Armani sidesteps the pitfalls of banality

IN men's fashion, a strong element of reality is always present, along with certain rules and codes that can dictate ordinariness and lead to excessive banality.

There are also extremist transgressions, vulgar ''fashion'' temptations that accelerate the cause and effect phenomena.

The best fashion is achieved when the subtleties linking the foundations of menswear are balanced with personal style and mixed with enough verve for the equation to appear almost revolutionary.

Based on this philosophy, Giorgio Armani puts forth a new signature on the male figure for summer 1993, designing a look that sidesteps restrictions as well as stereotypes and accentuates the nuances of shape, colour and detail.

The statement, typically, begins with fabric, this season highlighted by embossed effects.

For suits and sports jackets, Armani employs treated linen, feather-weight wool with loosely knit or compact weaves such as Oxford, opaque wool and silk blends, checked wool, twills and novelty weaves.