Giorgio Armani simply has good taste.
His latest winter menswear collection is at the same time contemporary and classic without exaggerating in either direction.
“To mix and remix is what defines so much of contemporary culture,” the designer said in his fashion notes.
Gray, rather than black, underlines the mood of the collection as exemplified by the long, weighty overcoat worn over a flannel suit complete with shirt and tie, which opened the show on Tuesday in the theater of his downtown Milan headquarters.
For fall-winter 2011-2012, Armani shortens his jacket and pairs it with wide trousers with accentuated darts. The trousers come in flannel, velvet and waffled fabric.
As in many of the shows seen on the Milan menswear runway in the four days of previews ending on Tuesday, vests play an important part in the collection both by day and night.
The winter shoe is mainly a boot or a lace-up, sometimes in this winter’s latest colour, white.
In a very contemporary twist, Armani makes minimal use of buttons, even for the double-breasted jackets and coats. He either hides them, or replaces them with zips.
Unlike most other designers showing their wears here, Armani shunned from brightening up his collection with lots of colour. A muted electric blue was his only concession to black or gray.
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