Celebs Attend Giorgio Armani Fashion Show in Milan Weeks After Designer’s Death

Celebrities came together at Milan Fashion Week to celebrate Giorgio Armani just weeks after news of the namesake designer’s Sept. 4 death.

The Giorgio Armani Spring/Summer 2026 show took place on Sunday, Sept. 28, and was attended by many celebrities at the Pinacoteca di Brera museum. It closed out the circuit of ready-to-wear presentations and concluded the 50th anniversary events for the Italian fashion house.

Cate Blanchett, Glenn Close, Lauren Hutton, Spike Lee, Samuel L. Jackson, Richard Gere, Alejandra Silva, Anna Wintour, Leslie Bibb and more celebrity friends of Armani, 91, attended his brand’s fashion show.

Jackson, 76, previously paid tribute to Armani on the day he died.

“Thank you, Mr. Giorgio Armani, for your countless years of friendship, collaboration and dedication to your visionary craft. May GOD BLESS YOU as you are welcomed into eternal peace. 🙏🏾,” the actor wrote on Instagram.

As for the show itself, the Giorgio Armani brand described its essence in a series of Instagram captions posted on show day.

“Suspended in anticipation, these silhouettes carry the emotional charge of what is about to be revealed,” the brand wrote. “With textures shaped by sea light and hues echoing mineral heat, each⁣ look anticipates … drawn between shadow and brilliance, each silhouette becomes a passage toward the unveiling of the Giorgio Armani Spring Summer 2026 Women’s Fashion Show at Pinacoteca di Brera.⁣”

Giorgio Armani kicked off festivities on Aug. 30 at the Venice Film Festival with the launch of its digital archive site, Armani/Archivio, and an accompanying A-list dinner attended by Blanchett, Rosie Huntington-Whiteley, Molly Gordon and Gemma Chan.

On Sept. 24, the Brera Art Gallery in Milan debuted the “Giorgio Armani, Milano, for love” exhibition, housing over 100 pieces made in the past five decades and hand-picked by the designer, per Vogue Runway.

The Emporio Armani fashion show on Sept. 25 marked the house’s first runway presentation following Armani’s death. It was held at the Armani Theatre, the home to many of the house’s shows and recently where those who loved the designer went to mourn on Sept. 6.

In a statement shared by the Armani Group and reported by WWD, it was revealed that Armani himself “worked until the very end” on the “regular staging of the fashion shows and the inauguration of the exhibition,” therefore reflecting the “determination to carry forward a legacy of commitment, respect and dedication to work, values that have always defined Mr. Armani and which he has instilled in all his collaborators over the years.”

In Armani’s last interview published on Aug. 29 by the Financial Times, he admitted that his “only regret in life” was “spending too many hours working and not enough time with friends and family.” 

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He also opened up about his vision for the brand after his death.

“My plans for succession consist of a gradual transition of the responsibilities that I have always handled to those closest to me, such as Leo Dell’Orc [the head of men’s design for the Armani Group], the members of my family and the entire working team,” Armani said. “I would like the succession to be organic and not a moment of rupture.”

The designer’s death came after a period of missing key events for the fashion house. In June, he missed the menswear show during Milan Fashion Week for the first time in 50 years, per the Associated Press. However, per the outlet, the designer was watching the show’s live stream while he recovered from an “undisclosed condition”

Armani also told the Financial Times how he managed to oversee the behind-the-scenes workings of his shows while recovering from home. “Remotely via video link, from the fittings to the sequence and the makeup,” he said. “Everything you will see has been done under my direction and carries my approval.”