In the Giorgio Armani Spring 2018 collection, the power of artistic gesture – free, expressive and instinctive – meets the sophisticated, linear elegance of the Armani language.

Brilliant hues, crisp cuts, graphic lines and balanced asymmetries were combined to create a spirit of moderation and simplicity. Key pieces included small jackets, short dresses with sloping hemlines, weightless dusters and luminous pleated skirts. These come together in striking pairings that possess strong personality.

Armani emphasized dressmaking that displayed its guiding hand, combining prints that echoed the aesthetics of canonical artists with fabrications that played the technologically advanced against the handmade. The layer beneath the silk was a floral print, excavated in floral sections by more laser cutting and then surrounded by even more precise lasered etchings that shaved only halfway into the black top layer.

There were stripes of red, black, printed, and sheer fabrics that had a 3-D and color-injected cousin to the iridescent 2-D mosaic intensity of Klimt. Then came the lightest menswear-inspired pieces with a one-shoulder mid-length dress and another full-length dress immediately afterward were cut in strips of leather that were interjected with metallic pinstripes. They were embellished with floral blotches applied with Pollock-esque apparent lack of design.

See all the looks from the runway up close as you go backstage at the Giorgio Armani Spring 2018 Womenswear fashion show.