In Milan, the fashion world gathers to say goodbye to Giorgio Armani at his final show

It was meant to mark 50 years since the founding of Giorgio Armani, the eponymous fashion line that would become an empire. The stage was set for a career-spanning exhibition at the Pinacoteca di Brera, Milan’s storied arts institution, which would see fashion enter its hallowed halls for the first time in history, taking its place amid the masterpieces of Raphael, Caravaggio and Tintoretto – a symbolic gesture of Mr Armani’s unique place in Italian culture. He is, after all, fashion’s ‘maestro’ – an enduring arbiter of elegance, whose five decades in business have seen him define Italian style and sell it to the world.

At 7pm this evening, guests gathered at the Pinacoteca di Brera for an altogether different type of homage – earlier this month, it was announced that Mr Armani had died, aged 91. The setting was prescient: the Brera neighbourhood is the heart of the Armani business; just a few streets away from the gallery is Palazzo Orsini on Via Borgonuovo, the long-time headquarters of the Armani group and the designer’s personal residence. Tonight, well-wishers lined the streets to catch a glimpse of the show’s guest list, which included Richard Gere (Mr Armani designed the clothing for his star-making 1980 movie American Gigolo), Cate Blanchett and Lauren Hutton, as well as the fashion designers Dries Van Noten, Sir Paul Smith and Dean and Dan Caten of Dsquared2.

‘Milano, per Amore’: inside Giorgio Armani’s final runway show

For the occasion, the gallery’s cloistered courtyard was lit by hundreds of lantern-style lamps, while a pearlescent runway ran around the length of the space. Just before 8pm, the show began: presented to a live piano accompaniment, it was an ode to the two places most important to Mr Armani – Milan and Pantelleria, the volcanic island off the coast of Sicily where the designer traditionally spent his summers. ‘Everything appears fluid, light, as if ready to yield to the island’s winds,’ read the accompanying collection notes, with silhouettes capturing the louche glamour and sinuous line which defined Mr Armani’s collections. Colours ranged from natural hues of grey and beige to vivid blues evocative of island waters. The closing looks featured shimmering crystal adornment – another Armani hallmark.

The show finished with Agnes Zogla, one of Mr Armani’s longtime muses, walking the length of the runway in a gown that featured the designer’s portrait rendered in crystal (the same portrait appeared on a white T-shirt delivered to guests as the show’s invitation). After a rousing ovation, guests filtered up the stairway and into the gallery itself, where they got a private view of ‘Giorgio Armani: Milano, per Amore’, which sees pieces from the last 50 years – for both men and women – displayed in the institution’s permanent galleries. Meticulously curated by Mr Armani before his death, the pieces were chosen to interplay with the artworks on display in the various rooms, including Giovanni Bellini’s masterpiece, ‘St Mark Preaching in Alexandria’.

‘Giorgio Armani represents one of the highest pinnacles of Italian creativity, expressed in the essentiality and rigour of form, a rigour that evolved from aesthetic to in the sense that it permeated his way of living and working,’ said Angelo Crespi, director of the Pinacoteca di Brera. ‘In this, Giorgio Armani embodies the character of Milan most fully. He is also the most emblematic expression of the culture of Brera... [this exhibition] highlights his extraordinary talent and inimitable style.’

The coming months will see inevitable questions arise about the multi-billion-dollar empire’s future: it was recently revealed that Mr Armani had instructed his family to slowly sell off the business to a luxury conglomerate (his preferences being LVMH, L’Oréal, EssilorLuxottica or another of ‘equal standing’). But for this evening, those conversations were put on hold. Instead, in true Armani style, it ended with a party: on the courtyard’s balconies, over bowls of pasta and risotto, guests raised a glass to the life of a true fashion great.

‘Giorgio Armani: Milano, per Amore‘ is on at Pinacoteca di Brera until 11 January 2026.