By Natalie
They’re panicking like it’s going out of style.
Famed Italian fashion designer Giorgio Armani staged his Milan Fashion Week show without an audience — opting instead to stream footage of his clothed catwalkers online — as fears over the coronavirus raged Sunday.
The legendary designer’s firm said he canceled his 4 p.m. show and instead decided to tout his new line of threads by way of the internet in order to keep guests safe, after more than 130 cases of the virus were reported in northern Italy.
“The show will be shown behind closed doors, due to the recent developments of coronavirus in Italy, live-streamed in front of an empty teatro [theater] on the Armani website, therefore please do not attend the show this afternoon,” Armani’s fashion house said in a statement earlier Sunday. “The decision was taken to safeguard the well-being of all his invited guests by not having them attend crowded spaces.”
The decision came as dozens of coronavirus-infected people in the area were reported over the weekend. More than 54 cases have popped up near Milan.
It’s the first time that the 45-year-old Armani fashion house has cancelled a show due to public-health concerns.
