Milan Fashion Week: amid coronavirus outbreak Armani holds audience-free show

The designer did not want to take a chance with his viewers' health

Designer Giorgio Armani decided to host his autumn / winter show at Milan Fashion Week in a closed-door venue bereft of an audience. Models sashayed down the runway as per usual, and the designer even took a bow at the end of the show, but it was all for virtual viewers.

The octogenarian designer cited health concerns for his audience and team, amid reports that, outside Asia, Italy has become the most infected country, with more than 150 cases of the coronavirus registered so far.

An outbreak was most recently reported in northern Italy.  The designer himself was spotted outside the venue, putting on a face mask before entering.

The label acknowledged the decision on Twitter, calling it a "preventative measure".

It also took to Twitter to show and describe the collection, noting that it was "drenched with subdued romanticism" and that "the epaulettes, chevrons, and ribbing of the uniforms of literary heroes, along with the enveloping coats, small jackets with high buttoning, and knickerbockers tucked into boots, are reinterpreted in a feminine key; soft, delicate".

Elsewhere, camouflage prints with floral motifs and black outfits with pink, teal and pearl grey made an appearance.

The show with a message of love for China with a selection of looks from the Giorgio Armani Privé spring / summer 2009 and 2019 collections, which were specifically inspired by the country, which the company said was one "with which the designer has always maintained a special bond, both aesthetic and cultural".

________________

Read more:

Designer Raf Simons joins Prada

Milan Fashion Week: All the celebrities spotted front row and on the runways

Saudi shoe designer Lulu Al Hassan debuts at London Fashion Week

_________________