Giorgio Armani’s latest collection plumbs roots of 50-year-old brand in intimate salon setting

MILAN (AP) - Giorgio Armani created an intimate salon for the fashion crowd to get a close-up view Sunday of the latest Milan runway collection from his 50-year-old signature brand, an extravaganza of textures, craftsmanship, and the designer's trademark elegance.

Actor Lily James, ballet dancer Maria Bogdanovich and model Ana Beatriz Barros were among the guests who sat cozily on curving sofas for the back-to-back shows. Armani also invited Italian senator-for-life Liliana Segre, a Holocaust survivor, and figures from Milan’s cultural institutions.

The opening look encapsulated the sensorial complexity of the fall-winter 2025-26 womenswear collection, titled "Roots." A swirl of lush faux fur framed the face, while liquidy silken trousers caught the light, and a leather-trimmed tweed jacket pulled it all together.

Sure-footed flat booties were the footwear of the season-some featuring radiant strips of leather, others with gentle folds of velvet.

Each ensemble was a perfect combination of soothing neutrals, harmonizing seemingly contrasting materials. Trousers were either loose and pleated at the front or gathered loosely like jodhpurs, as the designer drew inspiration from the East. Jacket were made from contrasting jacquards or delicate quilting.

Feather-light, sometimes sheer evening wear sparkled with beading occasionally patterned like geodes. Sculpted bodices added a couture element, standing away from the body.

"For Giorgio Armani, each collection is a return to his roots, reaffirmation of an authentic style that evolves, drawing on itself, while remaining firmly anchored in reality," the show notes said.

Armani, 90, was escorted by two glittering models as he took his final bow. As has been customary, Armani’s was the last major runway show of Milan Fashion Week before the crowd decamped to continue womenswear fashion previews in Paris.