By Monday's fourth and final day of Milan Fashion Week menswear previews for next spring and summer, designers seemed to have understood the assignment.
Looks appeared more weather appropriate than on the weekend, as soaring temperatures provided a reminder that warm-weather dressing can mean covered, but in a relaxed way that accommodates elegance and playfulness.
Against the onslaught of streetwear and dressing down, Giorgio Armani is defending elegance in all seasons.
The 87-year-old designer’s Spring-Summer 2023 collection mixes classics with more unusual iterations, as the fashion world demands. Proffering elegance is increasingly a lonely job.
“I don’t know when we will feel the loss of the man who moves through life with this refinement,’’ the designer said after the show.
For his main line, Armani focused on casual, relaxed suits, for day or evening. There was movement in the loose trousers and jackets, but also in the graphic repeating prints that create the effect of waves. Print on print looks are insistently modern.
“It is true that it is nice to see a man dressed well in a suit. But it is also nice to see evolution of fashion. Bring on the basics, I have always done them in my life. It is also true that (the market) demands novelty,’’ Armani said.
On that front, Armani created tunic-length tops. Jackets and shirts have a sheen rarely seen in menswear.
A well-tied foulard substitutes a shirt under an open jacket. A scarf creates a sweeping effect on top of a white suit.
The color palate was rooted in the seaside white and navy combo, melting into shimmering shades of blue and gray before exploding into combinations of purple, pink and seafoam green.