A show that opened with a parade of EA7 Golf, a new category for Armani, immediately set out its stall. It was all about product, but the laser focus that kind of consideration implied was a huge benefit to today's Emporio show. Its title was Industrial. Sounded unpromising, but in fine shadings of gray and taupe, it offered a vision of urban dressing that took the collection into elegant new territory, thankfully minus Spring's hard-core misstep.
The key was the coat, replacing Armani's signature jacket as the foundation for Fall. Unstructured, slim-line, occasionally paired with a waistcoat, it looked best in a mid-calf length, like the camel topper that casually closed with a single button. The languid line of such a piece carried through into jackets that were as soft as cardigans. OK, that's nothing new for Armani, but today it was expressed with a quietly forceful confidence. And there weren't any wayward eccentricities to interfere with the message. The closest we came was a leather harness-cum-waistcoat, which was actually a pretty effective—even sexy—way to define the male form.
