La Dame Bleue: Giorgio Armani Autumn / Winter 2022 Womenswear Assortment

Giorgio Armani’s autumn/winter 2022 collection is a journey into the past, paved with cool jewel tones, velvet and hypnotising Art Deco shapes.

Giorgio Armani’s autumn/winter 2022 collection transformed the intimate jewel box of Via Borgonuovo’s theatre into a ballroom, in which models masqueraded as 1930s muses – guiding lights to an era of experimentation and decadence, swathed in midnight- blue velvet and decorated with crystals. And decoration was the mot du jour, as much as shoulder pads.

This season is, above all, a celebration of old-school glamour and silver-screen beauties who defined the zeitgeist, with references to Joan Blondell in Gold Diggers of 1933 and Claudette Colbert in her striped jacket from It Happened One Night. Intentional or not, these details make Armani’s autumn/winter 2022 fantasy real, rich and authentic, without veering into the territory of period costume.

Silk, organza, velvet and wool come together in a whirlwind of nostalgia. Cubism and art deco merge into one, testifying to Armani’s enduring talent for blurring the lines between art forms – in this case, architecture and painting. Jackets in icy brocade with exaggerated shoulder lines and origami-esque pocket squares, some of which adopted collarbone-bearing exaggerated necklines, harmonise with laser-cut shearling, herringbone-printed fur coats and shimmering velvet cigarette pants. A texturised leather jacket mirrors the concentric spiral elements some might associate with the arches crowning the Empire State Building. There’s a glamorous take on the equestrian attire in a cropped coat of navy-blue velvet with a purple brocade insert at the hem, styled with “liquid” pants of sequins and knee-high crystal-embellished lattice boots.

In the latter part of the show, the collection was more formal, with pants beginning to shimmer brighter, and dresses adopting tiers of short crystal fringe hanging from blue crepe de chine. Unlike spring/summer 2022, there are few cape sleeves, aside from an embellished bolero styled with a matching skirt – a modern take on belle époque. Then more fringe and rhombi (though studded in crystals during the show finale) atop cropped, sheer jumpers paired with sparkly skirts with wide belts in velvet and satin.

Although the 1930s have been referenced countless times, Armani remains among the few who manage to paint the era with newfound vividness and previously overlooked cultural sensibilities, solely with the aim of dressing the modern woman in ways both elegant and empowering.