The Best Looks From Milan Fashion Week Fall 2016

At 84, Giorgio Armani could sit back and rest on his laurels, which are sizable. He has revolutionized three major areas when it comes to fashion. First: Branding. Say "Armani" and it conjures up a world of cool blues and grays, of minimalism and crystals, suits and celebs, linens and tabletop. Not to mention, the cars, yachts and sun-kissed, tanned-and-toned personal lifestyle. Then there's the way he single-handled changed the way the suit was worn by men and women in the work place and beyond. And finally, that little thing called the red carpet. He was the first designer to understand that a celeb wearing one of his one-of-a-kind gowns or tuxedos would translate into selling a t-shirt or belt. As if a prelude to today's fall runway, last night's 88th Academy Awards saw Leonardo DiCaprio finally picking up his best actor Oscar in Armani, and then rubbing elbows with fellow Armani members Cate Blanchett, Naomi Watts and Charlotte Rampling.

But perhaps Armani sees all his clients as celebrities, including the legion of faithful ladies who flock to his boutiques for their finely tailored coats and pants, his elegant shoes and boots with the heels always at the right height. His pants always tailored...though he can't help himself when it comes to a taper, a crop or, this season, a sweatpant cinch.

The collection was centered around black velvet, something he has always embraced, but which seems to be right in step with what's happening elsewhere this season. Not that trends matter one fig to him. He exists beyond that stuff now. Here, single-button evening jackets with a touch of shine, lines of fringe or swirls of ruffles topped cropped black velvet pants. Or velvet boleros were thrown over the shoulders of sequined floral dresses and tops.

He toned down his evening looks from klieg-like Hollywood to rarefied cocktail attire. A tunic with black beads and carwash flaps topped black velvet pants and sophisticated sandals, while wide velvet belts held up curtains of pom-pom detailed gauze trapeze frocks.

In comparison to the dazzlers his atelier sends out at Armani Privee, these felt understated in black. And yet they still had that signature Armani feel.

It's no easy feat to reinvent the same thing every season, not just for years, but for decades. And yet Angela Missoni strives to do just that with her family's signature knits. Unbelievably, every time, she spins a new yarn.

For fall, her goal was to show off the versatility of a knit, the many ways space knits, weaves and the like can be worked colorfully into every day looks. Like button-down capes and chunky pieced cardigans, cozy pants and slim minis.

Missoni tried her hand at bohemian maxi dresses, too, with a series of successful shimmering gowns she layered with colorful floor-length sweaters, skinny scarves and paired with sneakers.

Coordinated zig-zag suits came in loose proportions, with button-down shirts and vests, while cropped sweaters and blanket-like scarves topped knit striped leggings.

Missoni didn't stick to a particular theme or color palette this season, instead letting her imagination and whimsy loose. And the collection was better for it—showing the breadth and depth of sweater dressing.

For fall, Massimiliano Giornetti looked to the linear graphics of the 1920s and '30s, creating a bright multicolored striped runway at Salvatore Ferragamo. And it proved to be the perfect backdrop for his clothes–both the beautifully clean monotone and the ultra colorful.

Everything worked in bands and lines here. Horizontal pieces of ribbed knits were spliced together in witty mixes of color blocks and then paired with tightly-pleated skirts. Even his shoes—slim cabana striped T-straps picked up the theme.

Sticking to the stripes motif was not limiting, though. It forced him to get creative. He folded flaps of alternating colors in a tunic-and-pencil skirt combo, while in another, golden zippers provided graphic edge to a black tunic dress. A handful of all-white pieces featured tiers of micro pleats or, as seen on a refined coat, seamed panels with a tulip hem.

The lines gave way to abstract checks and bold chevron skirts and blouses—still maintaining the clean silhouettes. A particularly smart look was a pastel and mustard chevron fur.

Giornetti's color combinations were bright, bold and interesting and were paired together in a season-less palette. And certainly, between the furs and silky spaghetti strap dresses, Ferragamo is clearly focusing on its global customers' needs...One woman's winter is another's summer.

Domenico Dolce and Stefano Gabbana created their own fairy tale this fall, channeling—quite literally—every princess, prince and evil queen that has ever been imagined. Including their chubby mice, chirping tea cup and dancing candelabra sidekicks. The point here, though, was that Cinderella is master of her own story. She is both heroine and hero, and maybe sometimes the cruel, vindictive but always sexy step-mother, too.

For every shimmering pale blue and shiny pink dress—either in a-line or cinch-waisted silhouettes—there was a military look festooned with ribbons and buttons, paired with cropped pants. The models all wore jeweled crowns, some with buttons and safety pins...because that's what a princess locked in a tower had to make do with, right?

The penultimate dramatic scene of any fairy tale romance is the ball. Here, it was translated through crystal-bright dazzling silver dresses—one an actual disco ball motif that could have also doubled as a cracked mirror metaphor. These, along with houndstooth and animal print dresses and skirts, were detailed with flowers.

As for the evil queen, she had the most wearable, grown-up clothes. As little girls grow up, they tend to see her side of the story, too, which is generally more interesting. (Think Wicked and Maleficent, for instance.) Black lacy widow dresses and power suits were in order, necessary for taking prissy misses down a notch. Her shoe of choice: golden sandals or black lace-up boots a la Doc Martens.

Dolce and Gabbana threw themselves down that rabbit hole of fantasy, as they do. Their finale a gaggle of disco damsels in pink and silver dresses—and if everything that came before was literal, it was hard to deny the fun of seeing an army of empowered princesses storm the Mad Hatter's runway. Alert: Sleeping Beauty woke up.