Giorgio Armani triumphed last night at the Academy Awards. Leonardo DiCaprio, a longtime friend of the brand, picked up his long-awaited Oscar in an Armani made-to-measure peak-lapel tux. While Charlotte Rampling didn’t win for Best Actress, her understated Armani Privé sheath won this reporter’s best dressed prize. Cate Blanchett and Naomi Watts also wore Armani. The designer’s ties to the movie business stretch back decades; he was one of the first to understand the power of celebrity and put it to work for him.
This morning’s Giorgio Armani collection concluded with a smattering of starry evening looks, black velvet sprinkled with crystals and laser-cut into floral lace, that will make it onto a red carpet in the very near future. Not the last look, which was puzzlingly bare under an embellished beret and a frothy tulle cape, but certainly the three strapless gowns and probably the plunge-front, décolletage-baring number—that style had high-profile adherents at the Oscars.
For the most part, though, this collection was a study in how to make black velvet a viable option for day. Armani cut it in full leg styles cropped above the ankles and as sporty track pants with athletic ribbing pared back to tweedy pastel or greige jackets. Otherwise, he matched it with watercolor florals or a textural jacquard. Not groundbreaking or boundary pushing, but chic enough and on trend. Seasonal relevance is hardly a concern of Armani’s these days. Nonetheless, this show situated him in the midst of the Fall conversation in Milan, where velvet turned up on several other runways.
But back to Hollywood. There’s a famous shot of Faye Dunaway poolside at the Beverly Hills Hotel in a silk robe and heels the morning after her win for Network in 1977. Fast-forward almost 40 years. Can’t you just picture Rampling and co. slipping out of their Armani red carpet frocks and hiking up Runyon Canyon this morning in a pair of the designer’s black velvet sweats?
