ARMANI/Archivio unveils its first capsule collection 3 looks that reactivate the brand archive
Milan Design Week 2026 continues to bring with it a series of novelties, including the first capsule collection from the Armani project, ARMANI / Archivio. Launched in 2025, the platform gathers more than 5,500 archival looks from the maison, documents over 30,200 individual garments and organises them neatly into categories ranging from “deconstruction” to “draping”.
For the occasion, ARMANI / Archivio has recreated thirteen looks spanning a fifteen year period, beginning in 1979, with styling and photography by Eli Russell Linnetz, the creative mind behind ERL. What makes what appears to be a true cultural operation even more compelling is the fact that these garments, belonging to Armani’s most influential years, are precisely those most desired by vintage collectors, and are now being released both online and in boutiques. But let’s take a closer look.
Reactivating the archive today
The capsule revolves around the theme of the jacket, in the forms studied by Giorgio Armani, and represents a bridge between past and future. The ARMANI / Archivio project was created to collect and reactivate this heritage, transforming it into a living legacy. Reactivating Giorgio Armani’s archive today means rereading it consciously and bringing back into the present a selection of looks that defined the brand’s identity. Yet one of the greatest challenges, in the contemporary context, is that these kinds of activations inevitably culminate in a nostalgic process of mere “replication”. Armani instead emphasises that this is a work of stylistic continuity, capable of enhancing codes, proportions and attitudes developed over time: each garment thus becomes testimony to a coherent path between creative gesture and stylistic vision.
How fully reliable this claim may be, we cannot know with certainty. One thing, however, appears evident: the desire to re-create, rather than mechanically reproduce, is demonstrated by an analytical attention typical of those who have learned to understand archives and the garments that inhabit them. Furthermore, the decision to involve Eli Russell Linnetz, a personality external to the Armani universe and founder of an independent label, represents a true passing of the torch, but also of responsibility, in making the capsule as contemporary and authentic as possible.
The timing of the release
What also invites reflection is the timing of the release. Searches for “vintage Giorgio Armani” increased by 40% between 2014 and 2024, with a further peak in 2025. Added to this are the more than 30,000 Instagram followers of @myarmaniarchive, an account run by an enthusiast celebrating the genius of the Italian designer. Moreover, a noteworthy detail is the positioning of Armani vintage pieces as one of the most sought after brands on Vinted among younger generations.
Its success is not determined solely by tailoring, which remains a defining signature of the maison, but also by the fact that users are seeking quality garments, even the most essential ones, as a starting point for building a solid wardrobe designed to last over time and, in certain ways, ARMANI / Archivio adopts precisely this perspective: 13 looks from which to begin, to discover the “old” Armani, which appears more contemporary than ever, just as previous collaborations with brands firmly embedded in today’s collective imagination such as Kith and Our Legacy have done.
The "new" Armani
In this sense, ARMANI / Archivio gives concrete form to a growing virality and, legitimately, claims ownership of it. The capsule begins with an SS79 look composed of a double breasted leather jacket: sharp lapels borrowed from the blazer, an elasticated waist and generous volume derived instead from the coach jacket. Everything is paired with fluid double pleated trousers and a shirt generous in proportion.
Moving through Armani’s golden years, the collection expands to include a women’s brown leather jacket from 1981, with overlapping panels inspired by ceremonial samurai armour, and a wide double breasted three piece suit from 1990. The final look, SS94, is Armani vintage in the most literal sense of the term: a three button blazer in the iconic beige brown shade, relaxed cut, lightweight shirt and pleated trousers with deliberately abundant proportions. It is the quintessence of that Armanian louche feel that today appears surprisingly relevant once again.
Silhouettes belonging to the past, generous volumes and styling renewed: the ARMANI / Archivio operation, unlike those of many competitors, appears more aware than ever. Indeed, on Armani’s official website, the specifications of the recreated looks and even the editorials published in Vogue Italia, Vogue and other publications are reported in detail, outlining a visual historiography of the brand’s heritage. Demonstrating how, in every aspect, the capsule, and more broadly ARMANI / Archivio, points toward one precise possibility: Armani can still be worn, because Armani has never stopped being relevant.