Think Giorgio Armani and imagine immediately a sea of calm neutrals, in passive shapes and cuts which follow a design formula that has won the Italian designer critical and commercial acclaim everywhere. But things are slightly different this season. Interspersed with Armani's signature cool clothes of serpentine green, gunmetal grey and basic black and white, are flashes of colour that have not been associated with the designer since equally colourful elements several years ago. Hot pink, sun-ripened tomato red and cobalt blue are key colours in the new Armani range, serving to lift the wider collection out of a quagmire of soft neutrals in which it was dangerously close to stagnating.
And when about 300 Armani fans were treated to a preview of the latest line at an unconventional fashion show venue - the Ritz-Carlton Hotel - it was obvious that the infusion of colour was going to work. Armani, regarded as the thinking woman's designer because of his respect for the female body and the way he creates clothes for real women as opposed to catwalk clones, is also perhaps one of the most commercially successful international designers of all time. This is despite wide-scale licensing that has made the Armani name accessible through the ranks, from secondary line Emporio Armani to the more mass-merchandised Armani Exchange. The designer's enduring success has much to do with his rejection of the fashion gimmicks that are the stock-in-trade of other designers.
Even this season, when certain themes are especially prevalent, Armani sticks to his much-copied silhouette of lean and linear clothes that are, ultimately, seasonless. In Hong Kong, his is among the strongest in the stable of Joyce fashion brands.
So evident is this that a second Giorgio Armani boutique is due to open in the Regent Hotel at the end of September and a new one is being set up in Bangkok in the near future. Given Armani's Asian presence, the addition of colour in the collection is a clever merchandising strategy. 'The colours are very appropriate for this market because women in Hong Kong take them well,' said Jimin Lee, general merchandising manager for Joyce. Indeed, it is not difficult to envision your average Hong Kong slim-built big-spender in a slithery silk fuchsia pink jumpsuit for an Armani evening out.
For his more mainstream daywear line, however, coats and jackets in vivid shades of red - peony, carnation, carmine - are impeccably wearable in three-quarter wool-cashmere coats over cap-sleeved shift dresses in silk crepe. Clinging ribbed knits in lipstick red match the knee-length skirts, while cardigan-blazers in military-fatigue green look sleek with the Armani trademark trousers in a powdered royal blue. 'Every season Armani tries to bring a new angle or new personality to his collections, either through colour, fabric or shape,' said Ms Lee. 'But while he includes unexpected elements, he still stays true to himself,' she said.
Those who prefer classic Armani colours can still take their pick of his tailored suits in ivory, sand and mud, in colour schemes dubbed 'sophisticated greige'. And an ultra-chic evening line continues to highlight the faultless embroidery work for which Armani is known: cardigans are sprinkled with jet beads and the fullness of bright red roses can be seen on black velvet dresses. Strong colour schemes figure predominantly in high-fashion design collections across-the-board for autumn and winter, used mostly to break the potential rigidity of tone-on-tone dressing. 'People will react very positively to this,' said Ms Lee.
