Living: Look Out, Paris, It's Chic to Chic In Milan

A look of inventive, well-made elegance that is wearable in a real world

Report of fashions in proud Italy. . .

—William Shakespeare, Richard II

Milan basked in the heady perfume of spring flowers and international applause. The ready-to-wear collections paraded at the Italian fashion center last week triumphantly upheld its tradition of sophistication and charm. By contrast with the far-out fantasy fashion of Paris, la moda milanese stands more than ever for inventive, well-made clothes that are wearable in a real world: functional but feminine by day, dramatic but not stagy by night.

Tucked into a single week were 37 shows of fall clothes, attracting 2,400 buyers and fashion critics. Many agreed that in important respects—fabric, detail and practicality—the milanese look has come to rival la mode parisienne.

The Italian superstar, this year even more than last, is undeniably Giorgio Armani, 46. A master tailor who was probably the most influential men's wear designer in the '70s, he is being hailed in his sixth year of designing for women as Cardin and Courreges were in the '60s. (And being well rewarded: his sales worldwide last year totaled $120 million.) The Armani imprint is detectable in many of his competitors' designs. Says Carla Fendi, of the Roman family of designers: "He has created a unique style, one that you can recognize without a label." No label is needed when the designer has a pedigree—and Armani's coat of arms would be bold and elegant.

Long before he started designing clothes for women, Armani was known for his superb tailoring and loving way with materials. For both men and women, he reintroduced linen, for example —and made the inevitable crumpled look acceptable. He ripped the linings out of his jackets for women to create an unstructured look, and made them hang almost as loosely as an afterthought.

With his new collection, Armani introduces fancy-free outfits for work and play. There is hardly a skirt in the show. The emphasis is on pants: quilted, pleated, tucked and cuffed bermudas, knee-length culottes with upward-curving hems, knickers and quilted pantskirts. They are worn in daytime with silk or satin blouses, strictly tailored jackets, capes and large T-shaped wool ponchos. Many of Armani's favorite colors—shades of beige, brown, rust, taupe, gray, black, traces of cobalt blue—are subtly combined in a single ensemble. Favorite materials for pants and jackets are houndstooth checks, herringbone tweeds, velvet, flannel and, for evening, stiff satin. At night the baroque steps out: long silk crepe dresses, many strapless; spangled black tunics with full sleeves worn over black satin bermudas; tunics and jackets in velvet and satin over pants.