Milan, Sept. 29 -- The courtyard of the Pinacoteca di Brera filled with hush before the music began, and for a moment Milan seemed to hold its breath. On a late-September night that was supposed to be an anniversary party, the fashion world gathered instead for a memorial in motion: the last collection personally worked on by Giorgio Armani, presented as a living goodbye to the designer who turned Italian ease into a global uniform. The setting, cadence, and closing image were exactly measured-the courtyard presentation at Brera, scored live by a pianist and closed with a blue-gown procession-and the audience read the restraint as respect.

He was 91 when he died earlier this month, but his codes were ageless, and they surfaced again unde...