BEAUTY: Clothing--Emporio Armani

I love Giorgio Armani: I say it every time I blog about his work. Every season for his own eponymous label or for his Emporio Armani line (the more causal and sportier version of Armani), I swoon at what his house creates and sends down the runway. I respond most to designers, designs, and shows that have a strong inspiration and concept, and a near-performance art presentation. But Armani does not need concepts. He has been creating his own sense of easy luxury for nearly half a century now, and it's still fresh and relevant today.

He deconstructed the men's suit in the 80s, turning it into something soft and sensual, something sexy and flowing, without altering the basic concept of what it was. He removed layers of felting inside suits, making them relaxed and able to behave like thin silk. Just take a look at the iconic clothing from the film "American Gigolo" and you will see what I mean. It was soft and casual with a sense of effortless power. This revolution rippled out into the industry and we see its waves even now: designers still grapple with ways to make suiting less stiff, to make clothing more luxe without being precious, and to make pieces with more innate ease without being sloppy. In short, to make clothes more Armani. But no one does Armani like Armani. Clean lined and impeccably tailored, Armani's sensibility is about luxe fabrics and the way a garment hangs and drapes on the body (of both men and women).

So his Emporio Armani Spring Summer '23 collection at Milano Moda Uomo is the supreme expression of ease. With simplicity and brevity, the house sums up the collection: "Summer is defined by lightness, in attitude and spirit. Lightness as immediacy and the sheer joy of living and dressing for the season: choosing clothes and accessories to throw on without too much thought.

The collection is indeed light while being made of luxe materials. The detailing is marvelous as well: slashes at collars and ankles, slashes down the side of a top or jacket and even on trouser legs (!), and sheer burnout stripes on tops and drawstring bottoms. I love the marine colorway of the first section, the black and white section manages to keep a sense of summer-lightness, and the eruption of lime and pineapple in patterns that feel Modernist or Art Deco are a delight. Watch the video to see the final look on a modern dancer who expresses the joy and freedom of the lightness the clothing embodies.

https://www.armani.com/