Giorgio Armani
About
the designers
1934-born Giorgio Armani gave up a career in medicine to pursue his interest in fashion. After a brief career as a photographer, he got his first job as a window dresser in the LaRinascente departmental store, in Milan. After working some time, he became Junior Buyer.
1964 He left La Rinascente and joined Nino Cerruti where he worked as a designer for his menswear company Hitman.
The Look
Following the phenomenal success of his menswear, Armani used the elements of masculine tailoring to make feminine garments. Armani understands how to make a suit sexy. He made jackets without stiff linings, opened up the armholes, deleted superfluous buttons and re-figured the proportions. He used soft slinky dress fabrics to make jackets, so lacking in starch that they could scarcely hold a crease. The design of the Armani jacket is far removed from traditional principles of jacket tailoring. On ordinary jackets, the shoulders fit tightly, the waist is apparent and it hits the breast. His jackets do not do any of these. He makes the shoulder sloping, giving the illusion of a longer neck, the fabric at the collar is pared away, again lengthening the neck, and the whole effect is restrained and languid, not at all masculine. His clothes have a sense of control and the lack of fuss and clutter make women feel comfortable. Armani uses a dense weave of 5 or even 8 strands of different colours, which at a distance merge into a neutral. This can be called beige, or stone, pearl, mink, sludge, etc. In all cases he stresses simplicity, and minimalism. He hardly uses accessories or jewellery in his collections. His style is the perfect bridge between refined elegance and down-to-earth comfort.
Who Wears It
Jodie Foster, Michelle Pfeiffer, Richard Gere, Goldie Hawn, Sharon Stone.