Giorgio Armani is a name synonymous with luxury. Celebrities have paraded his fashion on the red carpet for decades. But Armani, who would eventually lead a billion-dollar business empire, grew up without possessions. In childhood, his mother made all his clothes. Still, he was the envy of his classmates, as Armani recalled in the 1990 documentary Made In Milan. He looked rich despite his family’s poverty.
Armani died on Thursday in Milan, according to his family. He was 91 years old.
Born on July 11, 1934, in Piacenza, Italy, Armani was the second of three children. As a child, he admired designers, artists, and architects from the early 20th century. In 1975, he founded his Italian luxury fashion house Armani in Milan. Soon after, the film American Gigolo helped make him a household name in the United States.
In that 1980 crime drama, Richard Gere plays a high-end prostitute. The film begins with Gere entering a sophisticated boutique, complete with a uniformed doorman. The camera focuses on Gere as he stands in front of a mirror, trying on a relaxed brown Armani jacket with a single row of two buttons.
At the time, a slim silhouette was uncommon in men’s fashion. Armani jackets did not use traditional padding and deviated from standard colors like blue and black. Armani suits offered a sculptural quality, with more casual silhouettes and softer colors.
Armani’s clothes were created with the aim of highlighting the body as a work of art. Design historian John Potvin wrote the 2013 book Giorgio Armani: Empire of the Senses. He states that Armani’s greatest contribution to the fashion world was the subtlety with which he revolutionized the way we dress. “He made formal wear and sportswear incredibly comfortable and accessible,” Potvin told NPR.
Well, perhaps not accessible to everyone. Armani’s men’s prêt-à-porter suits easily cost thousands of dollars. Their elegant and austere lines suited office culture, and women in the corporate world adopted Armani for generations, in part thanks to an androgynous touch that made it a favorite of some female movie stars.
At the 1990 Golden Globes, Julia Roberts accepted her Best Supporting Actress award for Steel Magnolias wearing an oversized gray suit with a purple tie. It was a subversive and sexy fashion choice, well outside the confines of extravagant long-tailed dresses. Potvin calls the look “iconic,” “extremely 90s,” and “very masculine”.
“And at the same time, she looked amazing, as she always does,” Potvin said. “We have Armani to thank for making formal wear much more comfortable.”
Over the years, Armani maintained ownership of his privately held company, which generated $2.4 billion in revenue in 2022 alone. In addition to clothing, the Armani fashion house designs, manufactures, distributes, and retails leather goods, shoes, accessories, and fragrances. More affordable versions of his clothes have been sold in malls through Armani Exchange since the 1990s, but Giorgio Armani never lost his style and direction. His influence on the fashion world seems eternal.
Source: npr.org by Diana Opong