While Bernard Arnault is just opening his own proper hotel Cheval Blanc in Paris and setting the course for his company to be more lifestyle and less fashion-centric, Giorgio Armani came to Dubai last fall to host one of his One Night Only fashion cum concert events conveniently celebrating the tenth anniversary of his major hotel venture there.

Yes, the designer who deconstructed the suit in the 80s and who has a major momentum in men’s wear with hot Munich based Mytheresa buying his collections for the first time, Armani has been in the brand diversification game all along. So let’s think of a few firsts: He brought sushi Nobu to Milan from Los Ange- les, he opened a flower shop and a chocolate and sweets one, he was the first to dress foot- ball players and has again done so successively with the Italian football team which won the Euro under Roberto Mancini in 2021, he is the benchmark for beauty licenses as his billion dollar business with L’Oréal is testament of and he celebrated the 40th anniversary of his Emporio Armani line – a feat none of his competitors managed when they quietly buried or folded their second line into the main. He even owns a nightclub with Armani Privé which is still open and attracting the cool kids in Milan. Of course, furnished with Armani Casa couches and all. His Emporio Armani café in Paris has been holding a one star from Michelin for more than five years now.

Armani understood very early on that a wealthy clientele seeks an experience as much as a destination. So he set the bar very high when he teamed up with Emaar, Dubai’s most prominent real estate developer whose logo appears all over the city’s skyscrapers, in 2010 to open an Armani hotel in the Burj Khalifa, which is currently the highest building in the world and hosts the biggest shopping mall as well. We remember very well the futuristic architectural model Armani presented in his Tadao Ando theater before one of his shows, always keen to inform the press on his latest endeavors. And leave it to the stickler for every last detail Giorgio Armani to make the experience one of a kind as well. The hotel lobby is scented in his typical somber and strong amber scents, the surfaces shine elegantly and the staff greets you with a friendly buona sera. For the One Night Only show, Armani brought along the Giorgio Armani Men’s and Women’s Spring/Summer 2022 collections and a selection of Armani Privé Haute Couture looks from the Fall/Winter 2021/22 Shine collection. For the finale, the 88 year old Armani walked the entire runway, stopped to blow a kiss to first row guest Sharon Stone, followed by his gang of short-haired models who all flocked to the stage at the end of the runway where none other than Coldplay’s Chris Martin performed a set of acoustic highlights ranging from Prince to his own hit Yellow, dedicating the show to Armani’s niece Roberta. If Alitalia wasn’t such a disaster, only Giorgio Armani could revive the airline as his next project.