Star designer Giorgio Armani graced the city with a rare appearance, even making a special stop at F.I.T. The students buzzed with excitement and as part of their admission to see him, donned bold T-shirts that read “I met Giorgio Armani” across their chests. They even had a cheeky T-shirt that responded with “I met the students” ready for Armani. The designer immediately put on the T-shirt as he graciously hugged students and signed autographs.

Afterwards, Armani migrated uptown to the Hearst Tower, where he was introduced to F.I.T’s founding couture council chairs Liz Peek, Sarah Wolfe, and Yaz Hernandez, and was presented with the first ever Couture Council Award for Global Fashion Leadership at a gala luncheon. He arrived with his dear friend and brilliant actress Glenn Close, who presented him with the prestigious award and lovingly confessed, “If Giorgio Armani stopped his fashion magic, I’d just stay in my jammies.”

Upstairs at Hearst, actresses Ziyi Zhang and Camilla Belle, along with Sarah Larson (George Clooney’s ex-gal pal) ooh-ed and ahh-ed over an extraordinary Armani dress laden with Swarovski crystals, which was generously donated to the Museum at F.I.T. Nadja Swarovski and fashion queen Glenda Bailey hosted the event and were joined by guests including Roberta Armani, Rosanna Armani, Silvana Armani, Matilda Cuomo, Jamee Gregory, Princess Mafalda von Hessen, Audrey Gruss, Susan Gutfreund, Suzy Menkes, Jacqueline Sackler, Robert Lee Morris, and Dr. Joyce Brown. A fashion phenomenon with a heart of gold—could you ask for anything more?