Giorgio Armani showcased every kind of blue on the Spring Emporio Armani runway. For Pre-Fall, he was up to something different. This was less an exploration of a single color than it was a panoply of prints. The best of the bunch was the ikat motif. Blown up to oversize proportions, it had a strong graphic appeal. A cropped parka in the pattern would make a great weekend jacket—pop it on over black jeans and you d be good to go. The sheared patchwork fur with leather trim was more luxe but still fun. The other idea Armani touched on was the male/female mix: cocktail dresses with flat boots, full skirts with oxfords, and, most interestingly, pants with ankle-strap heels. After all this time, you d think he s done just about all there is to do with pants, but his Pre-Fall trousers, full through the leg and cinched by a button at their mid-calf hem, qualify as something new.
