All photography: courtesy of Giorgio Armani

LIKE A LOT OF right-hands at fashion houses who ascend into leading roles, Leo Dell’Orco is a name you wouldn’t have likely heard of until now. At Milan Fashion Week, Dell’Orco, who has been the head of menswear at the Giorgio Armani and Emporio Armani labels since 1975, presented his “debut” collection for Giorgio Armani, marking a new era for the brand since Mr Armani’s death last September. (Dell’Orco shares the weight and responsibility of the house with Armani’s niece Silvana, who oversees womenswear.)

On Monday, Dell’Orco presented his first collection inside the late designer’s home, sending 111 looks – spanning daywear, eveningwear, and skiwear – down an illuminated grid runway. That alone reminded me of archived runway footage from the ’90s; perhaps not an accident, as the resounding shape throughout the collection was reminiscent of the decade’s soft suiting. Certainly the first collection after its founder’s passing shouldn’t feel like a total 180, but in speaking to what feels so classically Armani, it does capture menswear’s current fixation on vintage Armani.

The first half of the collection was an expansive display of the brand’s signature greige (grey plus beige). While monochromatic, the layering of different textures in wool knits, suede overcoats, silky blousons, and geometric patterns on billowy trousers is a skill only Armani, really, possesses (and which fans love to emulate). Pleasingly, suit jackets were cut an inch or two higher, surely for those who like their shirts a little higher and with a straight hem.

More on the ’90s feeling, you can’t look at the below trench coat and not think of Kyle MacLachlan in his now menswear canon 1994 shoot for L’Uomo Vogue? ’90s Armani is foundational stuff for a lot of guys who are into menswear now, so it makes sense for the brand to lean into it a bit. As well as just the decade’s silhouette, utilitarian styles were heavily featured throughout the middle of the presentation with voluminous aviator jackets or leather ones belted at the waist.

In jazzing up the tailoring, the collection showed its first shawl-collar robe made in a cardigan with stripes of aubergine, navy and aqua. Made in collaboration with artisanal Milanese knitwear brand Alanui, the piece is an eccentric touch – with its fringing along the lapel, hems and belt – that stands out from the presentation of fluid, soft tailoring.

Second to greige, velvet is Armani’s bread and butter, which had a leading role as eveningwear rolled in. Whether made in a double-breasted suit or in a pair of trousers, is was clear Dell’Orco liked using it for jewel-tones of lapis and amethyst to maximise its shine and decadence. “Cangiante” was a word Dell’Orco used to describe the overarching theme of the collection: iridescence, which here in the fabrics, that changes depending on one’s perspective. For the designer, it was also a metaphor for the brand he know finds himself at the helm at after years as a right-hand: the ever-lasting allure of Armani.


Related:

In his campaigns, Giorgio Armani showed us how to get dressed

Giorgio Armani, ‘American Gigolo’ and the art of red carpet dressing