Armani Turns 50! And Cate Blanchett and Rosie Huntington-Whiteley Lead a Starry Celebration in Venice

As announced, the 50th-anniversary celebrations will culminate during Milan Fashion Week with the opening on September 24 of an exhibition at the Pinacoteca di Brera, presenting 150 Giorgio Armani looks in dialogue with the museum’s artworks. The week will conclude with a runway show in the Courtyard of Honour at Palazzo Brera, unveiling the Giorgio Armani Women’s Spring/Summer 2026 collection alongside select men’s looks from June’s presentation.

Last night, the house unveiled its Armani/Archivio platform during the Venice Film Festival with all the flair of a premiere, trading the red carpet for a dinner benefiting UNICEF’s Global Humanitarian Thematic Fund at Venissa, the Michelin-starred haven on the romantic island of Mazzorbo. The setting was pure Italian cinema: an elegant, secluded lagoon; shimmering Murano glass; soft candlelight.

The guest list sparkled like a star chart: when Armani calls, constellations show up. Armani has long been Hollywood’s most reliable supporting role, ensuring that every arrival on the red carpet is scored for a paparazzi frenzy. Last night’s lineup only confirmed that the film industry’s devotion to Armani isn’t a passing crush but a decades-spanning romance. Cate Blanchett, Rashida Jones, Rosie Huntington-Whiteley, Greta Bellamacina, among others, enjoyed an inventive menu by Michelin-starred duo Chiara Pavan and Francesco Brutto, who practice a kind of sustainable alchemy with herbs and delicacies sourced from the Venetian lagoon. Dinner, of course, was only Act I: the glitzy flock later migrated to Tesa 113 at Venice’s Arsenale, where the dancing went on until the hours when only seagulls and insomniacs are awake.