Armani Calm About Milan Calendar

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Giorgio Armani has an almost disquieting calm about him.

Models wear creations part of the D&G Women's Fall/Winter 2008/2009 collection presented in Milan, Italy, Monday, Feb. 18, 2008. (AP Photo/Alberto Pellaschiar)

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While the rest of Milan is throwing a fit about show schedules and perceived slights by top name American magazine editors, Armani goes about business as usual.

"If we Italians had not done it first, the New York runways wouldn't exist. We give them too much credit," an ever-tanned Armani said backstage at his Emporio show Sunday, at the beginning of the week of preview showings for the fall-winter 2008-2009.

The designer, who put "moda Milanese" on the international fashion map when he made classic tailoring his trademark in the late 1970s, was referring to pressures to reduce the Milan calendar to accommodate the New York shows as well as editors who do not want to spend much time in what some consider a relatively dull and very expensive city.

For the first time, Armani, whose evening show traditionally ended the Milan fashion week, showed his label collection on a Monday morning, a slot usually reserved for lesser lines.

The switch left the designer unperturbed. His $2 billion fashion empire includes 5,000 employees worldwide and offers luxury products ranging from hotels and home furnishings to accessories and fragrances.

"It's not the designers who are sitting on their hands," Armani said.

Centered on a theme of a journey to faraway places, Armani puts his devotion to detail to work in a series of ethnic outfits where intricate embroidery and luxuriously printed fabrics make the difference.

The over-all feel is relaxed, as expressed by the flat slipper-like patent leather sling backs which accompany almost every outfit, and the new Armani "jacket," a tiny Japanese cape, usually in demure velvet.

The proportions recall a Chinese vase, small on top and wide below with either a mid-calf bubble skirt, or extra-wide trousers. Knitted coats and a few fun furs, including a bulky Afghan coat, make up the outerwear.

Armani puts all his genius for detail into the eveningwear, in a series of gowns created by stitching together a myriad of baubles which resemble latter-day flapper dresses, worn with floral embroidered chiffon stoles.