FRANCE: Giorgio Armani turns to punk for inspiration as he rejuvenates his classic look

Anyone who came to Giorgio Armani's Autumn/Winter Prive show expecting an elegant, stylish but ultimately predictable collection, was in for a shock. On Wednesday (July 4) morning the great man himself had told journalists that a change had come over high fashion, and what a change it was. Although the first pieces down the catwalk hinted at the traditional neutral Armani palette of creams, grey and silvers, as the collection unfolded ever more colour and glitz stepped out onto the uplit violet runway, and the influence of punky 70s rock became clear. Fuschia pink, acid green and neon orange were combined in a way that was never sickly, and glitter- and sequin-encrusted trilbies and platforms somehow retained a sense of flair and class when paired with black satin and velvet cocktail dresses Volume was also key; A-line or tulip skirts were topped with fitted tailored jackets, and the wide diamante-buckled belts that cinched almost every outfit in at the waist gave a very feminine silhouette, even to cropped tuxedo suits and tailcoats. The highly structured bodices of floor-sweeping evening gowns were counterbalanced by exquisitely fine feathered boleros or long, tail-like concoctions of looped satin, picking up on the bow motif that was present in a more subtle form in earlier pieces. This was a new Armani, and the about-turn in style had perhaps rubbed off on the stylist himself. Notoriously interview-shy, on Wednesday he stepped cheerfully onto the catwalk at the end of the show to talk to journalists. "Now I have freed myself a bit from the idea that I always have to make things for women who have given up on living. I really love women who love living; I am also starting to live again a bit," he explained. It was clear from the ranks of pretty young things taking up the exclusive front rows that Armani had a new, funkier public in mind. "I think that certain actresses and singers nowadays, who are very good, not naming any names, can find in my suggestions a way of dressing their own personalities," he said. Among them was rising star, actress Camilla Belle, who raved about the collection. "I just love the knee-length kind of fluffy skirts, and I'm really a fan of the short jackets, that's something I'd love to wear; all the different colours. Those are the most fun, I thought, for my age, a really kind of old-fashioned, really feminine look that I love," she said. The star-studded audience, which also included A-listers Anne Hathaway and Cate Blanchett, was clearly wowed by the fresh approach of the classic house, and the standing ovation that the collection received from young and old alike was testament to the fact that Armani's instinct for change had been a huge success.

ITN Source | July 12, 2007

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