Cover Remembering Giorgio Armani on what would have been his 92nd birthday (Photo: Getty Images)
Remembering Giorgio Armani on what would have been his 92nd birthday (Photo: Getty Images)
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From nearly becoming a doctor to his label being a red carpet staple, we reflect on the life and legacy of Italian fashion designer Giorgio Armani
Giorgio Armani is a household name. His eponymous fashion empire encompasses garments and accessories, beauty products, interior design, real estate, and even hotels.
The Italian designer established his influence in 1982 when he appeared on the cover of Time Magazine and was awarded the Murano Glass Golden Lion by the mayor of Venice in recognition of his artistic achievements in 2023.
On what would have been his 92nd birthday, we look back at the Italian designer’s illustrious career and the motto that defined it—“elegance doesn’t mean being noticed, it means being remembered”— a guiding principle that drove his creative spirit throughout a legendary life in fashion.
Read more: Five emerging Hong Kong fashion designers on craft, memory and finding a voice
Giorgio Armani almost became a doctor
Armani was born in 1934 in Piacenza, a small town in northern Italy. Growing up during World War II inspired him to become a doctor, however, while attending medical school, he found that he had a propensity for fainting and eventually lost interest, leading him to drop out of the programme. Later, he worked in the purchasing department of La Rinascente—a famous department store in Milan—and participated in window display design, beginning his relationship with fashion.
Giorgio Armani only started his label at 40
When Armani was 27 years old, he worked as an assistant for the father of Italian fashion, Nino Cerruti, and gradually began to design for the brand, Cerruti. When he was 40, he finally set up his own brand with the encouragement of his partner, Sergio Galeotti, who pushed Armani to sell his car to fund his dream. Sadly, Galeotti died of AIDS in 1985, a decade after the brand’s founding.
Giorgio Armani designed countless classics
The popularity of bomber jackets in current fashion may have started with Armani, who designed the first leather jacket for the brand in 1970. He is most famous for introducing the straight shoulder lines, wide lapels and loose trousers lines of men’s formal suits to womenswear, and launching a women’s version of the label’s iconic suit jacket. For women actively fighting for workplace equality at that time, it had important contemporary significance.
Giorgio Armani is a Hollywood darling
The red carpet wasn’t always awash with a plethora of designer brands—celebrities used to wear ensembles arranged by film companies, and Armani was one of the brands that helped change this phenomenon. In 1978, Diane Keaton won the Oscar for Best Actress in Annie Hall (1977) and accepted her award wearing a beige suit jacket from Giorgio Armani, which inspired more stars to collaborate with brands on the red carpet at the time. Armani even helped provide Richard Gere’s costumes in American Gigolo (1980), with demand for his label increasing significantly following its release.
Giorgio Armani is an Italian icon
The Giorgio Armani designs are ubiquitous in Italy: with the brand not only designing uniforms for the Italian police but also for taxi drivers in Milan, the Alitalia pilot uniforms of the 1990s, and many more. In addition, Armani owns the Italian basketball team, Olimpia Milano, and designs uniforms for the Italian Olympic and Paralympic national teams. It is not an exaggeration to say that Armani is a national treasure in Italy.
He uses fashion for good
During the pandemic, Armani converted his factories in Italy to manufacture disposable medical protective clothing, recognising the global need for such items. In addition to donating money to support Italian hospitals and anti-epidemic organisations, he also wrote to WWD asking to re-examine the role of the fashion industry. In 2022, he presented his latest collection silently at the Milan Fashion Show as a tribute to those involved in the war in Ukraine, showing the humanitarian side of his major presence.
This article was originally written in Chinese by Elise Yau. Here’s the link to the Chinese article.
Amalissa Hall was the style writer at Tatler Hong Kong. Primarily focused on writing digital articles, she covers news, tracks trends and interviews experts from the fashion, beauty and wellness industries, as well as entertainment spheres. Interview highlights include Formula One driver Alex Albon, award-winning costume designer Jany Temime and prolific make-up artist Lisa Eldridge.
She has also produced print stories featuring make-up artists, perfumiers and other upcoming figures discussing Asian representation on social media, sharing industry insight and trends as well as explaining new approaches to wellness in Hong Kong.
