Twenty years ago, fashion and food rarely went together. So many calories!
The first haute couturier to launch haute cuisine was Giorgio Armani, who introduced his first Emporio Armani Caffè & Armani Ristorante in 1998, in Paris. Chanel followed a few years later, opening its Alain Ducasse–helmed Beige restaurant in Tokyo in 2004. While the project is an architectural marvel, perched atop a 10-story Ginza building, its aim was simple—give the clients a lunch break, by all means, but keep them in the store. The same premise made Freds Madison Avenue at Barneys iconic. Now the restaurant has outlived its former tenant.
