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Emporio Armani: From Buoyant to Barbie

If you really want to get a good handle on what women will be wearing in six months time then a wise starting point would be attending a runway show of Emporio Armani, which on Thursday, Feb. 26, in Milan neatly encapsulated many of the trends that will be prominent in fall 2009.

Armani cut dresses and skirts half way up the thigh, and he paired most of them with knee socks. In black and a gray necktie design, these all worked very well with a shoe we will see lots of in autumn, the wedge. Armani likes his wedges with lots of zips, which had no obvious function but looked very natty.

For the somber mood of our times, Armani kept his palette very sober - with plenty of black and midnight blue, and lots of velvet enlivened with Swarovski crystal patterns. And when it comes to the belt, then women should get themselves a new gold chain belt, dangled at the hip as they were by Armani and later in the day at Missoni's show, the one other big catwalk moment on the opening day of the Milan season.

Last year, fashion was obsessed with floral, ecologically enlightened prints. This year the eco fixation continues, except now flowers are fabric adornments, twisted pieces of materials, like the tiny roses that jazzed up a pair of pale gray leather bomber jackets that were standouts in this show, staged in Armani's custom-built exhibition space in south Milan.

Throughout, there was a frothy finish to most looks, including ruffles that ran from shoulder to knee or all the way around the neck. No wonder Armani called the collection "A New Lightness."

Pumped up by a techno disco soundtrack, the models looked like they were about to enter a nightclub, the girly mood added to by their Barbie doll tresses.

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