Armani has a strong presence in the world of sport, having designed the Italian flag bearers' outfits at the opening ceremony for the 2006 Winter Olympics in Turin, as well as designing suits for the players of London club Chelsea since 2007 and twice for the English national football team.

He is renowned for hiring the likes of David Beckham, Cristiano Ronaldo and Rafael Nadal as models in recent years, and launched a brand - EA7 - inspired by Ukrainian footballer Andriy Shevchenko, who at the time played for AC Milan, wearing the number seven jersey.

The Italian designer, who's most recent high-profile stage of his work was when he dressed Charlene Wittstock for her wedding to Prince Albert of Monaco earlier this month, is also the President of the Olimpia Milano basketball team.

The Italian national team wore sportswear brand Freddy at the 2008 Beijing Games.

Armani has scheduled a press conference for Wednesday (July 20) where he will reveal further details of the project in Rome at the CONI Hall of Honour.

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