For Fall/Winter 2012 Couture, Armani dallied in the past and the future for a collection that resides in some alternate universe running parallel to our own. He takes us back to Paris in the 40s and then into a clean but colorful future without spending any time in the decades in between. The prim Parisian artiste that launched the show held fast for the first 18 looks. She was an adroit example of high society French dress in the 40s with a splash of relaxed bohemia making its way into the looks via slouchy wide-leg trousers. She is the type who might not have turned Camus head on the way to the café in her sweet Phillip Treacy beret, but she may very well have caught Sartre’s wandering eye.

After this trip through the past, the mood changes abruptly, signaled by the appearance of decorated veils and a beaded pastel cardigan worn haphazardly buttoned with nothing underneath. Soft horizons painted the puff sleeve gowns, like sunsets you’d imagine seeing on some recently terra-formed new planet. His sweet palette of purples and pinks was shot through with unforgiving silver metallic, a harsh juxtaposition against the saccharine sweetness of the clothes. They say the future is unwritten, but if Armani has any say in this, we’re confident in a very beautiful future.

written by GRACE GORDON|photos: courtesy of GoRunway