Yahoo News Armani's airport extravaganza: Robbie Williams performs for Emporio Armani at Milan Fashion Week SS19
Ensuring your fashion show has the X factor is a chief concern for every self-respecting designer at Milan Fashion Week, but last night Giorgio Armani went to extreme lengths to make sure his show stood out from the rest, enlisting an X Factor judge to stage a special live performance.
Robbie Williams, a judge on the ITV talent contest, was flown in especially for the blockbuster showcase to unveil the brand’s latest Emporio Armani collection.
Williams, who sits on the panel alongside his wife Ayda Field, serenaded 2,300 fans and fashion week attendances with renditions of hit songs including Let Me Entertain You and Angels. His father Pete also travelled to the Italian city from Stoke-on-Trent to join his son on stage and sing a duet of Sweet Caroline.
Of course, for Armani - a designer valued to be worth $8.4 billion by Forbes this year - big budget productions are all part of the business.
A post shared by Robbie Williams (@robbiewilliams) on Sep 20, 2018 at 12:33pm PDT
Certainly, Armani has clout like no other. To prove it, he held the show inside Milan’s Linate airport, where an aircraft hanger is emblazoned with the Armani logo, welcoming visitors to the home of Italian fashion.
Passengers, ready to board flights, looked on with bemused expressions while the international fashion press - bound for a fashion show and not an aircraft - passed through security. They were remarkable scenes. But for Armani, whose giant logo has greeted visitors arriving at the airport since it was installed above the hangar in 1996, it made perfect sense. “It’s an image that welcomes the thousands of travellers who land or functions as a farewell as they depart Milan,” he said.
The showcase was something of a homecoming for the house, who has chosen to hold events in London and Paris in recent seasons.
It’s ever-widening reach on the global stage was also evidenced on the catwalk, from the topless male models who carried Armani-branded surf boards to the super-luxe athleisurewear and intercontinental tailoring for which the label is renowned.
