MFW: Emporio Armani’s fall 2009 women’s collection

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MILAN -- David and Victoria Beckham’s Emporio Armani underwear ads are plastered all over the city of Milan, inviting the world to the Beckham bedroom. But when it came to the Emporio Armani show today, the couple was nowhere to be seen. Nor were any other famous faces, a rarity for the celeb-loving designer.

Chalk it up to the more subdued mood emerging in the early hours of this Milan Fashion Week. The focus here, as it was in New York, is business.

Armani’s collection for his less expensive diffusion line was coquettish and light, blurring the line between feminine tailoring and knitwear in a classic palette of navy, black, gray and bottle green.

Cardigan coats with ruffle details, bow-tied popcorn knit jackets and cutaway cable-knit sweaters were paired with short skirts in crepe or velvet, putting the emphasis on the leg.

There were lots of easy-to-wear cocktail dresses, too, one in black Swiss dot with a scalloped, ruffled hem, another in a sparkly blue velvet baby-doll shape with black piping.

It’s too bad he had to add to the mix pillbox hats and knee socks worn over seamed stockings. These styling flourishes made the models look like stewardesses, back when they were still called stewardesses. If only Armani could let another stylist take over once in a while it would make all the difference.

-- Booth Moore

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Photo credits: David and Victoria Beckham wearing Emporio Armani underwear in a billboard in downtown Milan, Italy; Emporio Armani’s fall 2009 Milan Fashion Week show / Photos by Luca Bruno/ Associated Press.