What do we want? Tailoring. When do we want it? Now.
Giorgio Armani went straight back to the roots of Emporio Armani, serving up soft-edged, flattering suits and jackets to his hungry fan base. After seasons of swerving tailoring and experimenting with myriad styles and colors (with varying degrees of success) Armani has put Emporio right back where it belongs.
Armani isn’t alone in trotting out season-less classics and focusing on what he does best: jackets and coats with finely sculpted shoulders in buttery fabrics.
It’s a considered move at a time when many luxury customers are counting their pennies, delaying purchases, or renting key wardrobe pieces. Why not give them something that makes them look good, and lasts a lifetime?
He even brought back the berets and round sunglasses that featured big in the early Emporio and Giorgio Armani campaigns. For fall, he added a modern twist, creating compact pillbox hats that were pitched at a jaunty angle atop models’ heads.
It was jackets, jackets, jackets from start to finish. They came in a gray windowpane check, or in navy wool, as part of a suit, or as blazers with strong shoulders. For evening there were jewel-toned velvet suits in blue or green, and a little black jacket with a rosette at the neck.
There were coats for everyone, from demure types to divas. A long gray style with a double-button detail at the waist had a British school uniform vibe, as did a long black coat worn over a white blouse with a rippling Tudor-style collar.
By contrast, dip-dyed fur chubbies, and a Barbie pink leather jacket with a fuzzy hood-cum-collar, will look great emerging from the back seat of a limo.
The clothes under all those layers had just as much attitude. They included a pale aqua sweater with a sailor collar, and a fuzzy gray one with little clusters of crystals on the back, as well as the evening lineup of sheer black skirts and dresses.
Of course, there were some missteps, including the billowy athletic trousers with elastic around the ankles and a long dark dress with a rounded, bouncy hemline.
Those looks should have never made it into this (mostly) terrific show of strength by the man who changed women’s tailoring forever.
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