50 years of Giorgio Armani celebrated with gala black runway show of his last collection

MILAN (AP) — The last Giorgio Armani runway collection signed by the late designer himself and marking the 50th anniversary of his signature line will be shown Sunday evening in the Brera Art Gallery in Milan.

The gala black-tie event is taking place among more than 120 Armani looks created over the last half-century that the famed designer chose himself for an exhibition putting his sartorial creations in dialogue with Italian masterpieces.

The runway event is expected to be more about celebrities than anything else, attracting VIPs paying tribute to Armani for his key role in helping putting Milan at the center of global fashion.

Armani died Sept. 4, just weeks before Milan Fashion Week and a series of events marking the 50th anniversary of the Giorgio Armani fashion house that he built to a global powerhouse.

The Armani empire was worth some 10 billion euros (nearly $12 billion) at the time of his death. His will stipulated that his heirs should sell 15% of the business, which includes the Giorgio Armani and Emporio Armani lines as well as hotels and the home décor line Armani Casa, within three years of his death.

The buyer must have expertise in the fashion world, and Armani expressed a preference for the LVMH French fashion conglomerate, the L’Oreal beauty company or EssilorLuxottica, the eyewear giant of which Armani owned a 2% stake.

More than 15,000 people showed up to pay tribute to Armani during an open viewing inside his Milan showroom. Fashion week has included tributes to Armani for his legacy in shaping Italian fashion, in particular from smaller fashion houses like Stella Jean and Francesca Liberatore.