Giorgio Armani creations interplay with Italian masterpieces at Milan exhibition

Giorgio Armani hesitated at first when the Brera Art Gallery proposed an exhibition celebrating the 50th anniversary of his signature label, placing his creations among celebrated Italian masterpieces by such luminaries as Raphael and Caravaggio.

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A picture shows creations by Italian designer Giorgio Armani during the press preview. Armani's creations. Giorgio Armani's creations are displayed. A red ensemble dating from 1993 Fashion Week. A creation dating from 1992 collection. A blue ensemble worn by French actress Juliette Binoche at the Cannes Film Festival in 2016. A view from the exhibition. Creations by Giorgio Armani during the press preview of the Giorgio Armani exhibition.

(Agencies Agencies)

But by the time Armani reached the gallery's final room on a visit aimed at winning him over, the designer, who became one of the most recognizable names in global fashion, was already mapping out which sartorial creations would best interplay with the Brera's artistic treasures.

"Giorgio Armani, Milano, for love," featuring 129 Armani looks from the 1980s through the present day, opens on Wednesday at the Brera Art Gallery, just weeks after the designer's death on Sept. 4 at the age of 91. The exhibition is one of a series of Milan Fashion Week events planned before his death to highlight Armani's transformative influence on fashion. "From the start, Armani showed absolute rigor but also humility not common to great fashion figures," said the gallery's director Angelo Crespi. "He always said that he did not want to enter into close dialogue with great masterpieces, like Raphael, Mantegna, Caravaggio and Piero della Francesca."

Instead, the exhibition aims to create a symbiosis with the artworks, with the chosen looks reflecting the mood of each room without interrupting the flow of the museum experience, much the way Armani always intended his apparel to enhance and never overwhelm or exploit the individual.

A long blue asymmetrical skirt and bodysuit ensemble worn by Juliette Binoche at Cannes in 2016 reflects the blue in Giovanni Bellini's 1510 portrait "Madonna and Child."