Armani unveils Italian Olympic team uniforms during MFW

Milan Fashion Week for spring/summer menswear previews has started with a slightly different rhythm, with many mainstays not showing this season.

It is a sign of the times that fashion houses are seeking new ways to reach their audiences, and slotting menswear into womenswear shows by now is old hat. Gucci and Bottega Veneta are among the houses choosing that path, and skipping the June round of shows.

And this year, Pitti Uomo in Florence got a boost as the chosen venue for Ferragamo, which normally shows in Milan, and Givenchy, which makes Paris its home. Prada went abroad to Shanghai for its menswear Spring/Summer 2020 preview.

Designer Giorgio Armani, centre, poses with Italian Olympic athletes at the end of the Emporio Armani men's Spring-Summer 2020 collection, unveiled during the fashion week, in Milan, Italy, Saturday, June 15, 2019. (AP PhotoLuca Bruno)

Still there was a lot left to see in Milan and here are some highlights from Saturday's shows:

EMPORIO ARMANI GOES FOR SPORTY FORMALITY

The Emporio Armani man is active, ready to parachute into any situation. The looks were strong on flat-out active wear, and leisure wear for the active soul, with an unstructured silhouette and light technical textiles.

A model wears a creation as part of the Emporio Armani men's Spring-Summer 2020 collection, unveiled during the fashion week, in Milan, Italy, Saturday, June 15, 2019. (AP PhotoLuca Bruno)

Organza surfaces on suits gave a sleek, youthful sheen. Trousers were either wide palazzo pants or ready-to-jump parachute pants, while jackets were both double-breasted and single-button. Suits anchored the collection, and the inclusions of ties, sometimes with a loose knot and upturned shirt-collars signaling quitting time, offered a note of serious elegance.

But collection also had a strong sporty vein, with blousons, anoraks and light-weight overcoats.

"Men should shine," Armani said after the show.

A model wears a creation as part of the Emporio Armani men's Spring-Summer 2020 collection, unveiled during the fashion week, in Milan, Italy, Saturday, June 15, 2019. (AP PhotoLuca Bruno)

Combining elegant and active notes, loose silky suits with smoky, dreamlike prints were worn shirtless or paired with sheer polo shirts to show off that abdominal workout.

The line for youthful — not necessarily young — dressers included harnesses reminiscent of a parachute drop, to which bags could be strapped. Caps had aviator glasses built in. Colors were mostly dark neutrals with flashes of red — especially striking on a pair of belted suits — blue-greens and green-blues, as well as orange melting into bronze.

ARMANI LAUNCHES FIFTH OLYMPIC CAMPAIGN

Designer Giorgio Armani accepts applause at the end of the Emporio Armani men's Spring-Summer 2020 collection, unveiled during the fashion week, in Milan, Italy, Saturday, June 15, 2019. (AP PhotoLuca Bruno)

Giorgio Armani and Italian Olympic officials used the runway show to announce Armani's fifth Olympic Games as the Italian team's official uniform designer.

Some 30 Olympians and Paralympians introduced the looks for the 2020 Games in Tokyo that projected Armani's often-expressed love of Japan, with the red rising sun of Japan transformed with the green-white-and-red of the Italian flag.

The president of the Italian National Olympic Committee, Giovanni Malago, was on hand for the rollout. He praised Armani as the designer "who has given the most trust to the world of sports and to the teams that represent our country."

A model wears a creation as part of the Emporio Armani men's Spring-Summer 2020 collection, unveiled during the fashion week, in Milan, Italy, Saturday, June 15, 2019. (AP PhotoLuca Bruno)

Taking a lone turn on the runway to close the show was professional race car driver Alex Zanardi, who lost both legs in a racing accident in 2001.

Armani previously designed the Italian Olympic and Paralympic uniforms for the Summer Games in London in 2012 and Rio de Janeiro in 2016, and for the Winter Games in 2014 in Sochi, Russia, and in 2018 in Pyeongchang, South Korea.

Designer Giorgio Armani, centre, poses with Italian Olympic athletes at the end of the Emporio Armani men's Spring-Summer 2020 collection, unveiled during the fashion week, in Milan, Italy, Saturday, June 15, 2019. (AP PhotoLuca Bruno)

Designer Giorgio Armani, left, greets president of the Italian National Olympic Committee Giovanni Malago at the end of the Emporio Armani men's Spring-Summer 2020 collection, unveiled during the fashion week, in Milan, Italy, Saturday, June 15, 2019. (AP PhotoLuca Bruno)

A model is recorded on a spectators cell phone during the Emporio Armani men's Spring-Summer 2020 collection, unveiled during the fashion week, in Milan, Italy, Saturday, June 15, 2019. (AP PhotoLuca Bruno)

WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. forces boarded another oil tanker in the Caribbean Sea on Friday, the U.S. military said, as the Trump administration targets sanctioned tankers traveling to and from Venezuela as part of a broader effort to take control of the South American country's oil.

The predawn raid was carried out by Marines and Navy sailors launched from the aircraft carrier USS Gerald R. Ford, part of the extensive force the U.S. has built up in the Caribbean in recent months, according to U.S. Southern Command, which declared “there is no safe haven for criminals” as it announced the seizure of the tanker called the Olina. The Coast Guard then took control of the vessel, officials said.

Southern Command and Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem both posted unclassified footage on social media Friday morning of a U.S. helicopter landing on the vessel and U.S. personnel conducting a search of the deck and tossing what appeared to be an explosive device in front of a door leading to inside the ship.

In her post, Noem said the ship was “another ‘ghost fleet’ tanker ship suspected of carrying embargoed oil” and it had departed Venezuela “attempting to evade U.S. forces."

The Olina is the fifth tanker that has been seized by U.S. forces as part of the effort by President Donald Trump’s administration to control the production, refining and global distribution of Venezuela’s oil products, and the third since the U.S. ouster of Venezuela President Nicolás Maduro in a surprise nighttime raid.

In a post on his social media network later in the day, Trump said the seizure was conducted “in coordination with the Interim Authorities of Venezuela” but offered no elaboration.

The White House did not immediately respond to requests for more details.

Venezuela’s government acknowledged in a statement that it was working with U.S. authorities to return the tanker, “which set sail without payment or authorization from the Venezuelan authorities,” to the South American nation.

“Thanks to this first successful joint operation, the ship is sailing back to Venezuelan waters for its protection and relevant actions,” according to the statement.

Samir Madani, co-founder of TankerTrackers.com, said his organization used satellite imagery and surface-level photos to document that at least 16 tankers left the Venezuelan coast in contravention of the quarantine U.S. forces have set up to block sanctioned ships from conducting trade. The Olina was among that flotilla.

U.S. government records show that the Olina was sanctioned for moving Russian oil under its prior name, Minerva M, and flagged in Panama.

While records show the Olina is now flying the flag of Timor-Leste, it is listed in the international shipping registry as having a false flag, meaning the registration it is claiming is not valid. In July, the owner and manager of the ship on its registration was changed to a company in Hong Kong.

According to ship tracking databases, the Olina last transmitted its location in November in the Caribbean, north of the Venezuelan coast. Since then, however, the ship has been running dark with its location beacon turned off.

While Noem and the military framed the seizure as part of an effort to enforce the law, other officials in the Trump administration have made clear they see it as a way to generate cash as they seek to rebuild Venezuela's battered oil industry and restore its economy.

In an early morning social media post, Trump said the U.S. and Venezuela “are working well together, especially as it pertains to rebuilding, in a much bigger, better, and more modern form, their oil and gas infrastructure.”

The administration said it expects to sell 30 million to 50 million barrels of sanctioned Venezuelan oil, with the proceeds to go to both the U.S. and Venezuelan people. But the president expects the arrangement to continue indefinitely. He met Friday with executives from oil companies to discuss his goal of investing $100 billion in Venezuela to repair and upgrade its oil production and distribution.

Vice President JD Vance told Fox News this week that the U.S. can “control” Venezuela’s “purse strings” by dictating where its oil can be sold.

Madani estimated that the Olina is loaded with 707,000 barrels of oil, which at the current market price of about $60 a barrel would be worth more than $42 million.

Associated Press writers Dánica Coto in San Juan, Puerto Rico, Josh Boak in Washington, and Regina Garcia Cano in Caracas, Venezuela, contributed to this report.

This story has been corrected to reflect that the United States has seized three tankers, not five, since Nicolás Maduro was ousted as Venezuela’s president.

FILE - Evana, an oil tanker, is docked at El Palito Port in Puerto Cabello, Venezuela, Dec. 21, 2025. The U.S. military says U.S. forces have boarded another oil tanker in the Caribbean Sea. The Olina is the fifth tanker seized by U.S. forces. (AP Photo/Matias Delacroix, File)