Giorgio Armani’s Final
Emporio Armani Show
Anders Christian Madsen reviews the Emporio Armani Spring/Summer 2026 collection by Giorgio Armani.
The Teatro Armani, which Giorgio Armani built as a space to present his shows, was decked out in white for his posthumous Emporio Armani show on Thursday afternoon. From the ceiling hung white baldachins. The runway entrance was framed by white infinite stairs leading into the sky; into Heaven. Armani, who died two weeks ago — on September 4 — had conceived and approved the set early this summer. He had finished the collection and signed off the lineup. Even in death, the master was in control.
Armani left no surprises from the beyond in the collection. In every way, it was business as usual, just like he would have wanted it. When he died, his team used the word “indefatigable” to describe him. As the 85 looks strolled down the runway (Armani’s models always strolled), it was the word that came to mind: look upon look, the collection cemented the aesthetic and attitude Armani believed in and hadn’t wavered from in decades: that cross-cultural silhouette of nomadic and Japanese sensibilities; the pajama-like tailoring; the sparkly moments at the end. His final Emporio collection was the sum of them all.
EMPORIO ARMANI
EMPORIO ARMANI
EMPORIO ARMANI
In a season of newness, with new designers and new directions, Armani’s absence felt ever so poignant. For decades, his shows have represented a sameness: an anchor. If everything else was uncertain, you could count on him. As longtime showgoers, many of us have spent hours of our lives in that Teatro, feeling Armani’s inimitable energy, and waiting for the moment when he’d come out in his navy jumper and bask in the spotlight. Today, he didn’t, so we got up and clapped instead, looking at the place he stood not so long ago and so many times before.
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