PARIS, Jan 22 — Italian designer Giorgio Armani kept faith with his signature stern tailoring for the haute couture collection he unveiled yesterday in Paris — but he added a dash of colour.

In keeping with the buttoned-down look of the show, it was held in a former bank building, a stark contrast to the whimsical herb garden recreated for the Chanel show a few hours earlier.

For his Armani Prive haute couture brand, the designer showed trouser suits and dresses that were all about straight lines and boxy shapes — accentuated by the angular hairstyles of the models on the runway.

But the sober, structured lines were leavened by lavish silk fabrics, and vibrant colours; magenta paired with cobalt blue was a recurring theme.

For the tailoring, there was at least one concession to whimsy: an otherwise straitlaced dress that featured a large diaphanous petal that sprung out of the belt and covered the front of the dress all the way up to the model's face. — Reuters