STYLE : FASHION : Easy Does It

A ffordable Armani? Hey, even high-priced Italian designers can recognize recessionary times. With his new A/ X line, Giorgio Armani delivers the basics for down-to-earth pocketbooks. Unlike the designer’s couture clothing, 80% of his latest collection costs between $30 and $100.

Surprisingly, A/ X clothing is as functional as the nut and bolt in its ads and as utilitarian as its name implies (A/ X, or Armani Exchange, was inspired by the military’s P/ X, or Post Exchange). Easy to wear and up-to-the-minute modern, the line includes unisex jeans and T-shirts. You don’t get a lot of extra yardage at these prices, but there is true style as well as value in the handsome jackets, pants, skirts and vests. Here, Armani’s eye for fabrics and fine tailoring sets his clothes apart from other mass-market lines.

A/ X sportswear (for men and women) will be available in time for spring--but only at special Armani boutiques. Department-store shops are slated to open in about three weeksat Neiman Marcus, Beverly Hills, and Bullock’s, South Coast Plaza. A free-standing Santa Monica store is planned for mid-March.