Giorgio Armani and Anna Wintour are co-hosting the annual Metropolitan Museum Costume Ball this spring, which means that socialites across Manhattan are already vying for gowns from his Armani Prive collection. But at a press conference announcing the collaboration, Armani showed a bit of cheek to Vogue editor Anna Wintour, pondering the touchy subject of why so many people dislike the icy magazine queen. For his part, Armani said he had "no problem" with Anna, though he did prompt a nervous silence when he recalled: "I was told she once said, 'The Armani era is over.' I hope that's not true." The Italian design master then made a dig at Vogue for promoting American fashion and neglecting Italian design.

Earlier this week, Armani, following in Vivienne Westwood's wake and saying and doing exactly as he pleases, dis-invited the New York Times' fashion critic Cathy Horyn from his Monday runway show, although she had already opened her invite and RSVPd, perhaps due to her lukewarm view of the collection. "There was nothing lurid or in bad taste about Mr. Armani's clothes, but neither was there anything subtle or particularly surprising about them," Horyn wrote last month.

We kind of love that in his, ahem, golden years, Armani's not taking crap from anyone. We're also excited to see what show-stopping gown he'll be designing for Katie Holmes to wear to the ball, where she'll no doubt outshine all the Vogue-bots and their ilk, much to Armani's pleasure.