FASHION INDUSTRY
MARCH 29, 2023
Giorgio Armani : Life Of A Fashion Genius
Giorgio Armani S.p.A., known as Armani is an Italian luxury fashion company founded by Giorgio Armani with many high class fashion materials.
The company market these products under several labels: Giorgio Armani Privé, Giorgio Armani, Armani Collezioni, Emporio Armani (including EA7), Armani Jeans, Armani Junior, and Armani Exchange.
BIOGRAPHY
Giorgio Armani (born 11 July 1934) is an Italian fashion designer. He studied at medical school for two years, dabbled in photography, fulfilled his military duty in 1957, then took a job at a prestigious department store, La Rinascente, as a window dresser.
Armani was born in the city of Piacenza, northern Italy He grew up with his older brother, Sergio, and younger sister, Rosann. His mother is Maria Raimondi and his father is Ugo Arman, (an accountant for a transportation company).
While attending secondary school at the Liceo Scientifico Leonardo da Vinci in Milan, Armani aspired to pursue a career in medicine, particularly after reading A. J. Cronin’s The Citadel. He enrolled in the Department of Medicine at the University of Milan.
However, in 1953, after attending for three years, he left and joined the army. After serving in the military for two years, he left his studies and in 1957.
After serving in the armed forces, Armani found work as a window dresser at La Rinascente, a shopping center in Milan in 1957. He later became a salesperson for the menswear department, and gained valuable experience in the marketing aspects of the fashion industry.
In the mid-1960s, Armani moved to the Nino Cerruti company, and designed menswear. Over the next decade, while continuing to work for Cerutti, Armani also freelanced, contributing designs to as many as ten manufacturers at a time.
In the late 1960s, Armani met Sergio Galeotti which marked the beginning of a personal and professional relationship that spanned many years. In 1973, Galeotti persuaded him to open a design office in Milan, at 37 Corso Venezia.
EARLY YEARS
On July 24, 1975, he founded Giorgio Armani S.p.A. in Milan, with Galeotti. In October of the same year, he presented his first collection of men’s ready-to-wear for the spring and summer of 1976 under his own name. He also produced a women’s line for the same season.
In 1979, after founding the Giorgio Armani Corporation, Armani began manufacturing for the United States and introduced mainlines for men and women. The label became one of the leading names in international fashion with the introduction of several new product lines, including G. A. Le Collezioni, Giorgio Armani Underwear and Swimwear, and Giorgio Armani Accessories.
His fame skyrocketed in the 1980s in the United States, when his menswear designs were featured in the television series Miami Vice and the film American Gigolo starring Richard Gere.
In the early 1980s, the company signed a landmark agreement with L’Oréal to manufacture Armani Beauty perfumes and cosmetics and introduced the Armani Junior, Armani Jeans, and Emporio Armani lines. In 1982, he introduced Emporio Underwear, Swimwear, and Accessories.
Armani is credited with pioneering red carpet fashion. Armani was the first designer to ban models with a body mass index (BMI) under 18, after model Ana Carolina Reston starved to death of anorexia nervosa.
REVENUE
In 2016, the company’s estimated sales were around $2.65 billion. Forbes magazine noted that Armani’s net worth in 2018 reached more than $8 billion.
In 2017, Giorgio Armani announced that his company would be closing two of its fashion labels, Armani Collezioni and Armani Jeans, as part of its corporate restructuring process.
PRIVATE LIFE
Armani is a very private man, but openly identifies as bisexual. He had a long relationship with his business partner, fashion designer Sergio Galeotti, who died of a heart attack in 1985. He also had several relatives in the United States. Giorgio Armani spends most of his family-owned time on yachts over 200 feet and loves sailing.
As valuable and detailed as his work is, Armani very often forms the bridge from fashion to art. For example, the Guggenheim Museum in New York hosted an exhibition by Armani—the first for a living designer—with an average attendance of 29,000 a week.
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