The Japan Times - Armani eyes 'beautiful comfort' at Milan fashion week

The legendary Italian designer, now 90, presented a fall-winter 2025-26 collection comprising belted baggy trousers and layered loose jackets, knits and scarves.

A seasonal palette of greys and browns was punctuated with sumptuous velvets, wools and silks in ruby red, emerald green and royal blue.

"The catwalk for me is a proposal, my vision of the current moment, which this season is particularly free from constraints and conventions," Armani said.

"I like to imagine the clothes that enter the wardrobes and lives of men of different ages and attitudes, and that are interpreted by each according to their own personality.

"Making fashion, for me, means creating tools that accompany life, making it ideally more beautiful and comfortable."

Actors Adrien Brody and Matt Smith were in the audience for the show, a highlight of five days of fashion in the northern Italian city.

- Sharp-suited snappers -

"Wild elegance" had been the theme at Prada on Sunday, with Miuccia Prada and Raf Simons offering up sheepskins worn over bare chests, straight-cut cigarette pants and coloured or patterned cowboy boots.

There were knitted sweaters, fitted leather jackets, nylon bomber jackets and tartan coats, a clash of styles shown off on a catwalk spread over three floors built out of scaffolding in the huge hall of the Prada Foundation.

In a world dominated by artificial intelligence, "the idea is to save the human instinct to liberate creativity and spontaneity", Miuccia Prada said backstage afterwards.

On Saturday, meanwhile, Dolce and Gabbana drew inspiration from the glamorous films of Italian director Federico Fellini for their show at the Metropole, the brand's headquarters and a former cinema.

In a nod to "La Dolce Vita" character Paparazzo, who gave his name to pushy photographers worldwide, models dressed as sharp-suited snappers crowded the entrance to the runway.

Lightbulbs popped as models walked the red-carpet in the imagined style of off-duty actors, a mix of jeans, trainers and luxurious coats.

Day segued to night with cropped jackets styled with caps and bags giving way to tailored, loose-legged three-piece suits and finally, sharp and sexy evening wear.

Set to a soundtrack drawn from Fellini's films, there were tuxedos, bow-ties and silk shirts, waistcoats worn with nothing underneath and long scarves thrown over one shoulder.

The palette was mostly black and grey, but with flashes of brilliance from glittering, oversized brooches, fastenings or necklaces.

Focusing on clean lines and luxury materials, the show was a confirmation of a return to basics begun in early 2023 by the Italian designers, after a brief foray into more flashy streetwear aimed at younger buyers.

T.Sasaki--JT