Armani revives haute couture

The Italian fashion designer has finally decided to take on haute couture. Whereas other design houses such as Ungaro and Versace are moving away from haute couture to focus on the prêt-a-porter market, Armani believes there is still a market for five-figure dresses.

His show on Tuesday at Milan Fashion Week featured long evening gowns covered in thousands of crystals, hand-printed silk and satin jackets embroidered with coloured jewels.

Armani has always been known for the beautiful cut of his jackets and evening wear that translated immediately to the red carpet at Hollywood events. Now, however, his designs appear ready for the Paris haute-couture shows. The designer has admitted that he would enjoy joining the haute couture crowd in Paris, but indicated that he wanted to gage the reaction to his new venture first.