Emporio Armani Men Fall Winter 2012-13

ESSENTIAL - read more on www.armani.com A collection that could be defined as being all about the interior world of the wearer. The austere expression of deep, conceptual sentiments, revealing the essence of a style that is pure to its very roots. Having surpassed the synthetic brilliance of nylon and the ease of sportswear, only the compact opaqueness of wool remains. The depths of black, ebony-brown, anthracite and smoke-grey are occasionally emphasized by an unexpected contrasting white cloth lining. The duffle coat is back, this time with Emporio Armani proportions (the length is 125cm). Pea coats in triple-overlapping cloth have a generous shape, while the deconstructed jackets are more long-line. The shirts show an extraordinary attention to detail, with a touch of flannel, or other contrasting cloth, at the neck and wrists. Softest sheepskin and magnificent double leather make up generous garments with a hidden double-breasted closure. The unusual tone-on-tone digital print suggests the veining of a tree trunk, adding imperceptible vibrations of colour to dark velvets. A collection of essential colours and garments, reflecting a discipline of thought and conduct. The severity is accentuated by the clean lines of the bags, briefcases and striking, large, rigid berets.

Emporio Armani 2012 Ready to wear

It's tempting to think that Giorgio Armani was anticipating a certain amount of criticism when he named his latest Emporio collection Little Winter Follies. There was certainly one element of folly here: To wit, the collection's wholesale endorsement of knee britches (the show notes called them bermudas), sometimes paired with skirts or dresses. In velvet, with jackets to match, it was hard to escape associations with Thomas Gainsborough's classic eighteenth-century painting The Blue Boy. Not in itself such a bad notion, but a tricky sell, you imagine, for a contemporary woman. Although maybe it wasn't women exactly that Armani was targeting. The staging of the show had a girlish glee, the models looked like fresh-faced ingenues as they strolled the catwalk arm in arm, smiling conspiratorially. The flat shoes helped. There were moments when the britches had a period elegance: A black taffeta jacket and midnight velvet knickers were almost a dangerous liaison. Above the waist, Armani offered such a feast of jacket options that you could see window displays for days, especially in a luminous amethyst blue. In fact, the collection used color in a way that was so strikingly un-Armani that it was practically bouleversé: Brightly hued plaids and psychedelically hand-painted Mongolian lamb jackets were folly at its most delightful.