Giorgio Armani's recent obsession with all things Oriental continued in Milan with the presentation of his Emporio Armani collection on Sunday, Sept. 21, in the Italian fashion capital...
Entitled "An Exotic Cruise to the West," this Spring 2009 collection had all of Armani's super slick tailoring, but mixed with a dash of posh beach resort chic.
One could easily imagine the entire collection in a middle eastern resort, like the lightweight yet severe tunics, the perforated leather and scallop opening mini jackets and the trimmed down harem pants, all of which looked great. Also a charming series of butterfly print, floor length dresses had all the understated panache we associate with the master.
Precisely because most models clutched faux snakeskin and real leather bags and clutches and donned oversized sunglasses, the every day looks could have marched out of the auditorium and into the nearest boutique on a shopping spree.
"An unexpected cruise that brings back to the west a flavor of the orient," read the program notes, as in the front row a new generation of Giorgio's celebrity fans cheered. Earning the most photoflashes was Solange Knowles, sister of Beyonce, who is now the worldwide ambassador for Armani Jeans. Also making the scene were leggy Italian blonde babe actress Martina Colombari, Italian Olympic gold medal swimmer Frederica Pellegrini and Japanese actress Aoi Miyaki.
Curiously for a collection that emphasized the East, the collection was largely lacking in color, sticking to Giorgio's tried and tested hues of Pacific blue, shiny white and combinations of the two in various stripes. If pink was Diana Vreeland's navy blue in India, for Armani it is ivory.
For evening, Giorgio kept things classically Emporio, maybe too much so. Though his sheath dresses had lovely Indian colliers, they looked way too familiar; and the decision to send out two male models in the finale with fake tattoos of Emporio logos on the chest and arm was tawdry.
And, while we are all in favor of Giorgio injecting his design genius into everything from hotels to automobiles, he did not really need to begin this show with an ad for his latest deal, a Samsung phone. It rendered an elegant expression of modern, international dressing into a provincial convention not quite worthy of the world's most famous and most influential designer of the last three decades.
photos courtesy of Fashion Wire Daily
related articles:
