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"[Giorgio Armani] not only relaxed the suit; he made it a sexier garment." —harold koda the Metropolitan Museum of Art's Costume Institute and cocurator of the landmark Giorgio Armani retrospective at the Guggenheim Museum in 2000. For Armani, "textiles are as important as the cut," says Koda, but adjusting proportions—the breadth of a jacket's shoulders, the width of its lapels—is "where he plays master at revisiting codes of menswear." "I [have always been] interested in breaking old dress codes," says the 81-year-old designer. A 40th- anniversary capsule tuxedo collection highlights Armani's deftness at simultaneously subverting and respecting those codes. The tuxedos come in three fits that seem aimed at a trifecta of personalities: clas- sic, dégagé (meaning relaxed or casual in French), and innovative. Men in the last category can enjoy t raditional black suits woven with subtle patterns, like dég radé (colors g radually shaded instead of clearly demarcated) polka dots or camouf lage. The palette has also been expanded beyond traditional black to vintage midnight blue—popular at the turn of the 20th century, according to Koda—while the bow ties feature micropatterns. "The tuxedo is a very particular outfit: Its look can't be completely revolutionized, so updating it is a very delicate operation," says Armani, who adds that the woven designs "create a surprising blurred effect." For Armani, it's not so much about revolutionizing formalwear itself, but changing its perception. The designer has said numerous times that his greatest achievement in fashion has been seducing men back to embracing the suit: "I am very proud to have convinced men that a tailored suit is not a costume but a garment that can make you feel stylish and comfortable at the same time." The designer's new line of contemporary classic womenswear, called New Normal, which was created for the fashion house's 40th anniversary and introduced to Armani boutiques in June, operates on the same principles. "New Normal is the very essence of my work: classic and contemporary at the same time, definitely timeless," says Armani. "It focuses on people, not on clothes." "I think that now more than ever, with the proliferation of passing fads, women need some more clarity on how to dress, something that is not dogmatic and that they can personalize according to their own taste," he adds. "I condensed it into a wardrobe of perfectly tailored, timeless pieces that are easy to wear and interpret every day." The New Normal collection focuses on daywear in f luid and sleek cuts crafted from refined fabrics. It places Armani's iconic trouser suit, made in various shapes, materials, and fits, at its center. The collec- tion also has crossover pieces for evening, like a trench coat in black velvet and a satin top, and includes shoes and bags in precious materials like crocodile and sophisticated hues such as cognac, dark green, and ice. Its DNA is entirely Armani—a fidelity to classic elegance and simple forms, all interpreted through his inimitable eye. T he afternoon before the celeb-studded party, Armani/Silos had a much more calm and reverent feel. Between the f locks of guests, Armani's soft, genteel, sophisticated daywear— in the designer's signature "greige" color, plus other luminous neutrals—fitted onto ghost- like mannequins, stood out in subtle but powerful contrast to the massive, minimalist, raw cement walls on the space's ground f loor. Among the collections were a number of exem- plars of the f luid, f lattering trousered power suit that has empowered a generation of women to stand shoulder to shoulder with men in the workplace without sacrificing elegance or femininity. The yin-yang pairing of these outfits exalts the gentle androgyny of the women's clothes and the sensual masculinity of the men's, but also the consistency of the designer's methods across gender lines—his play on clean, traditional dressing codes by tweaking proportions as well as combining textures, colors, and patterns in soft, light, noble materials. Armani himself doesn't underestimate the significance of the work. "My revolution, if we want to call it that, has always moved in two directions," he says. "On the one hand, I tried to lighten lines and structures. On the other, I renewed materials and introduced a soft and Scenes from the 40th-anniversary party: (from left) Glenn Close, Giorgio Armani, and Lauren Hutton; Armani with Sophia Loren; Tina Turner and Hilary Swank; Cate Blanchett, Loren, Leonardo DiCaprio, Swank, Pierce Brosnan, and Zhang Ziyi sit front-row at the fashion show; Tom Cruise. 100 vegasmagazine.com