An exhibition created suddenly on the thread of memory and gratitude for the great designer and unforgettable friend, only a few years apart in age. Flavio Lucchini celebrates him with "Thank You Giorgio" which, in the Atelier of the FLA, his personal Museum, pays tribute with works born in thought of him.

The sudden passing of Giorgio Armani, beyond having left the fashion world and beyond in the greatest dismay, highlighted how deep the influence of the great creator has been not only among his closest collaborators and those nearest to him, but, as testified by the presence of the 16,000 people who came to pay their respects at the funeral chamber, has touched other areas of society and work, broadening the message of his ethics and vision.

Flavio Lucchini was not only the first to perceive his value at the beginning of his career and launch him on his prestigious magazines (Vogue, L’Uomo Vogue, Donna, Mondo Uomo) but was also directly influenced by him when he chose to leave publishing for art.
Many of his works in fact tell the story of the fashion of the 80s/90s, inspired, in traits, shapes, and colors, by the rigorous lines of his fashion which while “loosening” the stiffness of men’s clothing, gave new confidence to the “career” woman without diminishing her femininity. Jackets with decisive shoulders, neutral tones, the famous greige, necklines with sharp and bold design, outlined the new Italian style after the intoxication of the excesses of the early 80s.
Flavio Lucchini and Giorgio Armani have always been close: from when in 1974 the art director hand-drew the first logo of the designer with Bodoni, the original typeface of Vogue America, to when Armani chose for the decentralized locations of his Teatro and his Silos precisely Bergognone Street, nestled among the bases of Superstudio, the photographic studios on Forcella Street where he created his campaigns and the event hub on Tortona Street used on other occasions. A collaboration of more than fifty years where esteem and friendship needed no further confirmation.
Art was an additional variable. Starting from that refined and limited edition “Cahier” of drawings in 1989 which marked Lucchini’s debut in the art world by comparing the most significant designers of that time: Gianni Versace, Romeo Gigli and, of course, Giorgio Armani through compositions that exalted their peculiarities.
“I have always thought that for Giorgio Armani clothing was above all a cultural matter and should represent our era - says Lucchini - an important element to show who we are both as individuals and as a social group. The greatness of Giorgio also lies in the fact that for him clothing was not a simple adornment or status symbol to present oneself to others but a bearer of messages, a testimony of contemporaneity, a reflection of the life we live. In my artworks I have reinterpreted the female dress with the same vision, going beyond the appearance and the ephemeral that fashion suggests. I owe much to Giorgio, and this is clearly visible in the many works that recall his lines and in all those conceived to bring out the secrets that fashion contains and hides”.
Today, in the most painful moment, the exhibition of paintings and sculptures, born spontaneously in gratitude “Grazie Giorgio - L'influenza di Giorgio Armani nelle opere di Flavio Lucchini”, pays tribute to the King of fashion and to an uninterrupted relationship between the two not only in work occasions but also in the heart and in thought.

“Grazie Giorgio - L'influenza di Giorgio Armani nelle opere di Flavio Lucchini”
September 29 - November 28 - guided tours by reservation
FLA - FlavioLucchiniArt Museum
Superstudio Più - via Tortona 27 - Milan
www.flaviolucchiniart.com