The most enchanting part of this Emporio Armani show came just before the lights went down. Its final 12 or so looks, presented on models walking solo or in pairs, were shown under a light flurry of fake snow that fell softly from a gantry above. The models twirled their umbrellas through this runway weather event in glinting crystal or pin adorned shirting and blouses over mixed-length black organza skirts, or sometimes in grid-embellished dresses whose pattern echoed the pattern of the runway itself. The final trio of looks in this finale nocturne involved a top fashioned from mirrored star and crescent moon shaped panels loosely attached to a wide chain trellis worn above loose black velvet trousers, and two black velvet suits and matching berets set with more shining lunar arcs. After those final two waxing moon suits passed the photographers, Giorgio Armani came out to take his bow for this last Emporio womenswear show of his ninth decade.
Before the snow fell we saw a blizzard of looks that epitomized the easier, more youthful variety of Armani that Emporio has represented since the 1980s, and yet which also this afternoon never felt frozen in anachronism. Treated nylon trousers in shades of blue and greige—they looked like trackpants—worn over chunky boots in patent black or oxblood leather added a contemporary edge to a constellation of jackets whose soft shoulders, abstract patterned fabrics, and sometimes European, sometimes pan-Asian tailoring source codes were so classically Armani they could have come straight from his Silos museum across the road. Other stars in this Emporio universe included funnel neck blouses in tailoring wools, a pitch black to poppy red dyed faux fur, soft evening suiting in midnight blue or powerfully pistachio velvet, and dyed resin semi-sheer tops over full black skirts. The hats, the heaped bead necklaces and the neckerchiefs acted as emphatic accessory satellites.
The flashes of sunset color receded: Armani focused ever more intently upon the stars as the collection ran its course towards that snowy crescendo. Even towards twilight, he remains Milan’s pole star.