A Serious Emporio Armani Reaches The Nash Equilibrium
@ 10:07 pm February 18, 2008Filed under: Milan, Runway Shows
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MILAN, Feb 18, 2008 / FW/ — Remember when Giorgio Armani did a treatise on ‘Theory of the Leisure Class’? For Fall 2008, the Italian design maestro might as well be doing a fashion treatise on the “Nash Equilibrium” a Nobel Prize winning economic theory made very popular by the movie ‘A Beautiful Mind’
Now, before you start thinking that the Emporio Armani Fall 2008 collection is about intellectual dressing, please banish that thought because the collection has all the signature Armani luxuries like the use of velvet, wool tweed and shiny fabrics.
It also has the signature Armani look – women’s clothes based on man’s clothing, thus there are lots of pant suit sets, dress suits, snug fitting jackets, double pleated trousers. There are even bubble skirts and bias cut dresses. In short, the collection is exactly what Armani fans asked for with lots of extras added.
So, what makes this collection different from the others? The balancing act on androgyny, i.e., creating manly clothes for women while keeping their femininity and using feminine elements in men’s clothing while keeping the male masculinity. And, that is the reason why the Nash Equilibrium came to mind.
But, before we begin a whole mathematical treatise (the whole theory is actually a math equation) of the Nash Equilibrium, let it suffice to say that in game theory, the Nash equilibrium is a solution concept of a game involving two or more players, in which no player has anything to gain by changing only his or her own strategy unilaterally.
If each player has chosen a strategy and no player can benefit by changing his or her strategy while the other players keep theirs unchanged, then the current set of strategy choices and the corresponding payoffs constitute a Nash equilibrium.
That said, the Nash Equilibrium was reached in fashion terms, by Giorgio Armani by keeping both the men’s and women’s clothing proposed for Emporio Armani within a set of parameters as defined by the brand’s DNA.
Now, before a mathematical genius comes along, let it also be said that this is a very simplistic view of the Nash Equilibrium as applied in fashion terms.
Milan Menswear Runway Report: Touchy, Feely, Happy at Missoni, Emporio Armani & Byblos
@ 12:53 pm January 15, 2008Filed under: Milan, Runway Shows
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MILAN, Jan 15, 2008 / FW/ — The headline news might be gloomy, but Missoni, Emporio Armani and Byblos want us to be optimistic sending collections that are happy and touchy-feely. Because, isn’t it what is fashion (or dressing in this context) all about – to make us feel good about ourselves, an instant morale booster? For Fall 2008, Missoni, Emporio & Byblos share the same mantra – ‘Look good, feel good!’
Among the three, Manuel Facchini at Byblos pushed this thought to the limits sending roller skaters with all of them smiling, showing the audience that they are having a good time.
Bright colors and bold graphical prints adorned the sweaters and pullovers. Cardigans cum hoodies, quilted ski jackets and zipped bomber jackets adorned with colorful stripes at the plackets, Facchini did not miss a beat in dressing up these athletic, sports-loving young men. The must-have accessory is the graphical leg warmers worn on top of runners and Converse-style shoes.
Missoni took another route on optimism. If Byblos is about sportive young men, Missoni is about the intellectuals, perhaps a few years older or on the same age group as Fachinni’s lads.
Focusing on the cardigan this season, Angela Missoni preached ease of dressing, while keeping the grammar of the traditional Ivy Leaguer’s effortless luxury. Peach, cream and camel dominated the color palette as seen on the cardigans, sweaters and pullovers. These young men might not be doing extreme sports, but they are still physically active, preferring the civility of the tennis and pelota courts instead of the neck breaking speed of snowboarding.
Surprisingly enough, though Giorgio Armani is a few decades older than both Angela Missoni and Manuel Facchini, it was the Italian design maestro who provided the sum total of optimism in his Emporio Armani collection.
Ski outfits and mountaineering clothes in black & white tell of a life outdoors shared with your significant other, as proclaimed by male and female models walking hand-in-hand on the runway. They live active lives, sharing après ski while on vacation, and they still enjoy the active nightlife that the city offers.
For Missoni, Emporio Armani and Byblos, life should be lived, not observed! And though Ian Fleming, creator of James Bond had said, ‘You only live twice’, truth is that we only LIVE ONCE.