Armani, Giorgio

born July 11, 1934, Piacenza, Italy

Italian fashion designer.

He abandoned medical school and worked as a buyer for a department store (1957–64) before training as a fashion designer. In 1974–75 he introduced his own label of ready-to-wear apparel for men and women. In 1980–81 he founded Giorgio Armani USA, Emporio Armani, and Armani Jeans, and in 1989 he opened shops in London. He was a leader in the move toward a pared-down, unstructured silhouette in menswear and was responsible for the wide-shouldered look for executive women. His designs, often characterized by understated glamour and luxurious fabrics, introduced ease and streamlined modernity into late 20th-century dressing.

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▪ 1998

      In 1997 Italian designer Giorgio Armani, for years a fashion trendsetter, launched Giorgio Armani Exclusive, a limited-edition line of handmade couture dresses that were available only by order and to select clients. In addition, his signature style, which included both relaxed yet luxurious ready-to-wear and elegant, intricately beaded chiffon evening wear, was reinvented by other designers on numerous international catwalks.

      The death of colleague and countryman Gianni Versace allowed Armani to pay tribute to his archrival. Although each had pioneered a different approach to style (Armani's designs were minimalist, whereas Versace's ensembles were flamboyant), Armani attended the debut of Donatella Versace's (Gianni's sister's) collection for the house of Versace and then at the close of the show led the standing ovation that hailed her first collection a success.

      Armani was born on July 11, 1934, in Piacenza, Italy, and was the son of a shipping manager. Rising from humble origins, he intended to become a doctor but left medical school and worked as a buyer, beginning in 1957, for the Milan department store La Rinascente. In 1964, after a seven-year stint in that position, Armani pursued a career in fashion design, training in the atelier of Nino Cerruti. About 10 years later, with the help of his friend and business partner Sergio Galeotti, Armani launched his own label of ready-to-wear for men and women. Each year he added new offerings to his company—introducing perfume, accessories, a jeans line, the lower-priced diffusion line Emporio Armani, and sportswear.

      Armani, a perfectionist who always wore the same shade of midnight blue, best described his approach to fashion as follows: "I was the first to soften the image of men, and harden the image of women. I dressed men in women's fabrics, and stole from men what women wanted and needed—the power suit." His androgynous approach rarely disappointed fashion critics, who dutifully appeared each season at shows staged at his 17th-century palazzo on Via Borgonuovo in central Milan. Meanwhile, the public developed an insatiable demand for his minimalist style, and such Hollywood leading ladies as Jodie Foster, Michelle Pfeiffer, and Annette Bening became torchbearers for the Armani look at the Academy Awards ceremonies. The measure of his success was staggering—in 1996 his company, Giorgio Armani SpA, enjoyed stratospheric sales totaling 1,870,000,000 lira, an astounding 10% increase from the previous year.

BRONWYN COSGRAVE

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▪ Italian fashion designer

born July 11, 1934, Piacenza, Italy

 

 Italian fashion designer whose signature style of relaxed yet luxurious ready-to-wear and elegant, intricately beaded evening wear helped introduce ease and streamlined modernity to late 20th-century dressing.

      The son of a shipping manager, Armani intended to become a doctor but left medical school to pursue a career in fashion. Beginning in 1957 he worked as a buyer for the Milan department store La Rinascente. After a seven-year stint in that position, he began to pursue a career in fashion design, training in the atelier of Nino Cerruti. In 1975, with the help of his friend and business partner Sergio Galeotti, Armani launched his own label of ready-to-wear for men and women.

      Armani best described his approach to fashion as follows: “I was the first to soften the image of men, and harden the image of women. I dressed men in women's fabrics, and stole from men what women wanted and needed—the power suit.” His androgynous approach rarely disappointed fashion critics, who dutifully appeared each season at shows staged at his 17th-century palazzo on Via Borgonuovo in central Milan. Armani's reputation grew as a result of the popular film American Gigolo (1980), in which actor Richard Gere was featured as the dashing owner of a closetful of tailored Armani clothing. The public developed an increasingly insatiable demand for his minimalist style, and many Hollywood leading ladies became torchbearers for the Armani look at the Academy Awards ceremonies.

      Over the years Armani continually added new offerings to his company—introducing perfume, accessories, a jeans line, the lower-priced diffusion line Emporio Armani, sportswear, and a limited-edition line of handmade couture dresses. In 2000–01 the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum in New York City honoured Armani with a major retrospective of his work.

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