Fashion Update: Cross-stitched

FASHION history is full of celebrated rivalries, but few match the spat between Giorgio Armani and Gianni Versace. In an interview with L'Espresso, the Italian news magazine, Armani has had a go at designers who believe in putting on the glitz. Armani mentioned no names, but claimed that some designers were turning fashion into 'a porno show', presenting 'the image of a woman as a receptacle for men, the incarnation of low-level sexual fantasies, the nightclub where stripteases are done for provincial wolves'.

Versace is equally capable of speaking his mind. He designed both the set and costumes for Elton John's show at Wembley stadium last weekend with Eric Clapton - who was wearing Armani. Versace's alleged comment, reported in another Italian magazine, was that Eric looked like an accountant.