Despite the upsides of progress and innovation, the future can also be a never-ending source of anxiety. For many, early excitement and enthusiasm for experimentation eventually gives way to massive fears about disruption. For creatives especially, recent opinions about the future typically oscillate between absolute doom and relative boon. Still, Ive found that thinking about the future is always worthwhile. In fact, its when creatives are at our best.
Thats because since the birth of the internet, the rise of digital display, search, interactive video, and mobile, weve seen the value of being the first to try. To fail. To learn. And to keep going. When social media (and later creators) forced us to think and execute at the speed of culture, we embraced that too. And now, in the AI era, were learning to navigate a landscape where the rules change on a daily basis.
As the battles are fought to determine the future of business, culture, and innovation, creatives will always be on the front line. Because when everything is changing all the time, its creativessteeped in popular culture and driving innovation through our ideaswho have the skills and responsibility to lead. Thats why our community needs to be pioneering when navigating the future of creativity. We need to nurture the companies, culture, and talent that push beyond the fear to see an exciting future worth embracing.
Shifting perceptions, rising expectations
In the creative industry, change is constant. But in my work with the creative organization and educational charity D&AD, reviewing thousands of entries for our awards each year, Ive seen more than just trends coming and going. Ive seen that while technology has become more deeply embedded in the work, the most celebrated ideas are still those that put people at the center: solving real problems, creating connections, and shaping culture.
Access to powerful tools has democratized the field, but it has also led to raised expectations. Brands want ideas that move faster, work harder, and live seamlessly across disciplines. Categories that once felt separate, from product design to experiential to impact, are increasingly blurred. This shift is clear in a lot of the work that won this year.
Sightwalks from UNACEM is a brilliant idea for tactile sidewalk patterns to help visually impaired people. Apples AirPods Pro 2, with integrated hearing health and hearing aid features, reframed accessibility as an expectation in consumer tech. Spotify Spreadbeats, Thanks for Coke-Creating, and The Everyday Tactician from Xbox each demonstrate how technology can amplify craft while keeping creativity anchored in human needs and cultural context.
However advanced the tools become, the most powerful ideas still come from the skill to turn cultural understanding and creative ambition into something new. That truth connects the best of this years winning work, and it will be just as vital as the creative industries continue to evolve.
Prepare for the future
Ultimately, the best way for creatives to prepare themselves is to continue to nurture the essential human qualities that transcend technology, categories, or mediums. That includes a mindset that thrives on imagination and experimentation, taking advantage of creatives natural flexibility and talent for adaptation so that they can collaborate to develop the most forward-thinking creative ideas.
Nurturing that flexibility and adaptation look different depending on where you sit. Within a business, it means building systems that can respond to change without breaking. It also requires structures that allow for input, ambiguity, and iteration as well as a dedication to seeking out talent with different backgrounds, lived experiences, training, and skillsets. Meanwhile, for the creatives themselves, its about learning to stay curious in uncertain moments. And learning to contribute before the path is fully clear while collaborating across their differences in discipline, background, culture, and point of view.
The future will always be uncertain. But uncertainty is more than a challenge. It’s an opportunity to develop or strengthen the skills that will make creatives and their unique points of view invaluable in turbulent times. With the right mindset and a supportive environment, creatives can trade their fear of the future for a curiosity that will always keep them on the bleeding edge.
Kwame Taylor-Hayford is the cofounder of Kin and president of D&AD.
In 2025, 1 in 4 new automotive vehicle sales globally are expected to be an electric vehicleeither fully electric or a plug-in hybrid.
That is a significant rise from just five years ago, when EV sales amounted to fewer than 1 in 20 new car sales, according to the International Energy Agency, an intergovernmental organization examining energy use around the world.
In the U.S., however, EV sales have lagged, only reaching 1 in 10 in 2024. By contrast, in China, the worlds largest car market, more than half of all new vehicle sales are electric.
The International Energy Agency has reported that two-thirds of fully electric cars in China are now cheaper to buy than their gasoline equivalents. With operating and maintenance costs already cheaper than gasoline models, EVs are attractive purchases.
Most EVs purchased in China are made there as well, by a range of different companies. NIO, Xpeng, Xiaomi, Zeekr, Geely, Chery, Great Wall Motor, Leapmotor and especially BYD are household names in China. As someone who has followed and published on the topic of EVs for over 15 years, I expect they will soon become as widely known in the rest of the world.
What kinds of EVs is China producing?
Chinas automakers are producing a full range of electric vehicles, from the subcompact, like the BYD Seagull, to full-size SUVs, like the Xpeng G9, and luxury cars, like the Zeekr 009.
Recent European crash-test evaluations have given top safety ratings to Chinese EVs, and many of them cost less than similar models made by other companies in other countries.
A Wall Street Journal video explores a Chinese dark factoryone so automated that it doesnt need lights inside.
Whats behind Chinese EV success?
There are several factors behind Chinese companies success in producing and selling EVs. To be sure, relatively low labor costs are part of the explanation. So are generous government subsidies, as EVs were one of several advanced technologies selected by the Chinese government to propel the nations global technological profile.
But Chinese EV makers are also making other advances. They make significant use of industrial robotics, even to the point of building so-called dark factories that can operate with minimal human intervention. For passengers, they have reimagined vehicles interiors, with large touchscreens for information and entertainment, and even added a refrigerator, bed or karaoke system.
Competition among Chinese EV makers is fierce, which drives additional innovation. BYD is the largest seller of EVs, both domestically and globally. Yet the company says it employs over 100,000 scientists and engineers seeking continual improvement.
From initial concept models to actual rollout of factory-made cars, BYD takes 18 monthshalf as long as U.S. and other global automakers take for their product development processes, Reuters reported.
BYD is also the worlds second-largest EV battery seller and has developed a new battery that can recharge in just five minutes, roughly the same time it takes to fill a gas-powered cars tank.
Exports
The real test of how well Chinese vehicles appeal to consumers will come from export sales. Chinese EV manufacturers are eager to sell abroad because their factories can produce far more than the 25 million vehicles they can sell within China each yearperhaps twice as much.
China already exports more cars than any other nation, though primarily gas-powered ones at the moment. Export markets for Chinese EVs are developing in Western Europe, Southeast Asia, Latin America, Australia and elsewhere.
The largest market where Chinese vehicles, whether gasoline or electric, are not being sold is North America. Both the U.S. and Canadian governments have created what some have called a tariff fortress protecting their domestic automakers, by imposing tariffs of 100% on the import of Chinese EVsliterally doubling their cost to consumers.
Customers budgets matter too. Te average price of a new electric vehicle in the U.S. is approximately $55,000. Less expensive vehicles make up part of this average, but without tax credits, which the Trump administration is eliminating after September 2025, nothing gets close to $25,000. By contrast, Chinese companies produce several sub-$25,000 EVs, including the Xpeng M03, the BYD Dolphin and the MG4 without tax credits. If sold in America, however, the 100% tariffs would remove the price advantage.
Tesla, Ford and General Motors all claim they are working on inexpensive EVs. More expensive vehicles, however, generate higher profits, and with the protection of the tariff fortress, their incentive to develop cheaper EVs is not as high as it might be.
In the 1970s and 1980s, there was considerable U.S. opposition to importing Japanese vehicles. But ultimately, a combination of consumer sentiment and the willingness of Japanese companies to open factories in the U.S. overcame that opposition, and Japanese brands like Toyota, Honda and Nissan are common on North American roads. The same process may play out for Chinese automakers, though its not clear how long that might take.
Jack Barkenbus is a visiting scholar at Vanderbilt University.
This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.
What do a yoga instructor, a parking garage attendant, and an influencer have in common? They are all now exempt from paying income tax on their tips under President Donald Trumps Big Beautiful Bill.
As part of Trumps no tax on tips policy, streamers, online video creators, social media influencers, and podcasters are among the workers no longer required to hand over a portion of their tip income, according to a Treasury Department list released this week.
The policyone of Trumps key 2024 campaign promiseswas written into the tax code when Congress passed the bill in July. At first, the conversation focused on restaurant servers. But the Treasury has since clarified that digital content creators also qualify, defined as people who produce and publish on digital platforms original entertainment or personality-driven content, such as live streams, short-form videos, or podcasts.
In total, 68 occupations are eligible, including bartenders, electricians, tutors, makeup artists, taxi drivers, and golf caddies.
For most influencers, tips are a relatively small slice of income compared to brand deals. Still, tipping is common on Twitch, where viewers buy bits, or on OnlyFans, where creators use tip menus for custom content. Under the no tax on tips policyset to run from 2025 until 2028creators can claim a deduction covering up to $25,000 of qualifying tip income.
The deduction phases out for those earning more than $150,000, meaning top Twitch or TikTok stars who make millions annually wont see much benefit. But the large middle class of creators likely will.
The president had promised to reward creators after they helped boost his campaign and pave the way for his return to the Oval Office. Now, hes making good on that pledge.
South Korea on Friday expressed “concern and regret” over a major U.S. immigration raid at a sprawling Georgia site where South Korean auto company Hyundai manufactures electric vehicles.South Korean Foreign Ministry spokesperson Lee Jaewoong described the number of detained South Koreans as “large” though he did not provide an exact figure.His ministry would not confirm or deny South Korean media reports saying that about 300 South Koreans were detained in Georgia on Thursday. The Atlanta office of the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, which assisted immigration authorities at the site, posed on the social media site X that about 450 people total were apprehended.Hyundai’s South Korean office didn’t immediately respond to requests for comment.Thursday’s raid targeted one of Georgia’s largest and most high-profile manufacturing sites, touted by the governor and other officials as the largest economic development project in the state’s history. Hyundai Motor Group, South Korea’s biggest automaker, began manufacturing EVs a year ago at the $7.6 billion plant, which employs about 1,200 people, and has partnered with LG Energy Solution to build an adjacent battery plant, slated to open next year.ICE spokesman Lindsay Williams confirmed that federal authorities conducted an enforcement operation at the 3,000-acre (1,214-hectare) site west of Savannah, Georgia. He said agents were focused on the construction site for the battery plant.In a televised statement, Lee said the ministry is taking active measures to address the case, dispatching diplomats from its embassy in Washington and consulate in Atlanta to the site, and planning to form an on-site response team centered on the local mission.“The business activities of our investors and the rights of our nationals must not be unjustly infringed in the process of U.S. law enforcement,” Lee said.The Department of Homeland Security said in a statement that agents executed a search warrant “as part of an ongoing criminal investigation into allegations of unlawful employment practices and other serious federal crimes.”It did not say whether anyone was detained or arrested.President Donald Trump’s administration has undertaken sweeping ICE operations as part of a mass deportation agenda. Immigration officers have raided farms, construction sites, restaurants and auto repair shops.The Pew Research Center, citing preliminary Census Bureau data, says the U.S. labor force lost more than 1.2 million immigrants from January through July. That includes people who are in the country illegally as well as legal residents.Hyundai and LG’s battery joint venture, HL-GA Battery Company, said in a statement that it’s “cooperating fully with the appropriate authorities” and paused construction of the battery site to assist their work.Operations at Hyundai’s EV manufacturing plant weren’t interrupted, said plant spokesperson Bianca Johnson.
Kim Tong-Hyung and Russ Bynum, Associated Press
Exactly 20 years ago, America met Michael Scott and a certain Dwight Schrute. When The Office launched in 2005, it quickly became a cultural touchstone, and its main titlecomplete with that dreadfully catchy tunewas so popular it was soon parodied by The Simpsons.
Now, the pseudo-film crew that introduced us to our favorite Dunder Mifflin characters is back for another mockumentary. But instead of the dying paper supply industry, they have set their sights on a struggling daily newspaper in Toledo, Ohio.
The Paper, which premiered on Peacock yesterday and has already been renewed for Season 2, follows the ambitious publisher Ned Sampsons as he tries to revive the fictional Toledo Truth Teller along with a team of largely incompetent reporters who have never written a real article in their lives. (Not unless you count You wont believe how much Ben Affleck tipped his limo driver, which Truth Teller reporter like Esmeralda Grand is most proud of.)
So will Ned succeed in reviving the Truth Teller? The shows main title might have some clues.
[Photo: Aaron Epstein/Peacock]
Misusing newspapers
Showrunners Greg Daniels and Michael Koman created The Papers main title in collaboration with co-executive producer and editor David Rogers. In just 30 seconds, it shows a flurry of people usingor as Rogers put it to me in an email, misusingnewspapers.
The shows shooting schedule was tight, so instead of including actual show footage, like in The Office main title, the team scoured stock libraries for shots of people using newspapers in unique and entertaining ways. A worker is plastering newspapers on a window, a group of men play cards on a table lined with newspapers, a puppy Fox Terrier gets potty-trained on a newspaper. We also see a man wearing a hat made of a newspaper, and hands wrapping bread in it, too.
Greg and Michael had a concept of showing people using newspapers in various ways, except of course, for actually reading them, Rogers says. The underlying message, then, seems to be that newspapersonce beacons of informationhave become so superfluous that their only value now lies in prosaic household uses.
Like with The Office, which includes footage of Scranton, Pennsylvania, The Papers main title also gives us glimpse of Toledo, including its famous Love Wall mural. We wanted to highlight this new city that the show resides in, and it gave the sequence energy and a nice contrast with some of the vintage still frames, says Rogers, who also edited the original title sequence for The Office.
[Photo: Aaron Epstein/Peacock]
Bad omen or red herring?
The Paper is a spinoff of The Office, so naturally, the team wanted to echo The Offices main title without duplicating it. This extended to the theme song, for which the team hired Canadian musician and composer Nick Thorburn (most famously known for composing the soundtrack for the hit podcast Serial).
Chances are, when you think of The Office, you are already humming its catchy tune. Here, too, Thornburn has composed a song that’s already etched itself into my brain. But its definitely its own song, Rogers notes. Still, discerning listeners who stay on until the very end will notice that the last few piano notes are the exact same as those in The Office theme song.
Another reason not to hit that skip button? The very last image of the title sequence portrays one of the reporters scraping a poop-soiled newspaper from the bottom of a bird cage and into a recycling bin that reads Paper. Then, just like with The Office, where the team found a real sign that said Office and popped a preposition before it, the paper recycling bin gets its own preposition in front of it, leading to the shows title.
Is the recycling bin scene a harbinger for what will happen to the Toledo Truth Teller? Or is it just the beginning of an upward journey? Seems like this title sequence just might be burying the lede.
U.S. employers added just 22,000 jobs last month as the labor market continued to cool under uncertainty over President Donald Trump’s economic policies.The Labor Department said Friday that hiring decelerated from 79,000 in July and came in below the roughly 80,000 economists had expected for August. The unemployment rate ticked up to 4.3%, also worse than expected and the highest level since 2021, the Labor Department reported Friday.When the department put out a disappointing jobs report a month ago, an enraged President Donald Trump responded by firing the economist in charge of compiling the numbers and nominating a loyalist to replace her.Talking to reporters Thursday night at a dinner with wealthy tech executives, Trump had seemed to shrug off whatever hiring numbers would come out Friday. “The real numbers that I’m talking about are going to be whatever it is, but will be in a year from now,” the president said.Factories shed 12,000 jobs in August, the fourth straight month that manufacturers have cut payrolls. Construction companies cut 7,000 jobs, and the federal government 15,000.Labor Department revisions cut 21,000 jobs off June and July payrolls and revealed that employers had actually cut 13,000 jobs in June, the first monthly job losses since December 2020.The U.S. job market has lost momentum this year, partly because of the lingering effects of 11 interest rate hikes by the Fed’s inflation fighters ve in 2022 and 2023 and partly because Trump’s policies, including his trade wars, have created uncertainty that leaves managers reluctant to make hiring decisions.“The warning bell that rang in the labor market a month ago just got louder,’ Olu Sonola, head of U.S economic research at Fitch Rates, wrote in a commentary. “It’s hard to argue that tariff uncertainty isn’t a key driver of this weakness.”Workers’ average hourly earnings rose 0.3% from July and 3.7% from August 2024, exactly what forecasters expected. The year-over-year figure is nearing the 3.5% that many economists see as consistent with the Federal Reserve’s 2% inflation target.The weak numbers make it all but certain that Federal Reserve will cut its benchmark interest rate at its next meeting, Sept. 16-17. Under chair Jerome Powell, the Fed has been reluctant to cut rates until it sees what impact Trump’s import taxes have on inflation.Trump has repeatedly pressured Powell to lower rates, and has sought to fire one Fed governor, Lisa Cook, over allegations of mortgage fraud in what Cook claims is a pretext to gain control over the central bank.The Labor Department reported Thursday that the number of Americans applying for unemployment benefits a proxy for layoffs rose last week to the highest level since June, though the number of claims remained within a healthy range.The outplacement firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas said Wednesday that U.S.-based employers have announced more than 892,000 jobs cuts this year through August, more than the 761,000 reported for all 12 months of 2024.After seeing the weak July jobs numbers, Trump fired Erika McEntarfer, head of the Bureau of Labor Statistics, baselessly claiming the hiring report had been rigged to hurt him politically.He has nominated a partisan idealogue, E.J. Antoni, to replace her. But for now, pending Antoni’s confirmation by the Senate, the jobs report is in the hands of the acting BLS commissioner, William Wiatrowski, a career Labor Department official.Economists and others familiar with how the jobs numbers are collected have expressed confidence that Labor Department procedures will keep the data are safe from political interference.The revisions are standard practice, and necessary because many companies surveyed by the government submit their responses late or correct what they’ve already sent in.Government economists are also contending with a big drop in the share of companies that respond to the surveys. A decade ago, about 60% of companies surveyed responded. Now only about 40% do.And it’s an international problem for data collectors, especially since COVID-19. The United Kingdom even suspended publication of an official unemployment rate because of inadequate responses.“I remember being at an international conference where the chief statistician of the Russian Republic was complaining about how the Russians don’t want to complete their surveys,” William Beach, BLS commissioner from 2019 to 2023, said in an interview last month. “What could he do? If you can’t compel completion in Russia, you can’t compel it anywhere.”
Paul Wiseman, AP Economics Writer
Broadcom is ending the week on a high note.
On Thursday, September 4, the semiconductor and infrastructure software company announced its third-quarter financial results, including $15.95 billion in revenue.
This figure was a 22% jump year-over-year (YOY) and beat Wall Streets predicted $15.83 billion, according to consensus estimates cited by CNBC. Broadcom anticipates this streak to continue, announcing an expected $17.4 billion in revenue for quarter-four, up from Wall Streets prediction of $17.02 billion.
Broadcom also beat estimates for earnings per share, coming in at $1.69 adjusted, rather than $1.65 expected.
‘Demand for custom AI accelerators’
Unsurprisingly, the artificial intelligence boom factored heavily into Broadcom’s results.
Revenue growth was driven by better-than-expected strength in AI semiconductors and our continued growth in VMware, Broadcoms president and CEO, Hock Tan, said in an earnings call. Demand for custom AI accelerators from our three customers continued to grow.
However, Broadcom also announced that its bringing a fourth very significant customer into the mix.
The mystery customer has ordered $10 billion worth of custom AI chips or XPUs. These should ship early next year, with Broadcom expecting a significant improvement to its fiscal 2026 AI revenue from its previous estimations.
These positive announcements culminated in Broadcoms stock price (Nasdaq:AVGO) rising more than 15% after-hours and into premarket trading on Friday. Its a big turnaround from earlier this week when Broadcoms shares fell 2.1% alongside a 2.3% dip by fellow chipmaker, Nvidia.
Last month, Apple also named Broadcom as one the suppliers its working with to accelerate American manufacturing.
As the cost of electricity outpaces inflation and summers grow deadlier, consumer advocates are sounding alarms about the risks to low-income people who can’t afford consistent air conditioning in dangerous temperatures.While about half of U.S. states offer protections from utility shutoffs during extreme heat, the rest do not. In contrast, 41 states have “cold weather rules,” which forbid utility companies from shutting off household heat during extreme cold. The Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP) provides funds for vulnerable groups who have trouble affording heating bills in the winter, but the program has less funding available to meet consumers’ increasing needs in the summer months.Shylee Johnson, 27, based in Wichita, Kansas, saw firsthand the protection that the local Low Income Energy Assistance Program (LIEAP) brought to her community during the three years she worked as a case manager for families who were behind on utility bills.“It was amazing at keeping people’s electricity on in the winter,” she said of the program, which subsidizes costs for households who can’t afford utility expenses. “Families would be deciding between paying their heating bill or another bill, and this took that decision away.”In the summer, though, Johnson said she’s seen how late or missed utility payments can result in the shutoff of electricity and the removal of vital services, despite air conditioning becoming increasingly essential to families’ health and well-being.“It’s terrifying,” she said. “There’s a ‘cold weather rule’ in freezing temperatures, your heat can’t be turned off. But there isn’t an equivalent for summer in Kansas.”The clients Johnson served were often the most vulnerable, including families with young children, pregnant people, and those with sick or disabled family members, including some who need electricity to operate essential medical equipment in their homes. LIHEAP also sometimes provides air conditioning units in the summer for households that can’t afford to purchase their own units.Recent studies show that extreme heat in the summer is now the leading cause of weather-related deaths, according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). That’s ahead of deaths due to extreme cold in the winter or other weather emergencies, like hurricanes or tornadoes. The frequency, duration and intensity of extreme heat waves has significantly increased over the past several decades, according to the EPA, and insignificant support for low-income households contributes to the danger.In 2023, the death certificates of more than 2,300 people who died in the summer mention the effects of excessive heat, the highest number in 45 years of records, according to an Associated Press analysis of Centers for Disease Control and Prevention data. And that figure is only a fraction of the real death toll, according to coroner, hospital, and ambulance records, also analyzed by the AP.Nationally, the cost of electricity has risen at twice the pace of the average cost of living, exacerbating the problem.According to the National Energy Assistance Directors Association (NEADA), which represents state program managers of LIHEAP, almost 20% of very low-income families lack consistent access to cooling. Currently, 26 states and the District of Columbia offer assistance with summer energy bills, while 21 states plus D.C. have policies protecting low-income families from utility disconnections during summer months.Still, roughly 85% of LIHEAP resources are used for heating in the winter, leaving little support for households seeking cooling, according to Mark Wolfe, executive director of NEADA.“Rules that were written thirty years ago, that were adequate for winter, are not adequate for the summer,” he said. “How do we protect vulnerable households both during periods of extreme heat and extreme cold? The rules haven’t caught up.”Karen Lusson, senior attorney at the National Consumer Law Center who focuses on energy and utility affordability, said that many deaths from extreme heat in the summer months are preventable.“The impression we’ve all had is that weather is most dangerous in the wintertime,” she said. “Not any more.”While the Trump administration fired the entire staff of the LIHEAP program in April, Wolfe and Lusson are hopeful Congress will approve slightly more funding for the program in the fall compared to the previous fiscal year, they said.To protect households during increasingly hotter summers, Lusson recommends individuals seek information about their rights when it comes to utility shutoffs. State utility commissions, which regulate public utilities, dictate local rules. To find your relevant commission, consult the government site operated by the national association of regulatory commissions, which has a state-by-state look-up tool.Lusson also encourages people to look into whether their state protections are calendar- or temperature-based, which can make a difference in planning. While some states forbid shut-offs during certain months of the year, others base the protections on the temperature of a given day or the presence of a heat advisory. This LIHEAP site has a break-down of every state’s policies.Some state attorney generals’ offices also have public utility bureaus that advocate on behalf of consumers, Lusson said.Lastly, it can be helpful to determine if your utility company offers discount rates or percentage-of-income payment plans to help with electricity bills. Both commission and utility websites have specific information about how to access LIHEAP assistance and whether or not the utility company itself offers assistance.
The Associated Press receives support from Charles Schwab Foundation for educational and explanatory reporting to improve financial literacy. The independent foundation is separate from Charles Schwab and Co. Inc. The AP is solely responsible for its journalism.
Cora Lewis, Associated Press
Italian fashion designer Giorgio Armani’s work spanned the worlds of celebrity, fashion and power. His death announced Thursday at age 91 has elicited an outpouring of tributes.
Ralph Lauren
“I have always had the deepest respect and admiration for Giorgio Armani, not only as a designer who never strayed from his vision, but as a man who loved his family and friends, and his homeland in such a special way. Though he was an icon of the world of fashion, he lived with great humility and a love of living that inspired the way he worked and the way he lived. He created a world reflecting all the things he loved with a foreverness that will be his legacy.” the American designer, in a statement to The Associated Press.
Anna Wintour
“Giorgio Armani had such a clear force of personality and vision that you knew his work instantly, wherever you found it. He understood power and attitude and elegance as well as anyone ever has in fashion, and he understood women too: how they wanted to dress and what message they wanted to send as they asserted themselves through his rise in the ’70s, ’80s, and beyond. He also never confined himself to one field or one discipline, and understood that fashion can’t exist in a silo. For him fashion wasn’t one thing: It was also film, music, sport, art, design, and architecture, and he left his mark in all these worldsand everywhere he went.” the chief content officer for Condé Nast, in a statement.
Mira Sorvino
“I still can’t believe it. I mean, I was just told like 20 minutes ago that he had passed and I did not even know he was in ill health. And I did not think of him as that old, you know. For me, he was like eternal this brilliant, kind man who was so talented and created this whole kind of sophisticated, understated glamour that really defined the ’90s in a way. And he discovered me at the Venice Film Festival when “Mighty Aphrodite” premiered there and asked if I could, if he could dress me. And he started dressing me then. I wore his beautiful designs to most of my most important moments in my career and in my personal life. I will really miss him and I think the world will miss him.” the actor, in an interview with The Associated Press, recounting how Armani made her a retro-glam Oscar dress and her wedding dress.
Jessica Chastain
“Mr. Armani was such a visionary. Family is very important to him. His friends were very important to him. He was such an incredible artist. And his legacy will go on and on, through the beautiful thing he’s created.” the actor, in an interview with AP, recounting that she met her husband Gian Luca Passi de Preposulo at an Armani fashion show in Paris in 2012.
Leonardo DiCaprio
“Giorgio Armani was a visionary whose influence reached far beyond design. I first met him many years ago in Milan and I remember being blown away by his creativity and genius. He was a legendary force who inspired generations, and his legacy will continue to shape and uplift the world for years to come.” the actor, on his Instagram story.
Donatella Versace
“The world lost a giant today. He made history and will be remembered forever.” the Italian fashion designer, on Instagram.
Julia Roberts
“A true friend. A Legend.” the actor, adding a broken heart emoji, on Instagram.
Morgan Freeman
“On screen and off, in quiet moments and on the grandest stages, I have had the honor of wearing Armani. Today, we remember a man whose genius touched many lives and whose legacy of grace and timeless style will endure.” the actor, in a statement.
Charles Leclerc
“A great honour to have had the chance to meet and work with such an amazing person. You will be missed Giorgio.” the Ferrari F1 driver and an Armani ambassador, on Instagram.
Giorgia Meloni
“Giorgio Armani leaves us at 91 years old. With his elegance, sobriety, and creativity, he was able to bring luster to Italian fashion and inspire the entire world. An icon, a tireless worker, a symbol of the best of Italy. Thank you for everything.” the Italian prime minister, across her social media accounts and originally posted in Italian.
Victoria Beckham
“The fashion world has lost a true legend in Giorgio Armani a visionary designer whose legacy will live on forever. I feel honoured to have called him a friend.” the English fashion designer and former Spice Girl, on Instagram.
Russell Crowe
“Giorgio. 1997 at the Cannes film festival, after my bag was lost in transit, LA Confidential producer Arnon Milchan sent me to the Armani store with a credit card to get a suit for the premiere. That began a love affair with Armani suits that continues to this day. Mr. Armani has made a deep contribution, to fashion, to design, to popular culture. His energy, vision and finesse has made a mark acknowledged around the globe. I adored him. He was so kind. So many significant moments in my life, awards, wedding, Wimbledon all in Armani. I have been looking forward to seeing him, plans were in place for Milan at the end of this month. Alas What a life he had, from his beginnings to his glory.” the actor, on X.
Samuel L. Jackson
“Thank you, Mr. Giorgio Armani, for your countless years of friendship, collaboration and dedication to your visionary craft. May God bless you as you are welcomed into eternal peace.” the actor, on Instagram.
Valentino Garavani
“I mourn someone I have always considered a friend, never a rival. I can only bow to his immense talent, to the changes he brought to fashion, and above all, to his unwavering loyalty to one style: his own.” the Italian designer behind Valentino, on Instagram.
Cindy Crawford
“Heartbroken to hear about the passing of a legend. A true master of his craft.” the supermodel, on Instagram.
Diane Von Furstenberg
“Goodbye and rest in peace. Caro Giorgio! You have touched so many people with your elegance and will continue to inspire forever.” the Belgian designer, on Instagram.
Michelle Pfeiffer
“I am heartbroken to hear of Mr. Armanis passing. Kind, generous and loyal. A true pioneer of elegance. A global inspiration. And today, a massive loss for all. Thank you for everything Mr. Armani, it was an honor and privilege to ork with you on so many momentous occasions in my life and to witness your craft firsthand.” the actor, on Instagram.
Diane Kruger
Incredibly saddened to hear about the passing of Giorgio Armani. One of the nicest people and mentors I was lucky enough to meet and work with. Thinking about Roberta and his family and everyone who worked with him. the actor, on Instagram.
Associated Press
World shares rose Friday after U.S. stocks climbed to a record as Wall Street made its final moves ahead of an update on the American job market that could clear the way for cuts to interest rates that investors love.In early European trading, Germany’s DAX index added 0.2% to 23,815.68, while Britain’s FTSE 100 rose 0.3% to 9,246.59. In Paris, the CAC 40 edged up 0.1% to 7,707.13.The future for S&P 500 rose 0.3% while that for the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 0.1%.In Tokyo, the Nikkei 225 added over 1% to 43,018.75 after data released Friday showed Japan’s labor cash earnings rose 4.1% year-on-year in July, up from 3.1% in June. Another report showed household spending climbed 1.4% in July from the same month a year ago, marking growth for the third month in a row.President Donald Trump also signed an executive order Thursday implementing the U.S. trade deal with Japan negotiated in July, with lower tariffs on Japanese car imports.“Solid wage growth is likely to support recovery in spending and sustainable inflation,” ING Economics said in a commentary, adding Friday’s data reinforces its expectation that the Bank of Japan will hike rates in October.Chinese markets rebounded after three days of decline. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index jumped 1.5% to 25,434.93, while the Shanghai Composite index added 1.2% to 3,812.51.South Korea’s Kospi edged up 0.1% to 3,205.12, and Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 rose 0.5% to 8,871.20.Taiwan’s Taiex jumped 1.3%, while India’s BSE Sensex bucked the trend, falling less than 0.1%.On Wall Street on Thursday, the S&P 500 added 0.8% to top the all-time high it set last week. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 350 points, or 0.8%, and the Nasdaq composite gained 1%.Stocks got some lift from easing pressure from the bond market, where Treasury yields fell following the latest reports on the U.S. job market to come in worse than economists expected. One report suggested employers, not including the government, nearly halved their hiring in August from the prior month. Another said that more workers applied for unemployment benefits last week in an indication of rising layoffs.Neither number is flashing a recession, and a third report on activity for businesses in the information and other services industries showed stronger-than-expected growth.The upside for investors of a slowdown in the job market is that it could push the Federal Reserve to cut its main interest rate for the first time this year at its next meeting in a couple weeks. Such cuts can kickstart the economy and job market, though they can also accelerate inflation.So far this year, the Fed has kept its main interest rate on hold because it’s been more worried about inflation potentially worsening because of Trump’s tariffs than about the job market.A more comprehensive report on the job market’s health during August will arrive Friday from the U.S. Labor Department and it will likely carry much weight with the Fed. Ahead of it, the yield on the 10-year Treasury fell to 4.16% from 4.22% late Wednesday.In other dealings Friday, benchmark U.S. crude lost 38 cents to $63.10 per barrel. Brent crude, the international standard, slid 32 cents to $66.67 per barrel.The U.S. dollar slipped to 148.14 Japanese yen from 148.40 yen. The euro rose to $1.1682 from $1.1654.
AP Business Writer Stan Choe in New York contributed to this report.
Teresa Cerojano, Associated Press
