Giorgio Armani opened up his SS16 menswear show, and by show, we mean a collection of always-stellar 74 pieces, with the kind of luxe lounge suit-wear Armani has accustomed the fashion world to. To expand on his latest menswear offering the designer, his trusty untouchable eye for elegance punctuated SS16 with a selection of stylish suited looks for females that incorporate traditional menswear and vice versa.
The soothing colour palette that captured the Mediterranean sea at dusk wasn’t the only refreshing note this collection had to offer by far, indeed, for the men things were a whole lot more off duty and just a touch more off the wall.
Sacrificing style is something that Armani never does however much he intends on rocking the boat however and the cravat’ed combos of a simple castaway jumper and oversized slacks still didn’t feel pretentious in the slightest.
Moving on, the king of cool kept it serene with unstructured ensembles of matching sandy hues. This was clothing built to bask in the sun, certainly so for the gloriously decadent crocodile jackets, which were also built in a style that curiously blurred lines between Armani mens and Armani womens.
Armani continued with chic formals, some very well put together vests and cardigans that even the most straight-laced of formalwear obsessed gentlemen would fall head over heels for, and finally a little foray into mixing and matching prints.
There wasn’t so much as a suggestion of a clash though, Armani’s midas touch extended into the most stunning scenarios that pitted small polka-dot suits against miniscule chevron prints, silky sheens and even some swank leafy bamboo prints.
Armani’s wise voice was once again resounding this season and while he likes to make it as clear as crystal that he still holds a slightly distant and subjective stance as a designer who also doubles as fashion world observer, one has to conjecture that
this is what makes him keep giving. Heaven knows that thanks to this pre-occupation with sincere style, all that he gives to the fashion world is always above and beyond the best.
by Liam Feltham
Images courtesy of Style.com