Giorgio Armani's first trip to Shanghai was "a great surprise "New and old were combined in a perfect way in the city. I saw many people looking happy and satisfied, which is very rarely seen in Europe nowadays," he said at the press conference held on April 17 for the opening ceremony of the Armani flagstore in Shanghai.

Armani considers it a good moment to enter the Chinese mainland market. "Chinese people are ready for a fashion revolution. The constructions of futurism in the city shows people are more ready to accept fashion compared with 10 years ago," he said.

Wearing a simple cut T-shirt, Armani said he was actually a labourer whose job involves lots of physical work. "So I can't wear trendy and formal clothes all the time. I have a practical job, so I should dress in a practical way."

But his new collection reveals lots of fun. Giorgio Armani is forecasting an easy summer in his fashion show held in Shanghai. The new collection for the spring/summer takes its inspiration from the ocean and long coastline of Italy. Various islands, fishermen and fishing nets, sea shells and navy stripes have all contributed to the designs.

Catching on to the light breeze of the twenties that's blowing through fashion, he has charted a course for the season using playful, nautical stripes as landmarks, guided by masculine and feminine styling.

In his lightened mood, Armani has come to terms with showing some skin, with slouchy, midriff-baring pants and little dresses.

The fashion show also includes parts of the latest autumn/winter collection for 2004-05.

With the energy of rock, the beat of the underground, and the urban edge of rap, the fashion looks like music. All this defines what Giorgio Armani calls "city glamour", an intense and rebellious seduction, which breaks conventions to meet the beat and eclectic needs of urban life today.

One of many surprises in a collection bursting with originality, is its intent to reshape the profile and wardrobe of its wearer: the metropolitan individual with sophisticated urban tastes, who insists that clothes should be lightweight and fluid, streamlined and with a dash of irony derived from the contrast of old and new forms: a jacket as light as a shirt.

Then there's a shirt with eye-catching details; a jacket with the touch of a pullover, but elegantly double-breasted.

An amusing take on this theme is the Stripe Jacket - a shirt structured like a double-breasted jacket, in the lightest of striped fabrics.

(Shanghai Star  May 11, 2004)