Giorgio Armani to stage next Emporio show in Milan airport hangar

By

Godfrey Deeny

Published
Sep 7, 2018

Giorgio Armani will stage his next Emporio runway show, right beside a real airplane runway. His next catwalk event, on September 20, will be held inside the hangar of Milan’s Linate Airport, the Italian designer revealed Friday.
 

Armani has named the show Emporio Armani Boarding, the first time the airport will host a fashion show, in this case Emporio Armani Spring/Summer 2019 Men’s and Women’s collections.
 
Unusually for the designer, Armani has combined his men’s and women’s Emporio collections in a joint show, which will climax with a live performance by a yet-to-be-disclosed international pop star. 

In a  democratic move, the audience of 2,300 will include a number of members of the public, in among the editors and VIPs. Tickets for the public will be available via a special contest, held throughout the city of Milan, using a game-like format. The first one hundred randomly selected names will be given special “passports” allowing them to attend the show accompanied by a guest.
 
“Airports are places full of symbolism. They suggest unbounded openness to the world outside. You take off to discover and learn, or come back after experiencing countless adventures,” said Armani in a release.
 
The hangar has been emblazoned with a giant Emporio logo since 1996, – seven years after the collection’s founding – making it a famous visual signature seen by pretty well all visitors landing in the Italian fashion capital.
 
“It’s an image that welcomes the thousands of travellers who land at Linate Airport or functions as a farewell as they depart from Milan. The airport is the perfect space for Emporio Armani, the brand that embodies a free, adventurous spirit and continually reasserts its essence through a contemporary style,” added Armani.
 
Though born in Piacenza, no designer represents Milan more in the popular imagination than the 84-year-old Armani, whose named is prominent throughout the city – from his famed giant billboard on via Durini or his Armani/Teatro show space to his hotel on via Manzoni 31, that includes a large concept store and the Emporio Armani Caffè. 
 
Armani has taken Emporio on the road of late, notching up shows in Paris and London show, so the new destination is very much a return to the emblematic style capital.