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On September 16, 2026, Dario Vitale was appointed creative director of Emporio Armani and Giorgio Armani Accessories, becoming the first designer from outside the Armani family and its longtime inner circle to take creative control of one of the group’s labels.
On September 16, 2026, Dario Vitale was appointed creative director of Emporio Armani and Giorgio Armani Accessories, becoming the first designer from outside the Armani family and its longtime inner circle to take creative control of one of the group’s labels.
September 16, 2026
Dario Vitale joins immediately after a remarkably compressed few years. He spent around 14 years at Miu Miu, eventually overseeing ready-to-wear and helping shape the brand during one of its strongest periods, before succeeding Donatella Versace at Versace in 2025. That tenure lasted just one collection before Prada Group’s acquisition brought another abrupt change.
At Armani, his remit covers both men’s and women’s Emporio collections alongside Giorgio Armani accessories. Silvana Armani and Leo Dell’Orco, who guided the group creatively following Giorgio Armani’s death in September 2025, remain responsible for the main Giorgio Armani womenswear and menswear lines.
Giorgio Armani built one of fashion’s most tightly controlled independent houses, with creative authority remaining unusually close to its founder for five decades. Vitale’s arrival represents the first real opening of that system to an external designer.
Emporio is also a revealing place to start. Created in 1981 as Armani’s younger, more experimental line, it offers Dario Vitale space to introduce change without immediately rewriting the house’s primary collection. Silvana Armani and Dell’Orco will present their final Emporio Spring Summer 2027 collection on September 24; Vitale’s first collection is expected in early 2027.
One year after Giorgio Armani’s death, succession has moved from preservation into transformation, and Dario Vitale is now the first outsider trusted to help shape what comes next.
