“Standing? What standing? We don’t do standing. We’re from Dubai!” one of the Middle East fashion editors joked to me.
Unfortunately, I got standing at the Giorgio Armani show. It’s for guests at the runways shows who don’t get allotted seats. Like economy class on a plane, if front row is the first class.
Anyway, onto more important things. The Giorgio Armani show was held at the brand’s custom-built, and amazing, Teatro Armani, one day after the show from diffusion line Emporio Armani.
Titled Echoes of Armani, only somebody of Armani’s stature can claim to create an entire collection inspired by himself. As one of the world’s most successful fashion brands, the focus of the show, as the name suggests, was to dig into the designer’s rich heritage and give it a fresh spin.
The staples were there: the palette was muted, of course, and the trousers were flowy and the lines were fluid. But the hems were tapered and the jackets were short.
“Today I presented what clients have been asking us for: soft jackets for men that highlight their bodies and dress themselves with personality,” the designer — turning 80 next month — said.
What did I say about racial diversity in my previous column? Monsieur Armani more than made up for my complaint by sending, I think I counted six, Asian models down the runway. It may be purely for economic reasons but it’s a good place to start in the name of diversity.
If he had Steven Tyler and Joe Perry from Aerosmith at his Emporio Armani front row, Armani got Star Trek hunk Chris Pine for the main label’s show. Pine, dressed in Armani of course, is the new face of the Armani Code fragrance.
During fashion week, what a lot of brands do is to organise what they call ‘re-sees’, which are especially for the media and buyers to have a closer look at the collection, have a feel of the fabrics and get a better understanding of the clothes. It’s especially great for those in the standing section, you see.
While I did get a seat at the Gucci show, I went in to the re-see the next day at their HQ, where items from the collection were hung neatly in a row, and where a representative walked us through each piece, explaining the collection in much more detail.
I called the dominating stripes black and white in my review, but they are actually white and navy stripes. So there. And there were a few jumpsuits in the collection, which I completely missed from where I was sitting. Another personal favourite.
Designer Frida Giannini this season replaced stitching in some of the trousers and jackets and used a special glue, which added quite a different dimension to the clothes up close. And the accessories, ohh, they look so much lush-er when you actually touch and feel them. So there, re-sees do help to add a bit of the perspective.
Besides the runway shows, many brands organise presentations on the sidelines of the Milan Fashion Week, where they invite journalists and buyers to showcase their collections, mostly done in a display format.
Fun elements
After a rather long cab ride from our hotel, we arrived at the headquarters of shoe experts Sergio Rossi, where creative director Angelo Ruggeri, one year into the job, is trying to stir things up, especially with his men’s collection.
Predominantly known for their women’s shoes, Ruggeri said the men’s collection has been growing year-on-year and now there was a renewed focus on the segment, thanks mostly to market demands.
Using Cary Grant as inspiration, Ruggeri walked us through his collection, his second for the brand, which stood out for his use of black and white.
There were many elements of fun, including removable suspenders for one, a personal favourite, and the use of holes as a design element in shoes, making some of them see-through. The sneaker collection, with zippers as a strong visual key, were also impressive.
So now that we’ve come to the end of fashion week, what are my take-aways?
There’s going to be a lot of blacks and whites next spring. We saw it in Emporio Armani, at Gucci, Philipp Plein, Sergio Rossi and Versace. Expect a retro vibe via Prada, Salvatore Ferragamo and, to some extent, Giorgio Armani and Gucci. Some slim silhouettes from Diesel Black Gold. And some wild prints from Versace and Philipp Plein, with bite.
I hope you’ve enjoyed our coverage. But before I get on that flight back to Dubai, it’s time to indulge in some gelato. Ciao!
