Giorgio Armani reveals the ‘Aldo Fallai for Giorgio Armani, 1977-2021’ exhibition in Milan this month to celebrate his long-standing dialogue with the storied Florentine photographer Aldo Fallai. Curated together with Rosanna Armani (his sister) and Leo Dell’Orco (Head of Menswear), the new exhibition at the Armani/Silos Museum is filled with monochromatic visuals that look into the artistic vision that form the aesthetic foundation of the collective Armani brand.
Looking back in time, the two first crossed paths in the mid-1970s, when Armani was a young freelancer and Fallai, an Institute of Art graduate, was a graphic designer with a penchant for photography. Armani was set to rewrite the rules of fashion at the time as women were gaining greater social influence and men became more conscious of their appearance. It was at this moment that Fallai entered the picture, and together, they defined the visuals of the time, which fused cinematography and neo-realist overtones with echoes of late Renaissance and Mannerist painting.
On collaborating with Fallai, Armani notes:
“Working with Aldo allowed me from the very beginning to transform the vision I had in my mind into real images: to communicate that my clothes were not just made in a certain way with certain colours and materials, but that they represented a way of life. Because style, for me, is a total form of expression.”
While the narrative was captivating through black and white, it looked even better when it was in portrait style, almost like stills from a feature film. Beyond that, what made those images extraordinary was the personality of the models, which subtly matched the garments and illustrated Armani’s idea that elegance is more about being remembered than being noticed. Here’s what you can expect from the two-floor show.
There are 250 photos arranged in random sequence, which were either published in magazines or turned into extremely influential billboards. Those that stand out are the one with the tiger cub, which was taken in Palermo when the group sought shelter at the Togni circus during a rainy day, and the images of the Venetian Lagoon, recreated in the studio. In other spots, Italian actress Antonia Dell’Atte impersonates a career lady gazing at a bright future amidst the crowd on a Via Durini close to the Armani office and the statues of the Foro Italico transform into a landscape of stark, graphic shadows.
On his partnership with Armani, Fallai says:
“My work with Giorgio was the result of a natural, continuous dialogue and great trust on his part. Both of us were interested in highlighting an aspect of style linked to character and personality and this translated into images that appear just as relevant today as they did yesterday.”
Address: Armani/Silos, Via Bergognone, 40 Milan, Italy
When: December 5, 2023 to August 11, 2024
Opening hours: 11AM – 7PM (Wednesday to Sunday)
Find more information about the exhibition here.
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