Does anyone still wear a suit? During lockdown, the classic tailored two-piece — you know the kind: navy or grey, perfectly professional, uniformly masculine — has become fashion’s very own Northern White Rhino. It’s rarely sighted on the streets, given that so few offices and venues with formal dress codes are open for business. On the catwalk, the suit is omnipresent — but it’s increasingly subverted, or imbued with throwback nostalgia or wildly extravagant ornamentation. The classic two-piece suit is quickly becoming the equivalent of women’s hats — seen once a year at the races, and ever-so-slightly corporate cosplay.
Giorgio Armani is the king of that kind of suit. His name is synonymous with it, immortalised by Hollywood films and countless Armani-suited stars. And yet even he of the Italian tailoring empire is shifting his attitude. Armani’s SS22 menswear show in Milan — an actual fashion show with an audience! — sought to reexamine the suit for “the times in which we live” as a response to “the shared sense of style that is increasingly moving away from formality and decisively embracing the informality of sportswear,” as his show notes put it.
What does the newly informal suit look like? Well, it’s not really a suit at all. Think wide-leg white linen trousers worn with zip-up silk shirts and breezy navy jackets. Or, bermuda shorts with silk-lined bomber jackets, and tailored blazers with high-neck shawl collars. For evening, the look is slouchy darted trousers with satin belts and elegant silk blousons (with matching silk face masks). The look of the collection, the colours and fabrics too, are undoubtedly classic. But look closer and you’ll notice an ease to the styling, a slightly mismatched sensibility, a softness and a subtly tweaked silhouette that is both familiar and feels refreshingly new, at least for Armani. Also note the peeking midriff beneath unbuttoned jackets and shirts and bicep-baring waistcoats — this really is the skimpiest season of Italian menswear in years, following Fendi’s crop tops and Prada’s mini-shorts.
“This collection reflects my current mindset after the pandemic and the overall attitude is very light because I think we have all learned to be informal and more relaxed in the way we dress,” Mr Armani told us. “So this season the Giorgio Armani man is willing to show his lighter side and a certain gentleness — because, for me, classic doesn’t necessarily mean static but rather being able to show balance in the way you dress, even when you are wearing flashy colours.”
Last February, Armani was one of the first major designers to bow down to the threat of Covid-19 by cancelling his AW20 womenswear show in Milan. Now, more than a year later, things seem to be returning to normal — whatever that means — albeit with some lessons learnt. “For the future I see real shows mixed with digital entertainment for the public who won’t attend the shows, which I hope will be more intimate like they used to be,” said the designer, who staged his show at his home (and former headquarters) on Via Borgonuovo 21 in Milan. “Last but not least, we have learned that we should stop the overproduction of unnecessary things, also out of respect for the planet.”
Instead, it’s all about the classics and timelessness as a sort-of radical riposte to the endless torrent of more clothes, more shows, more stuff. Some things never get old, and Mr Armani — though he is now 86 years old — still has his finger on the pulse. “In a way, the pandemic has proved that my intuition of a timeless and effortless style has always been a valuable one,” he added. “And this is exactly what I would like to convey with this collection: an idea of elegant and timeless comfort that is in sync with the times that we are living in.”
