Giorgio Armani has been named the World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) Special Ambassador for Responsible Tourism. Armani has been recognized for his timeless designs and creativity as well as for his profound commitment to social responsibility and respect for the environment. His fashion brand is inspired by the concept of substance and the conviction that sustainability means creating a system capable of enduring through time, with respect for all the resources and the awareness that the future of generations to come depends on the choices of today.
The Ambassadorship was revealed in the wake of the visit of the UNWTO Secretary-General, Zurab Pololikashvili, to Italy. It emphasized Armani’s prompt response to the COVID-19 pandemic. As reported, the Armani Group in March converted all its four Italian production sites to produce single-use medical overalls for the individual protection of health-care providers fighting the coronavirus.
After pledging to donate €1.25 million to Italy’s Civil Protection and a range of Italian hospitals and institutions in the country, including the Luigi Sacco, San Raffaele and the Istituto dei Tumori in Milan and Rome’s Istituto Lazzaro Spallanzani, the designer also decided to contribute to support the hospitals of Bergamo and Piacenza, both badly hit by the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as the Versilia hospital in Tuscany, bringing the total of his donations to €2 million.
In March, Armani also published a letter in 60 newspapers in which he applauded all the health-care providers who are strenuously fighting the coronavirus outbreak and mused his own desire as a young man to become a doctor. Armani also decided to show his fall 2020 collection to a limited audience in February.
