Emporio Armani
The big chill swept through this superluxe, winter-sports-themed collection, one of the house’s strongest in seasons.
The allure was very urban but, between the lines, exotic with the lashings of faux furs and embossed fabrics emulating animal skins. Even checked pants and textured knits took on a wild allure.
The mood was cold and cozy, with the palette blowing from black to a storm of suit-grays to silver, blue and albino, including a white-out section with models carrying snowboards.
Offering warmth was the expanse of textural woolly, quilted, velvety and furry surfaces, some with light snow-white dustings. Organic pelt-like scarves finished a lot of the looks, with white furry laced yeti-boots and chunky sneakers encrusted with frosty crusts among the fun footwear highlights.
“Soft but with rigor. But there’s something more than rigor, there’s a deeper research on the sporty way of dressing [for the city], and this is the aim of this collection. Otherwise you’re obliged to go to Saint Moritz eight months out of
12, which is hard,” quipped the designer during a press conference after the show.
“If we take away the frills…and leave it clean, it’s a pleasant way of dressing. Close to nature, with animal footprints, [faux] fur treated unconventionally…so we got back to nature with this collection, less technology, less Technogym.”
At times, a dark, techno, New Wave accent crept in, such as on a look combining a black shirt with a Mao-style collar and padded zipped coat with a jogging pant in a thick leather-y material embossed with a tiny croc motif, accessorized with black gloves and tiny glasses.
Standout silhouettes included a black suit with a textured shrunken jacket and large pant gathered at the ankle like a jogging pant — one of the season’s defining fits — worn with a white shirt and black nylon coat embossed with a croc motif and lined with fake fur.
An intriguing sense of duality flowed through, with the designer combining country, formal, casual, urban and street, including a super engineered denim outerwear section that, with the parkas and giant rucksacks with straps, had a military, techno, mountain vibe.