The Piaggio Group and fashion design house Giorgio Armani are both celebrating anniversaries this year so it was only natural that the two Italian icons are cooking something up together, right? It didn’t take us long to find out since Piaggio and Armani have already announced a special edition model of the Vespa 946 that proudly carries the nomenclature “Emporio Armani.”

The special edition scooter itself is really just a Vespa 946 that received subtle design details that’s keeping in line with Armani’s penchant for using a subdued color palette.

There’s nothing overly fancy about the colors on this scooter, that is unless you consider grey and hints of green as splashy to the eyes. The colors, specifically the green shade, do have a certain characteristic in that you’ll only notice it under certain light conditions.

The Vespa 946 Emporia Armani also comes with satin-finished metal parts, adding some bluster to its already classy appearance. Likewise, an “Emporio Armani” logo was also added on the side of the scooter while the design house’s iconic eagle logo can be visibly seen just above the headlight.

Evidently, Piaggio and Armani wanted to drive home the point that this is a special edition Vespa 946, hence the decision to use the latter’s two logos on the scooter to ensure that nobody mistakes it for anything other than what it really is: a sophisticated-looking special edition Vespa 946 that imbibes the stylish and glamorous design spirit of one of the most famous Italian fashion design brands in the world.

Piaggio plans to produce an exclusive run of individually numbered Vespa 946 Emporio Armani Edition scooters. Specific dealerships in key markets all over the world will get dibs on the special edition ride beginning in June 2015.

Continue reading to read more about Piaggio’s partnership with Armani that resulted in the creation of this unique Vespa 946 scooter.

Why it matters

I honestly didn’t expect both companies to collaborate on anything, much less design an actual special edition version of the Vespa 946. But this is one of those times wherein I’m happy to have been proven wrong. The Vespa 946 Emporio Armani Edition looks absolutely amazing. The satin finish on the body panels of the scooter underscores the kind of luxurious aura that’s typical of a fashion design house like Armani.

Even the brown leather finishes, luxury accessories, and electronic riding controls all contribute in the posh and stylish makings of the scooter, validating the special edition label attached.

Granted, there are a couple things that I would change from the current design, one in particular being the prevalent amount of Armani logos on the scooter. Based on the pictures, you can already make out three distinct logos of the Italian design house.

There’s the “Emporio Armani” logo near the exhaust, the “GA Eagle logo” on the headlight, and another Eagle logo on the fuel cap.

That’s three by my count, which is one too many for my taste. I know Piaggio and Armani are both proud of this special edition bike, but having too many references to Armani kind of makes it look like a billboard for the fashion brand.

Overall, though, it’s a piece of work that I wouldn’t mind riding once the exclusive run of individually numbered scooters go on sale in some key markets beginning in June 2015.