Hollywood stars Cate Blanchett, Glenn Close and Richard Gere turned out Sunday for the Giorgio Armani show in Milan, the final collection the Italian designer worked on before his death.

Originally intended as a celebration of 50 years of Armani’s fashion house, after his death on 4 September, aged 91, the catwalk show became a tribute to a legend.

It was organized in the Pinacoteca di Brera, the prestigious art gallery where more than 120 of Armani’s creations are on show as part of an anniversary exhibition that opened this week.

Paper lanterns were laid out across the courtyard, as they had been at the public viewing of Armani’s body in Milan earlier this month, with the models walking under the historic portico.

“This moment, this atmosphere speaks for itself. There’s a lot of memories here tonight,” Blanchett told AFP.

The collection was inspired by the two of the most important places for Armani, the city of Milan — where he lived opposite the Pinacoteca — and the tiny, distant volcanic Italian island of Pantelleria where he had a holiday home.

It was a mix of classic tailored suits and glittering red-carpet dresses in neutrals, greens blues and purples that evoked the light, earth and sea.

“Everything appears fluid, light, as if ready to yield to the island’s winds,” the label said in the show notes.

Armani brought in models who walked for the designer across the last five decades, all “embodiments of his idea of a woman.”

Close of a cycle

The show was followed by a visit around the exhibition, in which iconic outfits have been set among masterpieces of Italian art.