From Piacenza to Hollywood. From Rinascente storefronts to a network of boutiques around the world. Giorgio Armani is 80 years old, during which he created a unique brand of real Italian clothing, which has long become a classic of fashion.
I like it, you like it too. This is the favorite phrase of Giorgio Armani, king of fashion, who turns 80 on July 11, 2014. I like it, you like it too. He repeats this to his colleagues, the designers with whom he works, the trusted managers who accompany him everywhere. Family members and strangers. If I like it, you like it too: Giorgio is not a supporter of "greige", a mythical non-color between gray and beige. Giorgio Armani is white or black, for or against, in or out. At 40 years old or at 80 - it doesn’t matter.
He was born on July 11, 1934 in Piacenza: at a time when Italy plunged into the abyss of fascism, and the world went to the nightmare of World War II. Ros Giorgio in a normal family, studied discipline with his father and grandfather, who raised him a strong character, which later allowed him to become a tough and determined entrepreneur. Career in fashion for Giorgio began with the position of window dresser in a network of large shopping centers La Rinascente. He was already over 40 when he founded his own company Giorgio Armani with the support of a constant friend and companion Sergio Galeotti (Sergio Galeotti).
This was the beginning of a dream, an attempt in which age does not matter. Only ideas and courage are taken into account. Together, they created an energetic, lightweight, modern look. First for men, then for women. Giorgio visited all the popular at that time newspaper publishers, presenting his works to journalists for evaluation.
In 1980, he was lucky: he received an order for sewing clothes for Richard Gere for the film "American Gigolo". This event marked the beginning of true success, symbolized by the placement of Giorgio Armani on the cover of The Times magazine in 1982.
In the eighties, the stylist consolidated his success in the fashion world and earned recognition and popularity. During the industrial boom of the nineties, Armani became the owner of many companies manufacturing products under his name. And as always, at the peak of happiness, fate begins to put sticks in wheels: unexpectedly, Sergio Galeotti dies, having done so much for Giorgio and their common cause. Armani never talks about this event, about the pain and bitterness of loss, and it is strictly forbidden to ask him about it.
Meanwhile, many of his companies are engaged in everything that is somehow connected with fashion: glasses, underwear, tights, toilet water, ties, houses, hotels and restaurants. Giorgio Armani becomes the fourth richest man in Italy and one of the five most famous and wealthy stylists in the world. He controls everything himself, does not miss a needle in the entire design and production process. He dresses Hollywood stars and Martin Scorsese praises him in the documentary Made in Milan ("Made in Milan"). It turns the center of Milan into a center of fashion, style, food, into a hotel in its own image and likeness. The same applies to New York, Tokyo, Paris, London and Dubai: wherever Giorgio appears, everything becomes Armani. Without the if and without the but.
In the 2000s, Armani closes and opens new lines, proudly presents the Giorgio Armani Privé collection of high fashion during his world tour, creates the Eccentrico (Eccentric) exhibition and One Night Only evenings. Soon another topic for discussion will be the Armani Silos brand history museum, which opens next year in connection with the holding of the EXPO exhibition in Milan.
Over the past decade, some have accused Armani of losing her gloss. To this, Giorgio growls like a lion, declaring that he hates fashion shows and hyperbolic clothes offered by other stylists: he is only interested in reality, classics, jackets, trousers and their actual significance. It is also believed that he sold his brand to the L'Oréal group, which Armani denies and claims that while he is alive, he will never sell his business, even the smallest share, even the needle. Freedom above all.
If I like it, you like it, he repeats. Giorgio brought women to power by giving them clothes that they had never worn before. Giorgio built everything from nothing, creating a world of halftones in which there are more shades than a thousand rainbows. Armani is almost the only truly historic Italian brand. If I like it, you like it too: happy birthday, Senor Armani. Everything that you liked was loved by everyone.
