A digital archive, a major Milan exhibition, and the final show of fashion week. Armani’s 50th is mapped out.
On July 24, 1975, Giorgio Armani launched his namesake label in Milan. This year, he’s marking 50 years in fashion with a three-part rollout: a digital archive, a museum installation, and a show that will close Milan Fashion Week.
The first piece arrives August 30 during the Venice Film Festival. Armani/Archivio is a new online platform that catalogs five decades of collections, visuals, and context. It’s meant to document the brand’s design code in full. A physical space for the archive is opening just outside Milan soon.
Then comes Milan. On September 24, the Pinacoteca di Brera will open a fashion exhibition for the first time. Armani’s looks will be shown among the gallery’s paintings in a curated installation of 150 pieces. The mix of museum and fashion space isn’t just about setting; it’s a way of placing his archive inside Italian culture, not alongside it.
Four days later, on September 28, Armani will close out fashion week with his Spring/Summer 2026 women’s collection, shown in the Palazzo Brera’s Courtyard of Honour. The show will include select menswear from his June presentation. He’s been closing fashion week for years, but this one hits differently.
The pace of fashion may be speeding up, but Armani’s strategy hasn’t changed. This 50-year milestone is a look at how staying consistent can still feel relevant. The archive makes his language easier to study. The exhibition gives it room to breathe. The show reminds us he’s still working in the present.
