40 years of Giorgio Armani

The fashion house of Giorgio Armani has been responsible for several revolutions in fashion, notably the iconic men’s “power suits” of the 1980s. In celebration of Armani’s 40 years, the social media initiative #aTribute is here to share the most memorable moments of the fashion house for the next 40 weeks.

Born in Piacenza, a town in northern Italy, Giorgio Armani launched his fashion career when he landed a role designing windows at La Rinascente, an upmarket Italian department store. From there Armani freelanced at a number of Italian fashion houses designing menswear before meeting Sergio Galeotti who would be his partner in founding the brand in 1975.

The company wasted no time in making their mark in the fashion world with their first collection released the same year: the men’s clothing line of traditional business suits, using what was described as “uncluttered designs and simple textiles”, was iconic to Armani’s earliest design work. The following year was the launch of his women’s collection, which received a warm reception from the fashion world; this collection was to bring a more masculine look to womenswear.

1979 saw the launch of a luxury ready-to-wear line called Armani Collezioni that would be appealing and accessible to all generations. This is still well-established, largely thanks to Armani’s creations showing iconic, understated sophistication at a more reasonable price point.

Following this success, it didn’t take long until Hollywood noticed the potential in the iconic designer; in 1980 Richard Gere starred in American Gigolo wearing one of the designer’s famous “power suits”. This year saw Armani become a trademark associated as a symbol of global economic success for both men and women.

Since, Armani has gone from strength to strength. In 2005 the fashion house launched its Haute Couture line. This new line showed the world that Armani was a leading and impressive force in the world of fashion, and with a wide influence – the couture designs are available for women associated with the Armani Foundation, which aims to fight poverty in developing countries.

The first Haute Couture collection in 2005 was a contrasting collection of long-lined fishtail silhouette gowns, skirts, and short, beaded, embellished jackets.

Since the bloom of Armani haute couture on the catwalk, the brand has succeeded in producing show-stopping designs, and the upcoming shows for the future seasons are definitely ones to watch out for.

Alexandra Burnell
Featured image: Ambra Vernuccio

See more about the 40 years of Armani here at http://atribute.armani.com/