At 88, Giorgio Armani is one of the last great living fashion designers of his generation. There’s little that he hasn’t already done – from expanding into eyewear and home décor to launching cosmetics and fragrances. And when it comes to the two fashion lines (Giorgio and Emporio Armani) he maintains a personal hand in, the man knows what he likes and sticks to it.
This season’s collection from Emporio Armani is a treatise and thorough exploration of the colour grey. “From the palest to the very densest,” offers the collection notes, “punctuated by touches of bold colour.” Grey. Without any explanation or context, a concept like that certainly sounds drab. But anyone familiar with Mr Armani’s wide-ranging ability with design would have fewer reservations.
Grey seemed to offer the designer a familiar, neutral palette from which to develop. In smooth wool tailoring, for example, dark greys can take on a look of precision and authority. Tweak the fabrication ever so slightly into something with a bit of a tweedy texture, and both colour and effect soften into something perhaps more academic and approachable.
In the 45 men’s looks that walked the runway – designed like a checkerboard – comes a panoply of familiar styles and silhouettes. Armani’s famous deconstructed suit, for example, with its loose shape and swishy movements, cut from wools, velvets and jacquards, and paired with jewel-tone shirts. There are also Armani’s Eastern-inspired shapes on loose jackets with sash belts, in fabrics embossed with geometric patterns.
The strongest and widest looks seem to tap into military inspiration. That much is also clear in the accessories: structured bags with lace-up details, and tough-looking boots that have leather panels like armour. The shoes are cut square with high, chunky soles, and the most directional of the offerings is perhaps a pair of high boots worn like military issue.
The effect of the collection is one that reconsiders the versatility of a colour as natural as grey. The trick, however, is that making it so is not an easy task. Selecting and combining both fabrics and textures is what made this collection successful – and the result even borders on dandyish and glamourous.
The collection has the intention of reinterpreting glamour from sparkly razzle-dazzle to proposing a more foundational root of personal charm. The idea that personality and character can take the fore and shine against a backdrop of grey, might scare lesser designers, but for Armani – who built his name on measured subtle brilliance – it makes complete sense.