Giorgio Armani Enlists ERL to Resurrect Archival Masterpieces
The second chapter of Armani/Archivio bridges decades of timeless Italian tailoring with Eli Russell Linnetz’s disruptive Californian lens.
Summary
- Eli Russell Linnetz has been tapped to photograph and style the second chapter of the ongoing Armani/Archivio project
- The campaign features faithful reproductions of thirteen menswear and womenswear looks originally released between 1979 and 1994
- Activations include Milan Design Week installations and special programming
Giorgio Armani has officially unveiled the second chapter of Armani/Archivio, entrusting American designer, artist, and filmmaker Eli Russell Linnetz to spearhead its new campaign. Debuting in Milan to coincide with 2026 Milan Design Week, the initiative represents the house’s dedicated mission to preserve and reinterpret its foundational heritage for a modern audience.
The cultural appetite for archival fashion has never been more voracious, shifting from niche Grailed hunting to a primary driver of the global menswear conversation. Giorgio Armani is actively leaning into this renaissance by faithfully reproducing thirteen seminal men’s and women’s looks drawn straight from his 1979 to 1994 collections. By tapping Linnetz — a creative whose own ERL label thrives on a distinct flavor of Californian subversion — Armani is injecting a disruptive energy into its most hallowed garments. Linnetz styled and photographed the campaign in its entirety, bringing his signature hyper-visual eye to pieces that laid the groundwork for contemporary luxury.
“Mr. Armani is one of the greatest artists of our time,” Linnetz noted regarding the collaboration. “He changed the way we live our lives every day and what we aspire to become, and his legacy is something the rest of us are still learning from. These archivio pieces feel as alive today as the day they were made because he designed his work to be eternally impactful — deceivingly simple on the hanger, the clothes transform on the body, like magic. As a designer, to handle these garments and understand how they were made has been both a great education and a gift, and to photograph them, as part of the long lineage of photographers who have been part of the Armani universe, was a privilege I will carry with me for a very long time.”
The thirteen reproduced looks are available online and select Giorgio Armani boutiques. Fans can also expect a series of in-store activations at the Via Sant’Andrea boutique, including invitation-only talks with figures from the worlds of archiving and museology, DJ sets, workshops, and programming.
