Emporio Armani RTW Fall 2018

Samantha Conti

Updated Sun, February 25, 2018 at 3:38 PM UTC

Giorgio Armani wanted to toss out the rules for day and night dressing, mix things up and melting the two into one. “Today, rules have been turned upside down,” he said in his show notes.

For all the talk, this was definitely a collection for night owls, what with the sparkle, shine and tinsel-y flourishes on shorts, cocktail dresses and tailored suits. Armani also went full throttle on the Emporio Armani logo, picking it out in sequins around the waist of a tailored jacket or decorating short coats and fuzzy sweaters with big E’s and A’s.

There were some lovely pieces here — the outerwear and tailoring, in particular. Dark coats came long, whisper-light and billowing, or in fur, cropped at the wrists for a vintage feel. A big, fun fuzzy one in midnight blue might have been pulled straight from Cookie Monster’s closet — ditto for the cape/scarf hybrid at the end of the show. There were some nice, curve-hugging tailored jackets, too — old-style Armani ones. Why doesn’t he do more of these?

The overall collection, though, was too big, bright and fussy: Tailored suits — worn with trousers or shorts — glistened with sparkles while blue or green tops with tinsel flourishes shone like Christmas trees.

Armani said he enjoys “watching people” and reinterpreting what he sees around him. But who, exactly, is he watching? Certainly not the sneaker-wearing kids in their big overcoats and loose layers. The great irony here is that, once upon a time, Giorgio Armani was the maestro of reinvention, the man who turned the conventional rules of tailoring upside down and took the starch out of clothing for men and women. He can capture the mood, he can reinvent, so why doesn’t he just get on with it?

Launch Gallery: Emporio Armani RTW Fall 2018

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Emporio Armani RTW Fall 2018

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