Dario Vitale Is Emporio Armani’s New Creative Director, the First Outsider to Lead an Armani Line

Dario Vitale has found his next job, and nobody outside the Armani family has held it before. On Wednesday (Sept. 16) the Armani Group named him creative director of Emporio Armani and Giorgio Armani Accessories with immediate effect, the first designer from outside the family to take creative charge of one of its lines.

The hire ends months of speculation about where he would land, Wallpaper* writes. Vitale joined Versace as chief creative officer in 2025, showed one collection and left in December, according to W Magazine. Before that he spent years at Miu Miu, where he joined in 2010 and rose to design director of ready-to-wear, after earlier stints at Bottega Veneta and Dsquared2.

I am honored to take on this dual role across Emporio Armani and Giorgio Armani

Dario Vitale, in the Armani Group announcement, Armani Group

Until now Emporio was run by Giorgio Armani’s niece, Silvana Armani, and his longtime partner, Leo Dell’Orco, the heads of womenswear and menswear design. They welcomed the move in a joint statement, saying Emporio “was born as a space of freedom, experimentation and energy.” The appointment comes a year after Giorgio Armani died in September 2025.

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The change is already reshaping the calendar. Emporio had planned a runway show for Sept. 24, designed by Dell’Orco and Silvana Armani, and W reports it became a presentation instead after the announcement. The group hasn’t said when Vitale will show his first collection.

Armani has a powerful legacy and unmistakable design language.

Dario Vitale, quoted by Wallpaper*, Wallpaper*

Armani Group CEO Giuseppe Marsocci called the appointment “an important milestone for the Armani Group,” and the house cites Vitale’s “keen sensitivity to product, quality, consistency and contemporaneity.” His first Emporio collection is the date to watch.

Added to the High Grailed archive on October 11, 2026.