Tradition plays a crucial role in the current world of high fashion, and the time-honored designers and styles will always remain popular, as they actually dictate all global trends associated with appearance and outfit. Giorgio Armani, one of the most conservative designers belongs to the narrow aristocratic circle of the fashion industry given his adherence to the eternal classics of black and white as well as other natural colors. The present paper addresses Armani’s development as a style creator as well as his recent works and ideas.
Giorgio Armani was born in 1934 in the city of Piacenza, Italy, and spent his child obsessed by a dream of becoming a physician. Later, however, he developed a keen interest in photography and thus gave up his medical university following the new dream. However, in 1957, the young man was compelled to join the military service as a medical assistant (Combray, 2001, p. 19). Upon release, he moved to Milan, where quote “he gained experience as a window dresser and in the style office. And he got to know fashion buyers. From there he moved on to an experimental in-store boutique, where he tested new clothes for the store. Eventually he became acquainted with Nino Cerruti, who was looking for assistance in creating new menswear” unquote (Combray, 2001, p. 25). As a result, Armani dedicated eight years to the work for Cerruti’s reputation, but suddenly met Sergio Galeotti, an architect who convinced the designer to establish a new fashion business. The enterprise was born in 1974 (White, 2000, p. 55) and first focused on the generation of new ideas for men, predominantly middle-age top managers. However, this marketing segment had already been occupied by other Italian designers such as Valentino, Zegna and Erreuno, so the collections were at first relatively unpopular (White, 2000, p. 55).
However, by the beginning of the 1980s, Armani and Galeotti invented a new concept of “office look”, which implied a more relaxed style of perfectly tailored jackets. As Combray writes, quote “his sartorial style exhibited a decidedly relaxed, even rumpled look. The designer softened these new jackets by pulling out the padding and lining and leaving out stiffeners of any kind. He combined thinner lapels with baggier pockets and longer jackets” unquote (Combrey, 2001, p. 38). In 1980, he acquired fame in Europe and America by creating Richard Gere’s image in the film entitled “American Gigolo” (image #1). As one can assume, Armani’s style is unstructured, given the straight lines on the trousers and the baggy and long jacket (blazer) made of soft wool. Furthermore, the widened lapel and extended shoulders, known as Armani’s signature trends, are intended to underline masculinity and independence (Celant and Coda, 2006, p. 118). The same referred to females, as the domination of the unsex style inspired Armani to cover female body with narrow skirts and loose jackets so that the silhouette looked masculine ( image #2). According to Armani, femininity can manifest itself only in comfortable conditions that probably require convenient size as well as natural colors that do not appear to irritate human eye (image #3).
Another factor of the progress of Armani’s business was his democratic price formation policy. For instance, in 1988, it was possible to purchase one of the best suits for men and women for only $1200-1500, blouses cost $30- $ 400, whereas blazers ranged from $100 to $300 (www.superiorpics.com, 2008). At that time, his design became “younger”, i.e. Armani began to address the needs of 20-25-year-olds of both genders, offering them bright and “slip-hipped” glamour (image #4) that includes silk and velvet blouses and narrow skirts and huge glasses that reveal the person’s self-confidence and even arrogance (www.giorgioarmani.com, 2008). However, his casual clothes is characterized by simplicity that implies the combination of traditional “leisure” colors such as white, blue and brown. Image # 5 illustrates Armani’s general pattern for everyday clothing: chick minimalism, in which even jeans have classic lines. In addition, there are separate brands that cover such important products as glasses (Armani Occhialli), fragrances and accessories designed by Armani.
Armani’s counterpart, Galeotti, died more than twenty years ago, whereas the designer himself seems larger than life in terms of both effectiveness and personal well-being: the artist aged 74 still controls his immense empire and visits all of his “haute couture” and “prêt-a-porter” openings. His philosophy of life is quite unsophisticated: “Every time I get involved in something that goes beyond my world of work, I question whether I’m doing a good thing or a bad thing or if I’m being an exhibitionist. I think a lot about it. I want to be known for my work as a designer” (White, 2000, p. 148). Therefore, his major source of inspiration is the willingness to bring into this world new ideas that allow people feeling their well-being once again; images #6, #7 and #8 that exhibit the articles form his recent collection is a perfect proof of this statement: warm tartan jackets and classical European colors including grey, black and brows appeal to the modern man’s desire for universality of each article so that it is appropriate in numerous combinations.
In the warm season of 2008, Armani amazes his female consumers with mysterious Eastern-styled dresses (image #9) and the rebirth of attached trousers (image #10) with flounces that turn the woman who wears them into an ephemeral and airy creature.
Works cited
White, Nicola, Giorgio Armani. New York: Routledge, 2000.
Celant, Germano, and Harold Koda, New York & London, 2006.
Milbank, S. Giorgio Armani: Twenty-Five Photographers. Ostfildern, 2005.
Combray, A. Giorgio Armani, FundaciĂłn del Museo. Guggenheim, Bilboa, 2001.
“Armani the Great”. 2008. Web.
“Giorgio Armani”. 2008. Web.