Giorgio Armani was born on July 11th, 1934 in the northern Italian town of Piacenza. He attended public school and developed a love for theater and the cinema.
Giorgio Armani had originally planned to study medicine, so he attended Milan University so he could become a doctor. Armani found his passion elsewhere, however: in photography. Therefore, Armani did not continue his studies in medicine and instead spent some time dabbling in photography.
In 1957, at the age of 23, Armani fulfilled his military obligations with the Italian armed forces. After returning from the service, he took a job as a window dresser, merchandiser, and buyer for Milan’s well-known, prestigious department store, La Rinascente. He worked as an assistant photographer for a short time there, as well, and soon accepted a promotion to the store’s style office.
In 1964, without any formal training in the world of fashion, Armani designed menswear for Nino Cerruti’s Hitman line. Armani’s close friend and business partner, Sergio Galeotti, encouraged him to leave Cerruti. More encouragement came his way from a person he knew through his sister, who proposed his name to an important fashion firm. Armani quit his job with Cerruti to start his fashion career: in 1970, he became a freelance fashion designer and consultant for many companies. He was successful because of the experience he had gained from his job at La Rinascente. There he had learned to focus on clean cuts and elegant styles. He had also learned about fashion from the many trips he had taken to England throughout the years. He gives a lot of credit to England as his main source of inspiration, saying, "It was virtually the most important centre for inspiration. I remember seeing some yellow cardigans in a small boutique and everyone thought I was insane. Yellow cardigans were what the Duke of Windsor was about; they were not something for the average man. The entire idea of such clothing was so outré, so elitist… Very, very English." These experiences resulted in an exceptionally rich and varied development of his style. Of course, he had a lot of natural talent, too, which had a great deal to do with how far he has come in the industry.
In 1975, Armani and Sergio Galeotti started their own company called Giorgio Armani S.p.A. They also founded the Armani fashion label, which is known for its top quality male clothes, perfume, cosmetics, and even home décor (Armani Casa home interiors). That same year, with the help of his sister, Armani started a womenswear line. Since then, he has truly expanded the products in his line, which now includes his signature Giorgio Armani line, Giorgio Armani Privé, Armani Collezioni, Armani Underwear, Armani Junior, Armani Teen, Armani Baby, A/X Armani Exchange, Armani Accessories (shoes, bags, watches, eyewear, jewelry, and fragrances), Swimwear, and Occhiali. He has even created a line of off-field sportswear for an English football team.
In 1981, Armani launched two lines of less expensive clothing, Emporio Armani and Armani Jeans. The success of his multiple labels led to the creation of the Armani makeup line later in 2000.
In 1982, Armani became the first fashion designer to be on the cover of Time magazine since Christian Dior in the 1940s. Armani had become increasingly popular. He was one of the first designers to approach celebrities to wear his designs in 1988 (especially to events like the Academy Awards) and he gained many celebrity devotees through this.
Some of Armani’s signature styles include the use of materials in unexpected contexts and combinations, such as the acclaimed leather bomber jackets he created that made leather seem like an everyday, casual fabric, which he showed in the 1974 Sala Bianca fashion show in Florence, and new interpretations of the traditional business suit: unstructured, relaxed designs for men and masculine styles for women. His clothing expresses a timeless elegance. His soft-shouldered suit silhouette is still a staple of modern designs. His signature style could be described as relaxed yet elegant, luxurious yet minimalist; it helped bring streamlined modernity and ease into late 20th century styles. Armani himself described his sense of fashion like this: “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.” Fashion critics rarely had anything bad to say about his androgynous approach.
Armani has had a big influence on culture. In the 1980s, the Armani “power suit” for both men and women became a symbol of an era of international economic growth. Armani revolutionized fashion with his form of the unstructured jacket. Armani’s reputation grew further when he dressed Richard Gere in the 80s film American Gigolo. Today, Armani still wants his fashion to represent the type of clothing that can be worn on the streets; he wants it to be casual and…
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It’s a little too close to
http://www.thebiographychannel.co.uk/biographies/giorgio-armani.html
for my taste. Find info from a variety of sources; there are many out there.
But you edit well.