It was as we galloped into the last ten or so looks of this entertainingly wild and equestrian Emporio Armani collection that the tone so specifically shifted. Some bicolor olive-on-lavender horse photo print shirts, then an ultra-light lavender suede suit and trucker prefaced two soft peak collar jackets that veered more towards purple and lilac on the spectrum.
As the footage of the foam-flecked galloping ponies that had accompanied the show so far faded, it became clear that lavender was the thing. The screens showed bucolic fields of the stuff as a cluster of couples emerged. The men wore burnished leather shorts, boots, harnesses and toted baskets of lavender alongside their comely Emporio womenswear wearing companions. Then they gathered at the end of the runway as Mr. Armani emerged flanked by Leo Dell’Orco and Silvana Armani, who oversee his men’s and women’s style office respectively and have both been at his side for decades.
This was a new flavor of cameo for an Emporio show, which more typically tend to be delivered with episodic sections dedicated to sportswear capsules or other outposts in the Armani design universe. What tonight’s closing ceremony signified was left open to interpretation: Mr. Armani is gearing up for his 50th year in business in 2025, and will next month celebrate his 90th birthday.
The main event at this show, Emporio menswear, was full of verve and humor as well as a wide selection of pulse-racing garments. Armani took his signature tailoring style out of the realms of formality and into the wilds: those free-running untamed ponies echoed the liberation with which tailoring was styled against shirting at its lowest tide, or no shirting at all. Saddlery-echoing belts and harnessing in leather and rope was used to tether waistlines. Trousers billowed wide and free on the leg but were cinched with zippers at the ankle. Sunglasses were secured with golden chains to stop them being thrown off on the ride around Armani’s runway. Denim in various colors was scarred and pitted as if after a hard life in the saddle and came beautifully cut. Here and there you spotted some quixotically diverting detail like a double-flapped pocket or a double layered waistcoat. You sensed that Mr. Armani and his team were enjoying the ride.
