Giorgio Armani S/S 2019 Milan Fashion Week Men's

Armani S/S 2019. Photography: Jason Lloyd-Evans

(Image credit: Jason Lloyd-Evans)

last updated 17 July 2022

Mood board: A proud display of hetero-elegance is distinctly provocative at a time when elsewhere, menswear is making way for a radical revision of masculinity: from the rich, lustrous textiles and frills at Gucci to the queer club-kid get-up of London label Art School. Mr Armani has been at the front line of sensuality with a butch machismo for decades – his models are square-jawed and floppy haired. They have an aromatic brawn.

Best in show: For S/S 2019 the designer presented a wardrobe that was both genteel and freeing. Double-breasted jackets featured, softened from their upright, sartorial stiffness and worn in ways that were easy and relaxed. He offered tailoring for the beach; blousons for the boardroom. Classic Armani looks were re-proportioned, shoulders slightly oversized, trousers wide and turned up at the hem.

Finishing touches: Armani’s gorgeous greiges were here in vibrant, lighter hues: from chalky white – like cliffs by the sea – to natural hemp grey. Lightweight fabrics in blue with turquoise, jade green and sand encouraged a more sun-bleached, sunny look. There was heritage and humour too. Armani’s portrait was embroidered on a black backpack, whilst sweatshirts reintroduced the rounded GA logo from the eighties. It’s the athletic gracefulness we want from the man who invented modern tailoring.

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London based writer Dal Chodha is editor-in-chief of Archivist Addendum — a publishing project that explores the gap between fashion editorial and academe. He writes for various international titles and journals on fashion, art and culture and is a contributing editor at Wallpaper*. Chodha has been working in academic institutions for more than a decade and is Stage 1 Leader of the BA Fashion Communication and Promotion course at Central Saint Martins. In 2020 he published his first book SHOW NOTES, an original hybrid of journalism, poetry and provocation.