Two decades after Giorgio Armani first unveiled his Privé line in Paris, the house marks this milestone with an advertising campaign that distills the very essence of Armani couture: timelessness, purity, and the quiet power of simplicity. Shot by Karim Sadli, the series of images becomes more than a reflection of garments — an inquiry into clarity, form, and the enduring codes of style.
The campaign features an ensemble of celebrated models — Liu Wen, Edie Campbell, Samuel Elie, Simon Nessman, and Clement Chabernaud — captured against luminous backdrops devoid of elaborate scenery. By stripping away ornamentation, Armani emphasises what has always defined his vision: the dialogue between form and fabric, body and movement, light and shadow. The absence of scenographic distractions places the focus squarely on the couture, and on the individuals inhabiting it.
Presented in both colour and black and white, the images possess an expressive intensity that feels at once contemporary and timeless. Sadli’s lens reveals the subtlest of gestures — a turn of the head, the sweep of a coat, the way fabric catches the light, and moments that elevate clothing into narrative. What emerges is not spectacle, but presence – magnifying nuance, elevating elegance with restraint, to which primarily sets Armani apart.
Twenty Years of Armani Privé: An Affirmation of Legacy
For twenty years, Giorgio Armani Privé has stood as a rarefied expression of the designer’s philosophy. Where others chase novelty, Armani insists on refinement; where others seek drama, he finds strength in understatement. This campaign reflects that ethos with precision. The models appear both iconic and relatable, embodying not distant ideals but familiar expressions of human grace. The imagery invites the viewer not only to admire, but to imagine themselves within the frame, clothed in the same purity of vision.
Haute couture, by its nature, speaks of exclusivity. Yet Armani Privé has always transcended the notion of rarity as spectacle. Instead, it defines couture as an art of lasting relevance—a sartorial architecture where craft and clarity coexist. In revisiting twenty years of creation, the campaign does not look back with nostalgia, but forward with affirmation.
Karim Sadli’s portraits capture this spirit with remarkable restraint. No excess, no artifice — only the essential. Just as Giorgio Armani has shaped fashion with an unwavering commitment to elegance stripped of noise, so too does this anniversary campaign remind us that true style is not bound by the ephemeral nature of time.
(Images from Giorgio Armani)
