Giorgio Armani is in the New York groove. The designer is in town for his spring 2025 show—and to fete his fleet of new Madison Avenue boutiques, housed in a complex that includes his namesake restaurant, opening next month. The trip marks over a decade since he’s shown in the city, so festivities were in order.
Mr. Armani, who celebrated his 90th birthday earlier this year and is looking ahead to the half-century mark of his brand next year, shows no signs of slowing down. Tonight at the Park Avenue Armory, he showed over 90 men’s and women’s looks inspired by the idea of being in viaggio, or on a journey. In a train station-esque setting, with audience members including Lili Reinhart, Pamela Anderson, and Brie Larson sitting at mini café-style tables, he brought a taste of Italy to the East 60s.
Perhaps in a nod to his status as an out-of-towner, the show opened with a woman in a neutral ensemble: jacket, trousers, boots, and a laden-with-bags bellhop following closely behind. Looks eminently suited for city living followed: flowing blouses and pants, a cape fastened with a brooch, a movie-heroine leather trench.
While Mr. Armani’s feet may have been firmly planted in New York tonight, and his roots are very much in Milan, he’s always looking westward, to the bright lights of Hollywood. He has dressed Ariana Grande and Imaan Hammam, among many other stars, for ELLE covers. And in films from American Gigolo to The Wolf of Wall Street, he’s demonstrated his mastery of power suiting. Here, his classic tailoring was modernized in silk or in the form of insouciant shorts suits. And he paid homage to ’30s starlets with liquid gowns fit for a contemporary Carole Lombard.
The accessories were strong, from statement hats and crocheted caps to woven belts, chunky bangles, square sunglasses and eccentric earrings. (One intrepid model even accessorized with a furry friend.) And the final passage of the collection featured showpieces in Manhattanhenge sunset hues, some of them intricately beaded and fringed.
The models gathered in a line spanning the Armory for the finale, forming a striking visualization of Armani’s long career arc, and then the maestro himself took a triumphant, and well-deserved, bow.
Giorgio Armani Spring 2025
Véronique Hyland is ELLE’s Fashion Features Director and the author of the book Dress Code, which was selected as one of The New Yorker's Best Books of the Year. Her writing has previously appeared in The New York Times Magazine, The New Yorker, W, New York magazine, Harper’s Bazaar, and Condé Nast Traveler.
