“There’s nowhere I’d rather be,” went the opening line of the soundtrack to this show. That supposition, although bold, was not entirely off the mark, for there were some excellent sections in this freshly articulated and different-feeling Emporio collection.
Entitled Freestyle, Mr. Armani’s notes explained that it aimed to see “opposites harmonize in unexpected and individual combinations,” a manifesto that was a broad continuation of this season’s menswear collection. Integrating a wide range of Armani-an references that spanned EA7 sportswear in volumized puffers and backpack harnesses with logos over hoodies to Privé-esque couture-ish flourishes in beaded tops (worn above leather-effect and cotton full-leg shorts), silk-jacquard floral dresses, and arrestingly graphic silhouettes. Certain single garments were in themselves a synthesis of the high-low harmony EA was seeking: jeans, shirts, and jackets whose structural girders—waistbands, shoulders, hems—were cut in washed denim to support fabric claddings cut in semi-sheer checked organza. These pieces were worn against abstract herringbone-patterned pants in black-on-gray velvet or a cursive, lowercase “ea” sweatshirt. Armani was not so gauche as to contrast an evening look with a sneaker—this was a sneaker-free zone—but worked to make his contrasts more oblique.
The harmonies rang truest in a middle monochrome section that linked racy-for-here, latex-effect fitted shoe-boots over layered looks that variously referenced men’s tailoring (strongly darted, with big-beaded enamel necklaces), couture-ish double hems and a fit-and-flare patch skirt with an Emporio Armani anagram, and bombers in elevated black fabrics (one teamed with a want-able Armani-portrait T-shirt). Simultaneously punky and poised, soignée and street, the looks here merited that opening line. An explosion of scarlet eveningwear at the end—so significant, the models returned for a rare finale—felt less nuanced and broad in its freestyle cocktail, but the enamel knuckle-duster rings and crystal-eagle shoe buckles were tough touches to relish.
