Milan Fashion Week: Emporio Armani autumn/winter 2012

Horsey touches and a nod to Little Lord Fauntleroy at Emporio Armani

Shorts for winter? That was the calf-flashingly (albeit under tights) counter-intuitive suggestion at Emporio Armani this morning. And these weren't just any shorts: a few printed Bermudas apart, all of the looks were built around a Lord Fauntleroy-ready knickerbocker undone at its around-the-knee cuff. Worn with every variety of thin-soled flat you can image - patent, crystal-studded velvet slipper, printed patent slipper, two-tone, three-tone, four... - it was a combo that gave the model cross-dressed Gwyneth in Shakespeare In Love jauntiness.

That knickerbocker story apart, there were horsey touches in the pretty, severely-shouldered top coats bottomed with foliage cut-outs and the riding crop one model wore looped around her neck. There were a zillion different looks here; multi-coloured polka dots, riotously ruffled chiffon blooms, reflective pink and grey velvet jackets with with two-feet's worth of fringing that turned them into coats, grey and lilac leopard print, leather jackets with patch pockets of purple velvet, a floral fitted dress or two - and all of them worn with those shorts.

Posted in: Autumn-Winter,Emporio Armani,Milan Fashion Week