News
Dario Vitale is joining Armani at a pivotal moment for the Italian fashion house. The Armani Group has announced the appointment of Vitale as Creative Director of Emporio Armani and Giorgio Armani Accessories on Wednesday, making him the first person outside the Armani family to take on a top creative role at the house since Giorgio Armani founded it in 1981.
“I approach all of this with a deep sense of responsibility and excitement as we build upon that rich foundation, defining a new era together.”
Vitale joins with immediate effect, bringing experience from some of the most influential names in Italian fashion. He spent more than a decade at Miu Miu, ultimately becoming design and image director under Miuccia Prada, before moving to Versace in 2025 as its Chief Creative Officer. His appointment there was another historic break where similiarly to Armani, he was the first creative leader of the house who was not related to the Versace family by blood or marriage.
His Versace tenure lasted around eight months following Prada Group’s acquisition of the company, but not before Vitale presented his first collection for the house, for Spring 2026. The collection offered a more wardrobe-focused interpretation of vintage Versace while retaining the glamour and sensuality associated with the brand.
Now he is taking on a very different kind of succession challenge at Armani. Giorgio Armani’s death last year began the house’s biggest transition since its founding, with his niece, Silvana Armani, leading womenswear design and longtime collaborator Leo Dell’Orco overseeing menswear. Vitale’s appointment introduces an outside creative voice into that structure while keeping the founder’s inner circle closely involved.
The Group said Vitale brings significant fashion-industry experience and “a keen sensitivity to product, quality, consistency and contemporaneity,” describing his arrival as the beginning of a new chapter that will balance innovation with the aesthetic identity associated with Giorgio Armani.
“I am honored to take on this dual role across Emporio Armani and Giorgio Armani, and deeply grateful to Silvana and Leo for welcoming me into their world,” Vitale said. “Armani has a powerful legacy and unmistakable design language; a heritage that has spanned decades and shaped the history of fashion. I approach all of this with a deep sense of responsibility and excitement as we build upon that rich foundation, defining a new era together.”
Vitale’s remit is notable in its breadth. Emporio Armani, launched in 1981, has traditionally served as the more youthful and experimental side of the Armani universe, while Giorgio Armani Accessories gives him control over a major part of the group’s luxury product offering, from leather goods and footwear to other accessories.
Silvana Armani, Head of Womenswear Design, and Dell’Orco, Head of Menswear Design, said Vitale’s international experience would allow him to interpret Emporio Armani’s character while respecting its history.
“Emporio Armani is much more than a line for us: it is a reality to which we are deeply connected, having followed and shared its journey since the very beginning,” they said in a joint statement. “Emporio was born as a space of freedom, experimentation and energy, and we are convinced that Dario’s arrival in our team, as a talent already established on the international stage, will interpret its spirit with respect and authenticity.”
For Giuseppe Marsocci, CEO and Managing Director of the Armani Group, the appointment strengthens the company’s creative structure as it looks beyond its founder’s era.
“The appointment of Dario Vitale marks an important milestone for the Armani Group: a decision that strengthens our creative organization and confirms our commitment to looking ahead, consolidating the Group’s path of evolution while remaining faithful to Giorgio Armani’s values and vision,” Marsocci said. “Emporio Armani is a brand of strategic relevance for us and our partners around the world. Giorgio Armani accessories represent a great opportunity. We look to this new phase with enormous confidence.”
Vitale’s arrival will put a new focus on how Armani can evolve its established language without losing the qualities that made it one of fashion’s defining houses. His background at Miu Miu gives him experience in turning familiar wardrobe pieces into objects of contemporary desire, while his brief period at Versace gave him an early test of what it means to reinterpret a powerful Italian fashion legacy from outside its founding family.
At Armani, the task is even more consequential. The house has spent 45 years closely identified with its founder’s vision of soft tailoring, fluid proportions and understated luxury. Vitale is not replacing Giorgio Armani, but he is becoming the first outsider entrusted with helping shape what comes next.
For one of Italy’s most closely guarded creative legacies, that makes his first Armani collections among the most anticipated of the house’s modern era.
