In a highly unusual move, Giorgio Armani devoted his most recent haute couture collection, which he showed yesterday, to Japanese earthquake recovery.  And he didn’t just do so with words, though the show was titled “Hommage au Japon” — rather, Armani designed his entire Fall 2011 Privé line as an homage to Japan and its culture.  While other designers, like Alexis Bittar, and companies like ABC Home have made tremendous efforts to support earthquake relief, this is the first time we’ve seen a designer use a charitable cause as inspiration for an entire collection.

The unique, laudatory move is Armani’s ‘creative gesture’ in support of his luxury label’s financial support for Japanese UNESCO scholarships, which provide assistance to children affected by March’s earthquake.  It’s pretty incredible to see a designer of Armani’s caliber do such a thing — we hope it breaks the ice for more creative inspiration like this in the future.