Global warming has made wearing typical tailored clothing in the 95-degree heat a challenge, no matter how chic you might wish to look while attending Milan Men’s Fashion Week’s June edition.
To the rescue comes designers like Giorgio Armani, who found the lightest, breeziest fabrics that allowed him to continue plying his signature brand of soft, unstructured tailoring.
Watching his spring collection stroll by, one witnessed fine fabrics billowing, trembling and rippling as models walked, no matter how slowly they tread on their espadrilles and desert boots through the designer’s chic, subterranean runway theater.
Even a pair of AirPods tossed into the patch pockets of one of his breezy three-button jackets might cause them to sag.
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Armani counts among the very few designers who put business suits on the runway this season, even reprising some low-slung double-breasted styles with ’80s swagger.
But mostly this show focused on the more relaxed side of elegant dressing. He built outfits from loose, but gently tapered dress pants in lightweight, liquid and often lustrous fabrics, echoing his Emporio Armani collection paraded earlier in the week.
No Bermuda shorts for him, no matter how popular they have been this Milan season. He sees shorts as something “to wear on vacation and if you have nice legs.”
On top of the breezy pants came silky patch-pocket blazers with the ease of pajamas or cardigans, handsome and loose-fitting blousons, plus the odd safari jacket or trenchcoat in lightweight linen. The palette skewed neutral, the prints mostly geometric, save for a range of basket-weave and knot motifs.
Perhaps the biggest surprise of the show — apart from the giant black pencil propped on the runway, which Armani hugged when he came out for his bow — were the GA logos, scattered like polka dots on sweaters and scarves.
The designer’s press notes drew a link to the pencil prop, the leather notebook that served as the invitation, and his unwavering commitment to timeless, more classic menswear. “Narrating a certain style is a constant process of writing and rewriting,” it said.