Armani’s final assortment proven in solemn runway present with Richard Gere, Lauren Hutton in 1st row

MILAN — The final Giorgio Armani assortment signed by the late designer himself and marking the fiftieth anniversary of his signature line was proven Sunday evening in a solemn runway present that gathered Hollywood stars and Italian mates in tribute.

Richard Gere, Lauren Hutton, Glenn Close and Spike Lee attended the black-tie gala within the courtyard of the Brera Art Gallery the place an exhibition options 129 Armani creations in dialogue with Italian masterpieces.

They embrace one of many soft-shouldered fits that Gere wore in “American Gigolo,’’ looks that helped catapult Armani to global fashion stardom. Gere said he had no idea the Armani suits he wore in the 1980 movie would make fashion history, but he said they helped him decide how to approach the role.

“I was trying the suits on, and I hadn’t decided how I was going to play this character at all,’’ Gere told The Associated Press from the front row. “And I had to do it very quickly. I had a couple of weeks to figure it out. I started trying the clothes on, and the clothes actually started telling me who this guy was.’’

Hutton, Gere’s “American Gigolo” co-star, reminisced about a light blue suit that Gere wasn’t sure about. She called Armani a “treasure” who contributed enormously to Italy’s economic system, and remembered attending a Giorgio Armani vogue present shortly after Gigolo got here out.

Armani “gave me a pair of diamond earrings. And they are still the only pair of diamond earrings I have ever had,’’ Hutton said.

Hollywood stars and friends alike honored Armani for his key role in helping putting Milan at the center of global fashion.

“A giant for the industry. A great humanitarian,’’ Lee said as he arrived for the show.

Close said she wrote Armani letters on a regular basis, even if she never sat down with him one-on-one.

“I’m here because he meant a tremendous amount in my life. He was generous about lending me clothes for events. He once came to London to see a play that I was in. I felt like he was a very special element in my life,″ Close told AP.

“I used to be simply in his aura.″

During the present, fashions walked slowly in pairs, ladies half a step in entrance of the boys, across the colonnaded courtyard stuffed with the identical glowing paper lanterns that had lit Armani’s showroom for the general public viewing attended by 15,000 mourners.

Italian composer Ludovico Einaudi performed stay.

The coed assortment paid tribute to Armani’s two Italian properties, his adopted metropolis of Milan and the Sicilian island of Pantelleria, with the sandy colours of the island neighboring Africa transitioning to the city blues and grays, in a river of relaxed tailoring that outlined the Armani silhouette.

Pockets within the draping of night clothes have been a testomony to Armani’s practicality, and appreciation for his consumer’s wants.

One mannequin strolling alone in a glittering blue night costume closed the present, a wave of applause following her across the courtyard like a stadium cheer.

At the top of the present, Armani’s artistic heirs, his niece Silvana Armani for womenswear and Leo Dell’Orco for menswear, obtained a standing ovation.

Armani died Sept. 4, simply weeks earlier than Milan Fashion Week and a sequence of occasions marking the 50th anniversary of the Giorgio Armani vogue home that he constructed to a worldwide powerhouse.

The Armani empire was value about 10 billion euros (almost $12 billion) on the time of his demise. He stipulated that his heirs ought to sell an initial 15% stake of the enterprise, which incorporates the Giorgio Armani and Emporio Armani traces in addition to accommodations and the house decor line Armani Casa, inside 18 months of his demise.

The purchaser should have experience within the vogue world, and Armani expressed a desire for the LVMH French vogue conglomerate, the L’Oreal magnificence firm or EssilorLuxottica, the eyewear firm of which Armani owned a 2% stake.

Milan Fashion Week, which ended Sunday, included tributes to Armani for his legacy in shaping Italian vogue, specifically from smaller vogue homes like Stella Jean and Francesca Liberatore.

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This story has corrected the sale interval stipulated in his will is inside 18 months, not three years, of his demise.