MILAN: Giorgio Armani had the last word at Milan Fashion Week, which wrapped up six days of womenswear previews for next spring and summer on Monday, launching a book that looks back on his life.

Armani, one of the founders of the Milan ready-to-wear scene, celebrates 40 years of his fashion house this year, and he said he wrote the book because “inside of me there are memories and sensations that I needed to let out.” But the 81-year-old designer said the book was less than an autobiography, which he still intends to write, describing it instead as text accompanying photographs.

“An autobiography involves people that are close to you and you don’t always feel authorized to expose them,” he said.

Armani’s long-time friend Sofia Loren sat in the front row both for his runway show and the book presentation. The 81-year-old actress said she planned to take the book on vacation to read. Asked if she expected to find surprises, she replied: “It’s possible. You never know.”

Vogue international editor Suzy Menkes, who introduced the book, credited Armani with being a revolutionary in the fashion world and praised him for never falling prey to some of fashion’s more vulgar tendencies.

“I think it is probably very hard for a generation much younger than me, who was brought up on stretch fabric and bomber jackets to believe that a comfortable jacket was actually a revolution,” Menkes said.