Giorgio Armani: An elegiac display before multiple heartthrobs

By

Godfrey Deeny

Published
Jun 20, 2022

Leave it to Giorgio Armani to have the most handsome heartthrob front row of this season in Milan – including successive Bridgerton stars -  as the doyen of Italian tailoring staged a brilliant display of summery elegance on Monday morning.

On the final day of the Milan menswear runway season, hundreds of fans gathered outside Armani’s historic Via Borgonuovo address, as Regé-Jean Page and Jonathan Bailey – heroes of Bridgerton seasons one and two respectively – strolled into Giorgio’s palazzo. 
 
“He’s been the greatest tailor in the world in the past 50 years, and it’s an honor to be here,” explained Page, who is the face of the new Armani Code scent, due to debut in June.

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“I would wear every single look. It was that great,” enthused a newly bearded Bailey, who is planning a trip to Paris menswear season and a few days in Glastonbury before beginning his next series.
 
Alongside them in the front row, Lucas Bravo, Lily Collins’ almost-boyfriend in Emily in Paris; chisel-jawed Mads Mikkelsen and Scott Eastwood, the son of legend Clint, and the face of Giorgio Armani fall/winter 2022/23.
 
This weekend, Emporio Armani 7 Milano, the designer's basketball team, were crowned champions of Italy for the fourth time. A slew of that team showed up for the first of two morning runway shows, while a quartet of American players – D’Angelo Russell, Jordan Clarkson, Quentin Grimes and Cole Anthony - sat front row at the second.

 
They all got to witness a championship-winning fashion statement from Armani. Cutting generously he loosened up the silhouette of largely deconstructed jackets – whether in silvery linen,  or mat putty cotton. The pants were forgiving, cut with double pleats, and long enough to reach a series of molded sandals or sneakers cut out on their sides.
 
He paired most of his suits and blazers with band-collar zigzag-print shirts worn outside the pants. And he broke into new territory with some Asian touches - a cool coin-gray linen version of a Mao jacket or very novel flint-gray Nehru jacket made in a GA print. The designer also playing with that logo in cotton beach cocktail scarves and silk surgeon’s shirts.

Armani was also true to his canon of non-colors, using a silhouette of sand, periwinkle blue, and shiny lichen. 
 
Taking his bow before an audience of 300, the whole room rising to applaud and cheer him. An 87-year-old designer still capable of pulling off a brilliant collection.