Iron Man, Spider-Man & Giorgio Armani?!?

The Armani Group announces that Giorgio Armani arrived in New York on Sunday 4th May for a series of events coinciding with the opening of the exhibition Superheroes: Fashion and Fantasy at the Metropolitan Museum's Costume Institute. Giorgio Armani is the Honorary Chair of the Costume Institute’s Benefit Gala dinner, for which he will be joined by his friends and co-chairs George Clooney, Julia Roberts and Anna Wintour. The exhibition, which features approximately 60 outfits – from movie costumes to haute couture gowns – has been designed to reveal how the superhero serves as the ultimate metaphor for fashion and its ability to empower and transform the human body.

On the morning of Monday 5th May, Giorgio Armani will participate in a press conference at the Metropolitan Museum of Art with Harold Koda, Curator in Charge of the Costume Institute and Andrew Bolton, Curator of the Superheroes exhibition. In the early afternoon, Giorgio Armani will be the guest of honour at Saks Fifth Avenue, where he will make a personal appearance celebrating the opening of the expanded Giorgio Armani Beauty counter there, signing copies of the reportage photography book Armani Backstage. First in line for an autographed copy of the book will be actress Camilla Belle, star of the recently released film 10,000 BC. In celebration of this visit, Saks Fifth Avenue is dedicating all 31 of its windows to Giorgio Armani and his various women's and men's collections.

In the evening, Giorgio Armani, together with his friends George Clooney and Julia Roberts, will join Harold Koda, Curator in Charge of the Costume Institute, and Anna Wintour, Editor-In-Chief of Vogue USA, in welcoming the guests arriving for the Metropolitan Museum's Costume Institute Benefit Gala. Other friends of Giorgio Armani who are flying in to be with him at his table at the Gala Dinner include Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes, David and Victoria Beckham, John Mayer, Zhang Ziyi, Camilla Belle, and Emile Hirsch.

On the morning of Tuesday 6th May, Giorgio Armani will participate in a special questions and answers session with 250 fashion design students at New York's Fashion Institute of Technology (FIT) on his way to a luncheon in his honour hosted by the Couture Council of the Museum of FIT at the Hearst Tower. At the Swarovski-sponsored luncheon, Giorgio Armani will receive the Couture Council's first Global Fashion Leadership Award, presented by his friend Glenn Close, in recognition of “his mastery of fashion and his influence on contemporary dress.”

During his 48 hour visit to New York, Giorgio Armani will also visit the site of Armani/Fifth Avenue, his fifth concept store in world following Milan's Armani/Manzoni, Munich's Armani/Funf Hofe, Hong Kong's Armani/Chater House and Tokyo's Armani/Ginza Tower.

Giorgio Armani said, "A trip to New York is always extremely inspiring, however this one promises to be especially memorable. The Superheroes theme is both topical and modern and will, I believe, attract a wider audience than usual to the Costume Institute. I am looking forward to welcoming everyone on the opening night. " Armani continued, "It will then be a great privilege to receive such an honour from the Couture Council of the FIT Museum."

Opened in 1983, Giorgio Armani Corporation is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Giorgio Armani S.p.A., overseeing all of the company’s operations in the US, with over 800 employees and a directly controlled retail network of 13 Giorgio Armani boutiques, 2 Armani/Casa stores, 10 Emporio Armani stores, 8 General Stores and one Emporio Armani Café. The US market today represents around 24% of Giorgio Armani’s wholesale revenues (year ending 31 December 2007).

The Armani Group is one of the leading fashion and luxury goods companies in the world today with 5,000 direct employees and 13 factories. It designs, manufactures, distributes and retails fashion and lifestyle products including apparel, accessories, eyewear, watches, jewellery, home furnishings, fragrances and cosmetics, under a range of brand names: Giorgio Armani Privé, Giorgio Armani, Armani Collezioni, Emporio Armani, AJ | Armani Jeans, A/X Armani Exchange, Armani Junior, Armani Baby and Armani Casa. The Group's exclusive retail network currently comprises: 73 Giorgio Armani boutiques, 12 Armani Collezioni stores, 140 Emporio Armani stores, 128 A/X Armani Exchange stores, 18 AJ | Armani Jeans stores, 7 Armani Junior stores, 1 Giorgio Armani Accessori store, 1 Emporio Armani Accessori store and 33 Armani/Casa stores in 46 countries. The Armani Group has also announced its intention to open a unique collection of luxury hotels and resorts in the world's most important cities and destinations.