It is impossible to exaggerate his achievements and contribution to culture, to design (not only of clothing, but of home furnishings and architecture), and to fashion history during his fifty year career. Along with names who changed silhouettes and shapes and ushered in new cuts and styles and materials, Armani takes his place in the pantheon. 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 and 1890s? The 1940s and 50s? Yes to all of it.
So this Fall Winter '26-'27 collection shown at Milano Moda Uomo, is the first to exist without any direct input from the master himself. Armani's partner in business and in life, Leo Dell'Orco (the two had worked together for nearly forty-five years, and became romantic partners after the death of Armani's first love, Sergio Galeotti) assumed the title of Creative Director for menswear and created a solo debut collection that was a relieving continuation of the DNA of the house Armani built over fifty years. Although with some personal touches.
The show was held in Giorgio Armani’s house (shared for decades with Dell’Orco) which features a basement theatre for runway shows and Dell'Orco said, "He wrote an important chapter in the history of fashion, and we feel this responsibility. It’s scary, yes. No one will be able to replicate what he did; no one will be able to become him... It’s impossible to try and even get close to him. But I tried to add something: maybe I was a bit more eccentric with certain colors; the purples, the greens, and the iridescence. Maybe Giorgio would have cut them, or had them a little darker, but I wanted a little shine. And I wanted to bring the proportions back just a little bit, more close to the body. So yes, shapes that caress the body... I certainly don’t want to make a revolution. But I will try and be a little bit more personal, expressing what I know and I like, with lightness."
https://www.armani.com/
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