According to the show notes, Giorgio Armani wanted nothing to do with "the gym or the obsessive desire for exercise," in his new Emporio collection. The first group of voluminous trousers and slightly boxy jackets suggested he had indeed decided to cater to the fuller-figured gent, but as the presentation rolled on, it became obvious that Armani was exploring a new proportion—trousers that fitted to the waist and fell away into folds of fabric, sometimes shy enough of the ankle to be considered floods. Topped off with a crumpled Panama hat, a surreal buttonhole, and one of those jackets, the look had a steamy period loucheness, vaguely reminiscent of Belmondo and Delon in Borsalino.
Aside from some disconcerting techno flourishes—wet-look jackets, a glitter rendition of his face on a T-shirt, the shiny metallic culottes in the Armani Jeans segment of the show—Armani seems to be making peace with the past. He turns 70 in July, and he's feeling good enough about that milestone to replace the Emporio logo with the scorpion and crab that rule his astrological chart.
