Change is afoot at Giorgio Armani headquarters, including a retooled auditorium, which the designer plans to use as a cinema, among other things, and a shifting mind-set about how men should dress. In a season where designers are rethinking the traditional suit, Armani is having his say — and then some. “The classics — what a bore! It’s time to refresh them, but subtly, and without discrediting the past. It’s time to have more fun,” said Armani after the show.
He was the designer to pull apart the classic suit, tearing out the lining, the heaviness, and softening the shoulder to create the slouch that became his signature. What he talked about after his Emporio Armani show on Saturday was a subtler deconstruction — more about how pieces should be worn, rather than their construction. “Men should be able to play, to create an individual look, to dress younger if they want,” he said.
The message came through with a lineup of loose trousers, some wide leg, some carrot-shaped, in midnight blue velvet, lightweight gray wool, or textured and patterned. Armani is sick of skinny trousers — he called them “banal” — and was inspired instead by the kind “grandfathers” used to wear, with generous pockets and in a variety of lengths and widths.
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Jackets came in many guises, too, as chunky ribbed knits, or in quilted leather, micro-tweed or velvet. Some were adorned with patches of fur or high-neck fuzzy scarves.
The lineup of velvet suits at the end was loose and languid, and the standout was a black one that was printed with a scattering of tiny gold squares, like a Klimt painting. While it veered toward the silly at times — Are men really going to wear fur-covered harnesses or leather saddlebags on their hips? — Armani continues to push the right idea, offering laid-back, luxury options for men who are wondering how to put it all together in a post-suit world.