Giorgio Armani has form when it comes to dressing Hollywood’s glitterati – and his Couture front row, featuring Juliette Binoche, Baz Luhrmann and Michelle Yeoh, both fresh from their respective Academy Award nominations - is indicative of the 88-year old’s status as the go-to red-carpet designer. Yeoh, who wore Giorgio Armani earlier this month to scoop the Golden Globe for Best Actress, may have been taking notes for this year’s Oscars ceremony - and this season, for Armani Privé, it was the theme of harlequins.
The diagonally-checkered print was deployed throughout all 77 looks – from crystal embroidered lozenge patterns on cropped jackets to long-sleeved paillette gowns. Ever with an eye for detail, even the vast pink, lime and light mauve-hued runway was harlequin-painted.
'The rococo interiors of Venetian palazzos, it is the splendour of light, multiplied by extraordinary embroidery, that creates the most precious sensations. Everything is light, impalpable and glittering,' explained the designer in his program notes.
The theme of a circus parade has been felt across Couture; at Chanel, models wore bow ties, white gloves and a top hat. Here, a Pierrot ruff was worn with silky patterned pyjamas or as an alternative to a necklace. Another flamboyant accessory to note? The return of the corsage.