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).
But there is something else that I really respond to in each Armani collection and that is a vague sense, a shadow, an echo of historical fashion. The way a jacket or coat is cut or its stance, the inclusion of waistcoats, belted outerwear, loose cut and high waisted trousers...it all reminds me of...what, the 1920s and 30s? The 1880s? The 1940s and 50s? Yes to all of it.
And his FW '25-'26 show at Milano Moda Uomo featured all of the above (the historical cuts of the 20s-30s-40s) and luxe fabrics (this time with TONS of velvet everywhere in jackets, trousers, scarves, hats, even with Sig. Armani taking his bow in a navy double-breasted jacket). Echoing the Emporio Armani show from the other day (seen here), the presentation concluded with several couples looks that definitely felt like the 1920s, with women in cloche hats and low Flapper-esque waists, men in high-stanced suit jackets and fedoras.
The show notes speak to the relaxed attitude of the Armani man but in an interesting context of wanting to be free from norms and restrictions:
Elegance to live in. And a way of experiencing elegance free from constraints and impositions, fuelled by individuality. The Giorgio Armani Fall Winter 2025-26 Collection presents the image of a man unafraid to embrace his individuality and gently challenge conventions, wearing garments as an exploration of possibilities rather than a pre-packaged formula. A modern, disenchanted attitude confidently blends formal and informal with passion and ease, confirming the image of an elegant man unaffected from boundaries, powered by a sense of self.
https://www.armani.com/
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