This was the first coed Emporio Armani collectsion jointly presented by Giorgio Armani’s designated design heirs, Silvana Armani and Leo Dell’Orco. They told Replica Handbag Store Runway’s Tiziana Cardini a few days ago that the plan to transition from separate shows into today’s format was hatched by Armani himself before his death last year, “to ensure that once in stores the men’s and women’s lines would feel cohesive.”
You could see there had been communication between the two teams in the occasional brace of his-and-hers stylings: the check jackets, aviator looks, blue evening suiting, and closing ranks of nonuniform white shirts. The show’s concept was that its characters were students of a school for orchestra conductors: They came out in loose groupings of clothes-defined tribes, most often united by a love for baker boy caps.
The models moved at a rapid pace to a tight tempo, as is the Armani way, sometimes in clusters. Despite the visual hubbub, an especially excellent snippet occasionally cut through the noise. These included the casual confidence of a woman’s oversized biker worn above combats; a rakish trio of menswear looks in gray bird’s-eye, loose-tailored pants and outerwear; an oxblood shearling for the ages; and a dreamy topcoat of yellow-and-white-stitched black wool over a rocky gold-embroidered jean and greasy boot. However, the speed and density of the presentation meant some equally lovely pieces could only be gulped via glimpse rather than fully savored: an oxblood biker over Prince of Wales check pant and a brown herringbone field jacket over a matching waistcoat and pant, for example. Endearing accessory touches included mohair leg warmers and narrow, elongated cravats, sometimes cord-whipped, in tie-pattern silk.
An eveningwear section stepped away from the music-school conceit and toward first-night finery. Two shaggy womenswear chubbies, then two waisted jersey wrap tops over blue silk tailored trousers, seemed very core Emporio. Tuxedo tailcoats with bow-tie shirts played against mesh dresses with bow details. The shirting section featured multiple arrangements of bib and collar, as well as crystal-studded bow ties and regular ones loosely looped around the shoulders. Although it would have benefited from a clearer arrangement, this collectsion’s hits mostly landed: Emporio’s new conductors are still warming up.
