Not merely an account of the career of one of Italy's greatest designers, Giorgio Armani, but a genuine excursus through the last 40 years of fashion. Armani Silos is well worth a visit, for anyone who loves beauty.
The Armani Silos is a relatively new space in Milan, inaugurated on the occasion of Expo Milano 2015, which at the express wish of Giorgio Armani himself — the legendary designer and founder of the eponymous haute couture house — transformed a former grain warehouse belonging to a large multinational into a cathedral of beauty. It is located at via Bergognone 40 (in the Tortona district) and is the place in the city that best tells the story of fashion and style, not only Armani's. For everyone who appreciates beauty.
Read also: Armani, mai più pellicce animali nelle sue collezioni
That Giorgio Armani's name is synonymous with the world of fashion is common knowledge, but Armani Silos is not merely a celebration of one of Italy's and the world's greatest designers — it is a place for everyone. First of all, from an architectural standpoint, it is a building of clean-lined beauty that reflects the artist's style while also respecting the original structure of the building, a former silo, as the name suggests.
It is a four-storey building constructed in 1950, covering an area of approximately 4,500 square metres. Its simplicity is immediately apparent, conveyed by the regular geometric forms that create an architecture that is sober yet monumental at the same time. Order and rigour — much as in Armani's clothes. "I chose to call it silos because that is where grain was stored, material for living. And so, like food, clothing too serves to live," Giorgio Armani explained.
The intervention also preserved the building's curious original silhouette — a shape reminiscent of a beehive, a metaphor for industriousness — in which the only distinctive element is the ribbon window that marks the building's perimeter almost like a crown, defining its compact mass. The lighting is deliberately low and creates a collected, intimate atmosphere despite the spaciousness of the interiors. Each floor is devoted to part of the permanent exhibition: an excursus across 40 years of the designer's work, comprising 600 garments and 200 accessories from the Giorgio Armani collections from 1980 to the present day.
The selection is organised according to themes that have inspired and continue to inspire his creative work: daywear, exoticisms, chromaticisms and light. Colour, then, but also Armani's famous black and white, which together convey his celebrated elegance and his gaze towards other cultures. A new way of displaying the garments through which all the "works" seem to float, almost as if worn by ghosts, at times resembling actors in a theatrical production. Each room, each niche, is a different patch of colour housing distinct fabrics, materials and creative visions. The arrangement is not chronological but thematic, allowing old and new to be placed side by side and strikingly underscoring Armani's artistic journey — always current, always "in fashion".
Armani Silos can be visited from Wednesday to Sunday, from 11am to 7pm, and a full-price ticket costs 12 euros. It is worth noting that it is also one of the venues participating in Domenica al museo, the well-regarded initiative by the ministry of Cultural Heritage and Tourism, the Mibact, which provides for the free opening of state monuments, museums, galleries, archaeological sites, parks and monumental gardens on every first Sunday of the month.
Also within the Silos, on the third and top floor, there is a large space dedicated to the digital archive, which offers visitors and students touchscreen tables and a projection area featuring a selection of 350 sketches, illustrative technical drawings and material relating to the prêt-à-porter and haute couture collections. There are also over 6,000 photographs and technical specification sheets for the garments and accessories on display, illustrating the themes that have inspired Giorgio Armani's creative work. An immense and free-of-charge heritage, accessible simply by booking. A unique opportunity for anyone working in fashion, studying it with a view to making it their profession, or simply passionate about it. The digital archive is just one of Armani's many philanthropic initiatives; throughout his entire career he has had a particular eye for young people, sponsoring and promoting initiatives dedicated to them.
The recommendation is to visit this space in the new Milan by taking in its various levels: the architectural, the scenic, and only lastly the one relating to fashion, in order to then appreciate the harmonious whole. A treasure chest of beauty for everyone.