Milan Fashion Week: Giorgio Armani autumn/winter 2013

From Malibu to Monte Carlo, Giorgio Armani's roster of famous clients has long reflected his position at the apex of high society fashion. Armani Privé starred on Jessica Chastain and Naomi Watts at the Academy Awards on Sunday - so today the designer's home team outdid its LA outpost by welcoming Princess Charlene of Monaco to his Milan front row.

Charlene had been briefed: her coolly fluid, Armani-tailored jacket was as far away from the movie stars' hyper-tight gowns as Italy is from Hollywood. And it proved an adroitly pragmatic piece of Princess-wear for what proved to be a startlingly masculine collection.

Entitled 'Garçonne', this was Armani's take on womanly clothes with a gentlemanly edge. Trousers, mostly in black but with the odd diversion into neutral slate grey, came with elongated darts under the pockets and ornamental zippers. Bib-fronted trousers in black velvet had a gamine cuteness to them without ever looking harsh, and the models all wore slouchy black hats which the designer said were based on Rastafarian headgear. Shoes stayed mostly flat at this section, although a pair of fiercely spike-heeled, irregularly spotted black boots worked well under a long hip-hugging gown in blue.

After the restrained daywear, came a section of darkly glamorous eveningwear. One backless dress was decorated at the neckline by two raven black unfurled wings. Starbursts of crystal flashed across handbags and rivulets of silver fringing juddered under the seams of evening gloves.

Speaking backstage after the show, Armani said that 70 per cent of his annual sales are based on clothes, rather than accessories or perfume. Without naming names he was implying that he makes clothes women want to wear and look wonderful in, rather than to simply moon over in the pages of glossy magazines. In truth, his clothes fulfill both of these feminine desires - even in this, most masculine, of Armani collections.

All the latest from Milan Fashion Week autumn/winter 2013

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