GIORGIO Armani concluded Milan Fashion Week this season by topping off his entire AW17 collection with a trilby. That’s, give or take, 82 heads sent down the runway abrim with a styling choice that was most definitely a choice. Once the distraction of the hats had all but passed – which was never, especially when dominating ball gowns – the show below didn’t draw back the curtain on anything unexpected but did give us impeccable, power-imbued Armani tailoring, a striking red-on-black colour play and tantalising textures. So overall, elegance with an enigmatic eluding edge must have been the point of it all.
Raiding the jewel-tone box Armani toyed with teal, cerulean, ruby reds and flickering emerald hues. Just over half way through the show, these were combined to create a vaguely ukiyo-e style painterly pattern on a few jackets and coats which was a highlight.
Beyond that, the rest of the collection featured glamorous, mainly black, eveningwear with only glimmers of the colour palette we had grown accustomed to, in fussy floral, fur and bulky beaded embellishments which weren’t developed to any lasting effect.
The final look, a long tunic dress beaded in such a way that it once again resembled an ancient Japanese painting, on a larger scale, was an act of fashion artistry. While more of this extra perfected pizazz wouldn’t have gone a miss, this was another Armani collection tied together by mainly his signatures, executed adequately, and a gamble. That. Hat.
by Livia Feltham
Images courtesy of Giorgio Armani