From the T-shirt with the giant fingerprint design that opened the show to the designer’s passionate argument backstage about the virtues of individuality, it’s clear Giorgio Armani wants his man to stand apart. “I detest it when we all do the same thing,” said Armani of his designing peers.
The man himself broke with tradition on Monday, donning a white collared shirt and a dark gray cardigan, instead of his decades-old uniform of round-neck T-shirt or navy blue sweater. It was a whole new Armani.
In keeping with this passion for the individual, Armani offered up a host of mix and match options, giving the Emporio man the chance to express himself through a range of silhouettes, textures, patterns – and colors (more on that later). Fingerprint swirls appeared across the collection, often in subtle, abstract form.
Highlights included shrunken, soft-shoulder jackets, three-button cardigan ones, and fitted leather and suede motorcycle and varsity styles. Some of the latter had flower patterns that morphed into camouflage or resembled tapestry, while others were embroidered and had a subtle shine.
Trousers ranged from the designer’s signature carrot shape to narrower, cuffed ankle-kissing ones. The stars of the show were undoubtedly the wide-legged ones with little strap details at the bottom and a diagonal button fly. They were styled with suspenders that dangled at the back – hopefully the commercial versions come without them.
The color palette was Armani neutral layered with rich green tones such as forest and olive. The only tricky bits were the fire engine red trousers and tomato topcoats. There are other ways to stand out from the crowd.
