A standing ovation for Giorgio at Armani Privé

By

Godfrey Deeny

Published
Jul 3, 2019

Scenes of a great triumph at Armani Privé, where Giorgio Armani received a standing ovation for his Art Deco-meets-Asia collection from the audience inside the Petit Palais.

 
Huge applause from his guests at both of Armani’s signature shows. The Italian couturier has such a healthy couture business he needs two runway shows to accommodate all his clients.

His second show for VIPs lured the best front row of the Paris couture season, including a resplendent Nicole Kidman, perched between two husbands, her real life hubby Keith Urban and her acting partner husband Alexander Skarsgard from the world’s biggest TV series, Big Little Lies. 

Skarsgard’s character was murdered at the end of the first season, leading one wag to quip only Armani could bring back the dead for a couture show.
 
Also on their feet, everyone from the veteran actress Claudia Cardinale and the planet’s hippest new star, Zendaya, to France’s leading ballerina Aurélie Dupont and English pop singer Rita Ora.
 
Respect for the fact that even at the ripe old age of 85, Armani is still probably the world’s single best tailor. One jet black crepe pantsuit was hung so flawlessly, there was an audible gasp of appreciation.
 
Admiration for the perfect peak-lapel blazers, stunning tuxes with contrasting shawl collars and billowing harem pants.
 
It helped that Armani finally gave up on his traditional black box format for Privé, and let the evening sun shine into the beautiful cathedral-high neo-classical gallery of the Petit Palais.
 
For evening, he looked East, with kimonos, capes and cheongsams made of beautiful swirling silk prints, which Giorgio Maharajah referred to as a return of a "folk" element to his work.
 

Post show, Armani immediately hopped on a private plane back to Milan, to begin work on his next pre-collection. Fashion’s greatest living example of high-end Stakhanovism.
 
His guests, on the other hand, had a shorter journey. Walking into the garden of the Petit Palais to dine on a splendid supper of the modernist Italian cuisine that complemented the refreshed vigor of this collection.