{"id":18025,"date":"2022-02-03T08:27:00","date_gmt":"2022-02-03T04:27:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/graziamagazine.com\/me\/?post_type=articles&p=18025"},"modified":"2022-02-03T08:27:00","modified_gmt":"2022-02-03T04:27:00","slug":"fashion-armani-40th-anniversary","status":"publish","type":"articles","link":"https:\/\/graziamagazine.com\/me\/articles\/fashion-armani-40th-anniversary\/","title":{"rendered":"A MATERIAL MASTERPIECE: Celebrating Emporio Armani’s 40th Anniversary"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Grazia
Stretch Technical Gabardine Wide Leg Trousers, Shiny Nappa Calfskin Leather Ankle Boots, EMPORIO ARMANI. right Velvet Shirt With Brush Stroke Print, Baggy Velvet Trousers With Brush Stroke Print, EMPORIO ARMANI<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

CREATIVE DIRECTION DAN\u00c9 STOJANOVIC & MARNE SCHWARTZ<\/strong>
\nPHOTOGRAPHY FRANCESCO SCOTTI FASHION DIRECTION ANNA CASTAN<\/strong>
\nEXECUTIVE PRODUCER JESSE VORA ASSOCIATE PRODUCER SABINA MARINI<\/strong>
\nHAIR ANA RODRIGUEZ MAKEUP CHIARA GUIZZETTI<\/strong><\/p>\n

MODELS JHONA BURJACK \/ IMG & MARIANNE FONSECA \/ FORD MODELS WORDS GRACE O\u2019NEILL<\/strong><\/p>\n

SPECIAL THANKS TO FRANCHI UMBERTO MARMI SPA<\/strong><\/p>\n

Giorgio Armani<\/a> \u2013 one of our generation\u2019s greatest and most\u00a0prolific designers \u2013 has said \u201cluxury cannot and must not be\u00a0fast\u201d. It\u2019s a notion that seems to directly contradict the rules\u00a0of engagement for fashion designers working in the modern\u00a0era. Creative directors are expected to design upwards of eight\u00a0collections a year, brands must engage with an ever-rampant\u00a0rotation of TikTok stars while still being \u201chot\u201d on Instagram,\u00a0they must cater to trends that will inevitably go out of fashion in\u00a0a matter of weeks, and yet still engage with sustainable business\u00a0practises. Slowness and consideration are resources in short supply\u00a0in today\u2019s industry, but if anyone can convince you of their value\u00a0it\u2019s Mr. Armani, who has spent the last five decades creating a\u00a0brand so formidable it has made the word \u2018Armani\u2019 a synonym\u00a0for Italian glamour, and turned its namesake designer into a\u00a0billionaire seven and a half times over.<\/p>\n

\"Grazia
Long-Haired Kidassia Goat Fur Collar, Baggy Velvet Trousers, EMPORIO ARMANI<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cThey say I have powers, that I can see into the future,\u201d the\u00a087-year-old said in an interview last year, when the rest of the\u00a0fashion industry was hoping his oracle-like qualities would help\u00a0guide them through the first global pandemic in a century.\u00a0Armani was one of the first brands to cancel his runway\u00a0presentation when the coronavirus broke out in Milan in early\u00a02020, showcasing a characteristically deft ability to read the\u00a0cultural moment. He later revealed that the memory of the\u00a0AIDS epidemic, which took the life of his long-term partner\u00a0Sergio Galeotti in 1985, informed his decision to take the virus\u00a0so seriously so early on. His decision no doubt saved lives,\u00a0encouraging other prominent Italian fashion houses to follow\u00a0suit, and he went on to become a figurehead in the Italian fight\u00a0against COVID-19, donating millions of dollars to hospitals\u00a0and transforming Armani factories into a production hub\u00a0for hospital uniforms.<\/p>\n

And it was a boon for the Italian economy that his business\u00a0stayed afloat throughout the next tumultuous 18 months. As\u00a0one of the few remaining independently owned Italian fashion\u00a0houses, Armani boasts a staff of more than 8000 most of whom\u00a0live and work in Italy. His brand\u2019s resilience in one of the most\u00a0trying periods in recent fashion memory is a testament to his aforementioned \u201cpowers\u201d. Mr. Armani has long had the foresight\u00a0to diversify Armani\u2019s offering, which now spans ready-to-wear\u00a0and couture, red carpet and fragrance, beauty, restaurants, caf\u00e9s,\u00a0bookshops, and hotels. It\u2019s commonplace now but Mr. Armani\u00a0was one of the first designers to transform his fashion label into\u00a0an all-encompassing lifestyle. He\u2019s a designer who has remained\u00a0at the top of his game for almost 50 years, his designs beloved by\u00a0everyone from Zendaya to Marion Cotillard, Lady Gaga to Nicole\u00a0Kidman. Julia Roberts wore an Armani suit to win a Golden\u00a0Globe in 1990, then 23 years later Cate Blanchett wore Armani\u00a0to win her second Oscar. Another eight years later, Meghan\u00a0Markle reached for a printed Armani wrap dress to partake in\u00a0one of the most groundbreaking television interviews in history.<\/p>\n

\"Grazia
Wide Leg Wool Trousers, Shiny Nappa Calfskin Leather Ankle Boots, EMPORIO ARMANI<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

This kind of continued relevance is not normal in fashion. The\u00a0number of brands who have seen meteoric success, only to burn\u00a0out a decade later due to financial troubles, emotional turmoil,\u00a0or the ever-looming threat of simply going \u201cout\u201d of fashion is\u00a0immense. How has Armani not only survived but thrived for\u00a0close to five decades?<\/p>\n

Born in a small town in Italy\u2019s northeast in the years before\u00a0the second World War, Mr. Armani\u2019s initial goal was far from\u00a0the fashion mills of Milan: he wanted to be a doctor, having\u00a0developed a passion for medicine after reading the A.J. Cronin\u00a0novel The Citadel in his youth. He later studied medicine at the\u00a0University of Milan, but left his studies to join the army eventually\u00a0landing at a military hospital in Verona. Upon returning to Italy\u00a0in the late 50s, Mr. Armani switched careers and took a job as a\u00a0window dresser at the Milanese department store La Rinascente,\u00a0where he ascended the ranks to become a seller for the menswear\u00a0department. By 1963, he\u2019d been tapped by Nino Cerruti as the\u00a0brand\u2019s menswear designer. It wasn\u2019t until 1973, when he met\u00a0Galeotti \u2013 the great love of his life \u2013 that he was encouraged to\u00a0consider opening his own fashion house. In 1975 he presented his\u00a0first ready-to-wear collections for menswear and womenswear to\u00a0immediate critical acclaim. His designs completely modernised the\u00a0suit, creating a softer silhouette in more relaxed fabrics, switching\u00a0the usual black and navy for modern shades of beige and grey. The\u00a0look went on to become synonymous with a new generation of\u00a0\u2018power dressing\u2019 for both men and women. \u00c9 nata una stella.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

By the 80s \u2013 his star on a remarkable global rise \u2013 Mr. Armani\u00a0began devising the idea for a more affordable line, launching Emporio Armani in 1981. Now celebrating its 40th year, Emporio\u00a0Armani was an early beacon of democratised luxury, offering\u00a0Armani\u2019s signature brand of laidback glamour to an entirely new\u00a0audience. Mr. Armani got the word out by dabbling in then\u00a0unconventional advertising methods like (shock, horror!) TV\u00a0advertising. This was a mere year after he\u2019d set the American\u00a0market alight with the \u2018greige\u2019 suits he\u2019d designed for Richard\u00a0Gere in the cult hit American Gigolo.<\/em> Emporio Armani made that\u00a0inimitable Italian cool factor accessible. In 2021, Emporio Armani\u00a0continues to be an important global power player, complementing\u00a0the Giorgio Armani line while still carving its own unique\u00a0visual identity. For the brand\u2019s Fall\/Winter 2021 collection \u2013\u00a0photographed here in the Cava Michelangelo, the marble quarry\u00a0where Michelangelo took the stone to create his masterpiece\u00a0sculpture David \u2013 Armani offered an optimistic vision for fashion\u2019s\u00a0post-COVID future. The collection opened with a bold, electric\u00a0blue jacquard coat dress, fastened at the neck with an explosive\u00a0magenta flower resembling a just-burst firework. In a moment\u00a0where many designers opted for muted pragmatism, Mr. Armani\u00a0embraced the opposite (though there was a hearty dose of chic\u00a0cashmere loungewear), courtesy of hot pink velvet suiting, shaggy\u00a0purple shearling coats, and satin bubble-hemmed cocktail dresses.<\/p>\n

\"Grazia
Reversible Satin Coat With Geometric Print, EMPORIO ARMANI<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Elsewhere, classics in the Armani stable were updated for 2021: 80s-style suiting\u00a0reworked in graphic zigzag prints, crisp white shirts affixed at the neck with\u00a0cascading tassels, men\u2019s tuxedos studded with a constellation of delicate crystals.\u00a0\u201cThe 80s were a magical moment, an outburst of creativity, fantasy, money that\u00a0came right after the harshness of the 70s. I do not know if after the pandemic\u00a0we will be entering similar conditions,\u201d he told press after the show. \u201cI certainly\u00a0hope so.\u201d Mr. Armani may shake off suggestions he is the industry\u2019s fortune teller,\u00a0but the collection revealed a lot about his plans for the brand\u2019s future. As it did\u00a0for so many other designers, the COVID era caused Mr. Armani to reflect on the\u00a0breakneck nature of modern fashion manufacturing. He decided to pare things\u00a0back, revealing in an interview in March 2021 plans to reduce his annual collections\u00a0by up to a third. This ethos extends to the clothes themselves, which embodied a\u00a0sensible mix of longevity and desirability \u2013 well-made staples that can be worn for\u00a0years, perhaps even decades, with playful twists that keep the ever-fickle modern\u00a0consumer tantalised. This, we can imagine, will be the modus operandi of Armani\u2019s\u00a0fashion offering going forward.<\/p>\n

Continuing to dominate the global fashion industry after 50 years is a tall order,\u00a0particularly for an 87-year-old, but Mr. Armani is showing no signs of slowing\u00a0down. He\u2019s constantly bucked against the idea of selling the company, a rarity in\u00a0the Italian fashion scene. Mr. Armani watched the equally meteoric rise of Gucci\u00a0and Fendi, both of whom went on to sell majority stakes to Kering and LVMH,\u00a0but Mr. Armani remained resolute in his plans to retain control of his namesake\u00a0brand. He recently hinted at the possibility of a \u201cliaison with an important Italian\u00a0company\u201d, though remained tight-lipped on the details, insisting the potential\u00a0merger will not be with a French conglomerate. As for the question of succession?\u00a0The Armani company is filled with members of Mr. Armani\u2019s extended family, but\u00a0it\u2019s his elegant 51-year-old niece Roberta Armani \u2013 whose career began with a sales\u00a0job at the Emporio Armani store on Madison Avenue at age 16 \u2013 that is tipped to\u00a0eventually take over. \u201cShe\u2019s young and attractive and makes good Armani-clad arm\u00a0candy for her uncle or for any one of the million celebrities that he dresses,\u201d fashion\u00a0writer and illustrator J.J Martin told the LA Times<\/em> of Ms. Armani in a rare profile\u00a0in 2013. \u201cShe\u2019s a fundamental link to [Giorgio] both internally and externally.\u201d<\/p>\n

Whatever is on the horizon, there\u2019s no doubt Mr. Armani is working ten steps\u00a0ahead of the rest of us. This is the man who single-handedly revolutionised\u00a0workwear, transformed red carpet dressing, and democratised Italian glamour\u00a0by bottling it and delivering it to every corner of the globe. He once said \u201cI love\u00a0things that age well, things that don\u2019t date, that stand the test of time and that\u00a0become living examples of the absolute best.\u201d This quote is the closest I\u2019ve found\u00a0to encapsulating Armani\u2019s much-discussed \u2018secret sauce\u2019. While the rest of fashion\u00a0runs on a hamster wheel of fetishised newness, Mr. Armani\u2019s staying power\u00a0has always relied on consistency. He isn\u2019t a designer who flip-flops based on the\u00a0fickleness of trends, rather, he creates timeless clothes that consecutive generations\u00a0of fashion obsessives have fallen in love with and stayed faithful to. Ultimately, Mr. Armani is proof that some things \u2013 Negronis overlooking the Conca Dei\u00a0Marini, Sophia Loren in Yesterday, Today, and Tomorrow,\u00a0<\/em>Michelangelo\u2019s David \u2013\u00a0simply never go out of style. Viva Italia. Viva Armani.<\/em><\/p>\n

\"Grazia
Velvet Jacket With Patchwork Print & Nehru Collar, Baggy Velvet Trousers With Patchwork Print, EMPORIO ARMANI<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"author":31739,"featured_media":18038,"template":"","format":"standard","categories":[260,65],"yoast_head":"\nGrazia Celebrates Emporio Armani 40th Anniversary<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Giorgio Armani \u2013 one of our generation\u2019s greatest and most\u00a0prolific designers \u2013 has said \u201cluxury cannot and must not be\u00a0fast\u201d. 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