Seeing is believing. This is especially true in the world of fashion. It's incredibly difficult to fully explain clothes to someone who's never seen them. Working in fashion, I tend to be able to predict things just by reading about them, but I still want to trust my own eyes and go out and see them for myself whenever possible.

My motivation to go see Armani/Cilos was hearing that Giorgio Armani, who turned 80 this year, had opened a museum to mark the 40th anniversary of the founding of his brand. He held a show as an ambassador at the opening of Expo Milano, and Armani/Cilos also opened at the same time.

Giorgio Armani, founded in 1975, first became a household name in Japan around 1978 or 1979. When I saw his aviator jacket in Italian Vogue, I was struck by his fresh approach to menswear, different from that of Saint Laurent, and felt the arrival of a new era. For 40 years, Armani has presented two ready-to-wear collections a year for both men and women, and since 2005 has presented its haute couture line, Giorgio Armani Privé, twice a year. All of this is stored in Silos. Silos refers to a silo used to store food such as hay. The four-story building, with a total area of 4,500 square meters, features a square atrium in the center of the exhibition space, with an inorganic texture and a neat, orderly rectangular design. Looking into this atrium from the top floor, the four sections of each floor can be seen. Each space has its own theme: daywear; exoticism inspired by China and Japan; a color scheme with nuances recognizable as Armani colors; and a space called Luce (Light), centered on dresses lavishly decorated with beads, embroidery, and lace. There's a cafe and gift shop on the European-style ground floor (first floor in Japan), and the digital archive space on the top floor features 1,570 photos, including all runway shows, beautiful advertising photographs by Aldo Fallai, and celebrities wearing Armani, as well as sketches, drawings, accessories, and other materials, allowing visitors to learn everything there is to know about Armani. There's also a workshop space and facilities open to anyone interested in fashion or art. It's likely Armani's mission is to have Silos fulfill its cultural role as one of Italy's leading designers, and its role in nurturing the next generation of designers.


■information
ARMANI/SILOS
Address: Via Bergognone 40 Milano
Opening hours: Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday, Sunday 11:00-20:00
Thursday, Saturday 11:00-22:00
Closed: Mondays
Admission fee: 12 euros