Armani’s thinking is inspired by Eighties. The jacket in this week’s picture represents one of the most innovative suggestions in male clothing for next fall/winter; it’s not just the mix between fabric and synthetic material to make it special and particularly futuristic, nor the diagonal zipper and leather borders. The singularity of this piece of cloth, unique in his kind, is the “pied-de-coq” manufacturing, a variation of the well-known pied-de-poule more common in female fashion. The shape recalls mildly Eighties proportions: big shoulders that emphasize the waisted line, and the lenght that stops few cm under the waist; in a few words, Armani seems to have drawn from his archives and restyled in modern key one of his jackets from 1984/85, adding a print that makes it more fashionable. It’s a gorgeous garment, although quite durable due to his fashion appeal, that can be worn only by very thin and tall men: the match with too tapered trousers can produce a disharmonic look as well as, instead, a bold one; in doubt, it would be better to choose straight but a bit leg-wide trousers. In this last case, you’ll be in full “Armani Mood”. Jacket made of wool and neoprene by Giorgio Armani, F/W 13/14.

Those intermittent trends. Every season has its trends, some that strengthen or renovate themselves consecutively, others that come back from a remote past, others that vanish. Fashion – for its own definition – never keeps still; until the beginning of 2000, when a colour or a certain fabric, or some shapes left the scene, we knew that we wouldn’t have seen them for a long time. Today things have changed. For example the “military” never disappear totally: we always find it, scattered and fragmented, maybe just in a detail. Velvet, in particular smooth, is another suitable example: we find it intermittently; in some seasons is one of the undisputed protagonists, in others, instead, stays on the bench. Not wholly, however:  Giorgio Armani and Dolce & Gabbana never omit some smooth velvet outfits; in next winter’s collections, for example, they’ve suggested it in black, in “evening” variations. But its beauty- that stays in sheen of fabric – is much more intensified when it’s dyed in underbrush or red shades. On stands of vintage markets we can find dozens of velvet jackets and coats, even shirts: the one in the picture is twenty years old, but it’s incredibly up-to-date and mesh with current fashion. Picture by Danilo Russo, from Harper’s Bazaar Uomo 1994. Clothes by Dries Van Noten.

Current style shot 20 years ago. A 1994 Harper’s Bazaar Uomo cover that could be, from many points of view, a current fashion picture. Let’s start with the screaming headlines. We read “Pelle in technicolor” (that means “Technicolor leather”), and Miuccia Prada’s next f/w collection seen last January in Milan, where classic colours of menswear and yellow and light blue leather jackets merge, immediately comes to our mind. “Sofisticati e moderni in grigio e bianco” (that means “Sophisticated and modern in grey and white”) suggested an usual and soft color-matching, but trendy at that time, if we think that we had just left the eighties’ excess: and, nowadays, Corneliani has proposed wonderful charcoal suits and coats, mixed with pure white poplin shirts. And then, “Warm coloured & Easy Chic Knitwear”, and think about how colorful knitwear – now- is a protagonist, as well as the outerwear. At the end, look at the picture: pointed collar shirt, today re-edited by Roberto Cavalli, and checks, that almost every designer has proposed again. The “slim fit” suit reflects a current trend that comes and goes, but resists in time anyway. Basically, only the grooming and the light used for this shoot – a “ring light”: a circular neon tube that cool the colors- reveal the decade. All the rest of it, still belongs to present, even if twenty years have gone by. Harper’s Bazaar Uomo, September 1994. Picture by Davide Cernuschi, clothes by Paul Smith.

When the artist revisit fabrics – Connection between art and fashion is a subject that might be improperly considered: fashion is a creative expression that might have clear artistic contents, but remains far from Art anyway. However, his value doesn’t refer only to clothing sphere: fashion interact with architecture, interior design, show biz and sport, and even with food, corrupting practically every side of our lifestyle. Talking about that side, stricted related to clothing, fashion designers are often  inspired by pictorial art, and mention the various artists faithfully, as the case may be a past collection by Dolce&Gabbana, dedicated to Jacques Louis David paintings. Other cases may be ideas, that suggest a certain decoration, or patterns or shades of colors that refer to a specific artistic trend. Paul Surridge, Z Zegna’s creative director, has designed wonderful flannel suits printed with a pattern inspired by Picasso’s geometry, like the one you can see in the picture, by which he talks to a trendy-oriented audience, that likes surprising and shaking up codes in compliance with classic menswear. A detail of ZZegna suit, f/w 2013/14 collection.

Black leather has been relegated for many years in “gone by” trends’ oblivion. In Minimalist period – from ’90 to ’00- there was a great success of those long dark coats that, incidentally, I’ve never liked. It was also the era of DSquared’s total black leather, while Paul Smith used it just for the five-pocket pants but combined them cleverly with fabric clothes, celebrating a not-fetish-related street style. To date, Chiuri and Piccioli (Maison Valentino), created a collection for next fall/winter season based on fusion of (black) leather and wool: leather inserts stiffen both wearability and silhouette but express a new concept of male fashion, that places their show between those forward-looking. Soon on Style magazine will be published a shooting I realized with Giovanni Gastel, in which I remarked the trend and the return of black leather, with a styling that mixes it with clothes made with very classic fabric and revisited traditional patterns. If wearing the polished napa leather waistcoat under a glencheck blazer seems too daring, simply try to wear the perfecto with a pair of pinstriped wool trousers. In this picture a detail of Valentino’s leather and wool coat with – under- a leather jacket by Costume National Homme.