the next day, February 19th. He willingly went to the police department, to respond to a summons since he was a person thought to be informed of the facts.
It was during this summons – during which he ended up being interrogated as a main suspect in the homicide – that the police falsely informed him that aside from Dale, his father Anthony has also been found murdered in New York.
In reality, Anthony Pike was alive and had been under police protection since the day before.
Terrorized by the occurring events, Forti denied having met Dale Pike.
On the evening of February 20th, having realized the seriousness of the situation, he returned to the police to deliver a series of documents related to his business dealings with the victim’s father.
Naively, he presented himself without an attorney present, in part due to the fact that he had talked to an ex-chief of the homicide team that he knew, who had assured him that all they needed was to clear up some information to help the police with their investigation.
Instead, he was immediately arrested and underwent an exhausting interrogation that lasted 14 hours, during which he admitted to having met Dale Pike on February 15th in the hours before his murder and to having accompanied him to the Rusty Pelican’s parking lot in Virginia Key.
This admission came about thanks to a trap, which was made in order to confuse him, therefore forcing him to lie subjugated from the fear and desperation. This is a legitimate and admissible technique, according to the American system, but his admission was treacherously obtained by way of deceit.
The prosecutions fabrications
Immediately, with the first arrest, Enrico Forti was accused of fraud, circumvention of incapacity and complicity in murder.
The jury, however, was deceived in their final judgment because they were never informed that Enrico Forti had previously been absolved of all charges of fraud and circumvention of incapacity.
Released on bail, during the following twenty months he was, in fact cleared of all charges that dealt with fraud (eight).
Fraud was unjustly used as a motive for the murder.
We quote a literal translation from the introductory text of the states theory on which the prosecution based their accusations.
“The State’s theory about the case is that Enrico Forti had Dale Pike murdered because Forti knew that Dale would have interfered with Forti’s plan to acquire, in a fraudulent manner, 100% of the interest from a hotel in Ibiza from his demented father. Dale had traveled to Miami from the island of Ibiza so that Forti could “show him the money” – four million dollars requested for the transaction – for the purchase of the hotel from his father. Forti simply didn’t have it. Instead, Forti met Dale at the airport and led him to his death.”
There is not a single word of truth in this statement.
It is not true that Dale Pike, the victim, was an obstacle for Forti’s plan to acquire the hotel. He had no power.
It was not true that his father, the hotelier, Tony Pike, was old sick and disabled, incapacitated and senile. On the contrary, at the time many considered him an astute and sharp businessman. However, at the trial there were no documents presented to prove his presumed dementia, either by the court or by any medical committee.
It is not true that Enrico Forti wanted to take 100% possession of the hotel via fraudulent means. In reality, it was discovered that the hotelier was trying to sell a hotel to Forti that hadn’t been in his possession for quite some time. This was the real case of fraud. Anthony Pike had admitted it in a deposition in London before the trial, clearly stating that he intended to sell Chico a “white elephant”
The prosecutor kept this fact hidden from the jury.
It isn’t true that Dale had traveled to Miami to “see the money”, four-five million dollars that Forti would have had to pay. The sale agreement stipulated that the payment would be made in the arc of six months, part of it in cash, part of it through the exchange of two apartments and part of it with the accession of the hotel’s debt through banks. The overvaluation of putting the price of the hotel at four-five million dollars was an invented estimate. Even now, its real value is less than a third of that.
As can be seen, fraud was used as the basis for all the accusations.
Instead, the exact opposite is true. The hotelier was trying to sell a hotel that hadn’t been his property for quite some time. Therefore, Enrico Forti was the one who was swindled and not the swindler and therefore the motive was completely made up and inexistent.
The prosecutions speech
Thursday, June 15, 2000, around noon.
The Prosecutor Reid Rubin had just finished his closing argument, eyeing the jury as if he has just presented his “masterpiece”.
It truly was a masterpiece, from the moment in which he had been able to build and move forward an argument for a trial without any supporting evidence to uphold the allegations.
Rubin certainly left nothing to improvisation, as it took him twenty-eight months to prepare his closing argument.
A record for U.S. courts, since usually most trials are concluded within 6 months of the arraignment.
Certainly, this enormous use of time and (Florida State’s) money must have meant a lot for his career or for the interests of the court if he was able to easily obtain a series of extensions, until his masterpiece was ready.
Undoubtedly, the artist Reid Rubin had a lot of advantages in reaching his conclusions.
First of all, he had the incredible advantage of giving his closing argument without the defense being able to counter, so that any theory he wished to bring to the jury, whether real or alleged, relying solely on an imaginative reconstruction of events, was no longer disputable.
Anything can be said when you run no risk of being called out on it.
How is it possible that in a case where a man’s life hangs in the balance, that the last word comes from the prosecutor?
Simple: the American legal process foresees that the final word awaits the defense when the defendant exercises his right of not responding or is not called to the witness stand.
Who was aware of this rule? Certainly not Enrico Forti!
The prosecutor obviously knew about it, and he took advantage of this opportunity, placing all his “bets” on this final statement he was allotted and also taking advantage of the fact that the jury had to make it’s verdict based solely on their memories of the trial. It is therefore logical that what the jury remembers best is the prosecution’s final words, rather than the defense’s. This is especially true when the speaker is particularly good, and there is no doubt that Reid Rubin is just that.
The main responsibility, however, lies on the defense lawyers: they also knew about this rule. Therefore, it is normal to ask oneself: why concede this huge advantage to the prosecution and why wasn’t anything done to avoid this trap?
The explanation given by Enrico Forti’s lawyers for counseling him not to take the stand is alarming: “You lied, therefore exposing yourself to the massacre the prosecution could take on your image. It’s best not to risk it. Furthermore, since there is no evidence, no jury in the world would be able to issue a guilty verdict against you!”
Naturally, the prosecutor was careful not to call Enrico Forti to the stand either. His plan was based on this possibility: being able to have the last word in order to convince a jury that, as it happens in the majority of cases, might not have been very attentive during the trial.
A bit too late in the case, during the prosecutor’s case, the defense made an infinite number of objections, many of which were overruled, some were sustained, but with little effect.
The judge, on almost all occasions, would tell the lawyers to raise the question in an appeal, an appeal which would then be systematically refused.
The Verdict
After the conclusion of the prosecution’s closing argument, the jury retired to a closed session to deliberate.
Thursday, June 15, 2000, around 4pm. A few hours were enough for the jury to emit a guilty verdict.
The court’s decision in their sentencing, of which there is a literal translation below, was incredible and incomprehensible:
“The court does not have the evidence that you, Mr. Forti, pulled the trigger, but I have a feeling, beyond every doubt, that you were the instigator of the crime. Your accomplices have not been found, but they will be one day and they will also meet your fate. Take this man to the state penitentiary. I sentence him to life in prison without the possibility of parole”!
Civil death was inflicted on Enrico Forti based solely on a “feeling”!
Afterwards, regardless of the fact that it was clearly shown that Enrico Forti was a victim of a gross miscarriage of justice, the various courts, without justification or explanation, all systematically rejected five appeals for review of the trial.
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