ORANGE is a hard colour to ignore and even harder to wear. Yet, once you consider the vast differentiation among shades, orange, like all colours, becomes more versatile and achieves new life through relation to other colours and, frankly, through good design. There is a reason orange is emblematic of Dutch royalty but also parking cones.
All of this comes to play in the orange-heavy Armani Privé Couture Spring/Summer 2017 collection. Armani embraces the polarising nature of orange and polishes it into a surprising range of looks and colors. Colourwise, there is clementine, tangerine, orange satin, orange sequin, orange crocodile, orange chiffon and even a subtle Chinese-print orange gold. All of this vibrancy is played against strong blacks yet somehow avoids looking like something reminiscent of Halloween.
The collection opened with a sequence of sequined jackets and black trousers in optically interesting stripe and floral combination prints. Other strong pieces included: a pale orange asymmetric column dress; a plunging black dress with a frilled cape; and a sleeveless dress a black embroidered top and a orange chiffon skirt.
by Jessica Quillin