It was an “American Gigolo” reunion of sorts at the Giorgio Armani show, as Richard Gere was spotted chatting with Lauren Hutton — both actors loyal supporters of the designer over the years.
Indeed, the A-listers who turned up to pay tribute to Armani can easily be described as friends. Cate Blanchett marveled at the location and, eyeing the balcony of the Pinacoteca di Brera, where a group of onlookers were starting to assemble, said “how democratic” the setting was.
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“I remember Armani in the early, mid-‘90s being in New York quite a bit and going to many events, whether shows or parties he was hosting, always elegant, bright-eyed and lovely. He was very kind to us, dressed us for the Oscars on a couple of occasions,” said Tonya Lewis Lee.
Her husband Spike Lee concurred. “He was very generous.” He said Armani “became almost a fixture” in New York and always showed “great energy, he would ask what do you do, he wanted to know, I think he thrived on people, different people from different places, he was curious.”
Glenn Close also described Armani as “incredibly generous, an elegant, beautiful man who made clothes that were comfortable and that you could be yourself in.”
Dean and Dan Caten recalled meeting Armani during many summer holidays throughout the Mediterranean and also praised his generosity toward them and young designers. A cluster of peers that also did not want to miss the evening event included Dries Van Noten, Sir Paul Smith and Ronnie Fieg. Smith said he was there for one night and that “I came for him,” while Fieg has been in Italy for a week working on the collaboration his brand Kith is doing with Armani. Executives Remo Ruffini and Silvio Campara also attended, the latter recalling how he worked for years at the Armani company in his early days before becoming chief executive officer of Golden Goose.
Smiling fondly remembering Armani, Samuel L. Jackson, flanked by his wife LaTanya, said that the first thought that came to mind was that the designer was “a man that had a really great smile, a really great embrace when I met him. Our relationship was based on something of a mutual respect, although I respected him immensely, so it’s hard to say mutual because there is no way… but to know that I came from where I came from, and I wanted to be a part of that particular world and that I did get into, he actually knew me, it was amazing.”
Actress Leslie Bibb of “White Lotus” fame had worn Armani to the Emmys, and was there specifically for the event. Touring the exhibit, she repeatedly marveled at the clothes and the artworks. Observing one display, she was amazed how “timeless” the two outfits were — one from the late ’90s and the other from 2019. “You can’t tell,” she said, adding, “My mother always said that the one piece of clothing to buy is a suit. She should have said the one thing to buy is a Giorgio Armani suit.”
Asked whether he had to have especially made clothes given his profession, Roberto Bolle, who the evening before danced to Maurice Ravel’s “Boléro” at La Scala’s CNMI Sustainable Fashion Awards, acknowledged that the body of ballet dancers is “not standard fitting.” The strong shoulders, slim waist and muscular legs, in particular, he said, can be “not easy to dress.” However, “Armani’s soft fashion, never constrictive or rigid, envelops you and makes you feel at ease.”
Zhang Ziyi, Hu Ge, a global ambassador for Giorgio Armani, Marisa Berenson and James Norton were also among the guests.
There were plenty of representatives of Italian cinema from Oscar winner Giuseppe Tornatore to actors Toni Servillo, Valeria Golino, Margherita Buy and Anna Ferzetti to name a few.
While a few tears were shed, happy memories of the man who left a mark in their lives contributed to a mood that was also uplifting and serene.
– With contributions by Martino Carrera.
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