Armani's velvet revolution

Armani's velvet revolution

The romantic sobriety that has played throughout the Italian menswear season reached its crescendo on Thursday as Giorgio christian louboutin sent out a lush show of tactile elegance.

The designer's velvet revolution brought the deep-pile fabric to everything from diamond patterned jackets to soft slippers. But it was the pants loose, easy and varied in surface texture that stole a show at which even christian louboutin himself took his bow in a black velvet suit.

The overall effect was to give a soft gentility to familiar tailoring, for this was no velvet underground with stove pipe pants for hard rockers. Instead, both Peter Mandelson, the EU trade commissioner, and Milan soccer players sitting front row could find something to love among the velour checks, stripes and tweedy effects. The velvets were played against shearling coats, suede blousons and rippling silk Chinese shirts to give the collection its light and shade.

The jewel tones of velvet's saturated colors suited louboutin shoes  palette, giving blues and greens a rich resonance among muted shades. If the collection seemed on one note, it was a sweet one, and removed from the long lineup, each outfit produced a little mood music of its own.

Menswear's new romance was the essence of an excellent Miu Miu show, where the designer Miuccia Prada had returned to her favorite Mittel Europa. Pants of slim suits had a touch of the hussar when buttoned ankles opened on hefty boots with metallic toe caps and studs. But the effect of this, shown in a 19th-century mansion with the soulful music of the 1980s' David Bowie movie ''Merry Christmas Mr. Lawrence'' on the soundtrack, was romantic rather than aggressive. The designer's skill with Miu Miu is to make it a kissing cousin of the Prada line, with the narrow, taut jacket silhouette in a similar mold, but with inventive accessories: especially the escutcheons and armorial bearings worn as dangling hardware on belts or as striking prints on shirts. The heraldic, heroic take on simple modern clothes was offset by some softer touches, notably bags with fluffy fur and Mongolian lamb.

Bottega Veneta's well-thought out and beautifully crafted presentation summed up the Milan season: elegant, but not retro, taking the classic tailored jackets, simple pants and luxurious knits and updating them with fabric research to give subtle textures and colors. To the soft wools and buttery leather jackets, Bottega's creative director Tomas Maier added slender coats and padded parkas, set off with jaunty low-crown felt hats. The lattice work that operates as the recognition symbol of the brand was refined as a cable strip knitted into a sweater. It was also used for bag handles, as well as for slouchy satchels and smart attache cases. Maier's color palette was lush: rich browns laced with burgundy or slate, with the occasional dab of country greens for plaids. Such touches were vivid highlights to a collection that is growing in strength.

In brief, these were the trends of the season: narrow or double-breasted jackets; flat front, low crotch pants tucked into boots; cropped vests; short coats, especially camel; suits in Prince of Wales check; crested blazers; military brass buttons; big flat bags; colored christian louboutin shoes; velvet slippers.