Dario Vitale Is Now the Creative Director of Emporio Armani and Giorgio Armani Accessories

Jeanette Montgomery Barron

After a much-beloved but scandalous one-off collection at Versace that earned him an outsized reputation in fashion, Dario Vitale finally has a new home: The Armani Group has appointed him creative director of Emporio Armani and Giorgio Armani accessories, effective immediately.

This time last year, Vitale presented his first and only collection for Versace for Spring 2026. He embraced Gianni Versace’s flashy ’80s ethos and filtered it through a clubby, preppy lens with layered muscle tanks, boxy pastel tailoring, and over-the-top accessories. His big swing sparked immediate debate, but the overall effect was positive: people were clamoring to get pieces from the store. This would be his only collection for the house, a fact that only helped stoke the fervor. Versace, acquired by the Prada Group in late 2025, had already promised the role long-term to Alaïa’s Pieter Mulier. Vitale’s one-off triumph endeared him to the fashion world—and it’s been wondering where he would land ever since. Now it seems he can take his louche Italian sensibilities to the Armani Group.

Versace Spring 2026

Courtesy of Versace//LAUNCHMETRICS SPOTLIGHT

Versace Spring 2026

Courtesy of Versace//LAUNCHMETRICS SPOTLIGHT

Vitale was born in 1983 in Southern Italy. He decamped for Milan to study design at the Istituto Marangoni in Milan and later went to work at Bottega Veneta under Tomas Maier. In 2010, he joined Miu Miu, where he rose to design director of ready-to-wear and brand image director before departing in 2025. Versace announced his appointment in 2025 as chief creative officer. As of today, he heads to Armani.

Mr. Armani, who passed away just last year, was one of the fashion greats. After founding his house in 1975, he reshaped the fashion landscape with a new uniform of casual elegance. In his early days in the late ’70s and early ’80s, the designer stripped structure from suiting, forever shifting the world of menswear—one notoriously resistant to change. Today, the brand still exudes that same easy sophistication, though it looks much less radical now than it did half a century ago.

LAUNCHMETRICS SPOTLIGHT

Empori Armani Fall 2026

As creative lead of both Emporio Armani and accessories at Giorgio Armani, the first to hold this role outside the family, Vitale will work closely with Silvana Armani and Leo Dell’Orco, current co-creative directors of Giorgio Armani. The two assumed their roles after the passing of Mr. Armani just last year, picking up right where their predecessor left off with relaxed tailoring and casually cool formalwear. (Why fix what isn’t broken?)

More than 50 years since its founding, the Armani brand is now huge. It houses Armani Privé, essentially the couture line; Giorgio Armani, the high-end luxury ready-to-wear; Emporio Armani, a slightly more accessible “bridge luxury” line; and Armani Exchange, the mass-market line. With Emporio Armani, which is more youthful and trend-forward than Giorgio Armani, there is more room for Vitale to bring his salacious joie de vivre. “Emporio Armani 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,” wrote Silvana Armani in the press release.

Getty Images

Giorgio Armani 1980

“Armani has a powerful legacy and unmistakable design language; a heritage that has spanned decades and shaped the history of fashion,” said Vitale in his official statement. “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.”

If his stint at Versace is proof of anything, it’s that Vitale shares many of the Armani sensibilities—he just interprets them with a bit more provocation and flair. That might be exactly what this well-established, 50-year-old brand needs, particularly in its younger line. Vitale’s Versace accessories have also become legend. Everyone at New York Fashion Week seemed to be wearing a pair of his retro pumps, and customers swooned for his vintage-looking handbags and Art Deco–feeling jewelry and belt buckles.

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Emporio Armani Fall 1989

The sales- and numbers-driven world of high fashion can make creative people cautious. That, Vitale is not. More than anything, he took a risk with his Versace collection, and it made people feel something—and talk about it. You can’t manufacture that sort of thing with all the data in the world. Hopefully, he can bring some of that zest to Armani. One thing is for sure: people will tune in for this debut.

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