Giorgio Armani founded his house in July 1975. As his business’s 50th anniversary approaches, recent seasons have seen the style he invented and then took from avant-garde to dernier cri regain its broader cultural currency. It’s not that Armani has changed its aesthetic, oh no: Instead, a younger generation has discovered it anew.
Speaking from home immediately after his latest Giorgio Armani show this morning, the 90-year-old designer told Vogue: “It seems that the new generations of designers are becoming passionate about my work, and I must say that this is a source of pride for me because it means that I can speak to young creatives who probably weren’t even born in the ’90s. This also means that the authenticity that I have always put into what I do is still reflected today.”
From the house collaborations with Kith and Our Legacy to a broader resurgence of all things Armani-an in the wider menswear universe—from Fear of God to Brioni and beyond—his influence seems almost as powerful today as it was the first time around. The latest, more ambient testament to that is the appearance of artist Jean-Michel Basquiat—an Armani superfan who bought the Italian’s suits by the dozen to both paint and party in—in the first teasers for Jonathan Anderson’s soon-to-be-unveiled menswear debut at Christian Dior.
Such is Armani’s consistency that you could envision the Basquiat captured in that Anderson-curated 1982 Warhol Polaroid seamlessly updating his collection of paint-splattered Armani jackets to next season’s blank-canvas vintage. This morning’s titanic 116-look show also featured a sprinkling of man-and-woman copy-couple duos: Lee Radziwill, another Armani superfan (plus longtime friend of Mr. Armani and director of special events for the brand), also featured in the Dior teasers and would have likewise been a natural inhabitant of today’s womenswear cameos.
As at this weekend’s Emporio Armani show, today’s bow was taken by Leo Dell’Orco, head of Armani’s men’s style office, while Mr. Armani remained at home recovering from a recent short illness. “As a man of action,” he told Vogue, “watching the shows from home felt a little unusual. But I was involved throughout the process, and Leo and his team did an excellent job.”
Even before this morning’s show began, a front row that included Giancarlo Esposito, Simu Liu, Jason Isaacs, Raymond Lam, and Benito Skinner showcased a portfolio of minimalist, volumized, and softly structured tailoring. The first look on the runway was one of those couple combos and a reminder of this designer’s first American Gigolo moment of wider exposure back in 1980; the zipper detailing on the female model’s pant hem was a minutely acute update for now. Another historical reference was the tucked-in leather blouson of Look 32; this garment echoed Armani’s first-ever menswear collection under his own name, which predated his earliest experiments in tailoring.
Both collection and set were broadly inspired by one of Mr. Armani’s happiest places: the island of Pantelleria, where he has summered for decades. The fake black boulders that flanked the runway and the covert coats and minimalist biker sets in matte black shaved leather all echoed the island’s volcanic stone landscape. The color story referenced a wide palette of marine blues and a garden’s worth of explosive bougainvillea purples and pinks. There were palm trees in a woven motif on print shirts, duffel bags, jackets, and pants that echoed the North African textile influence of this weekend’s Emporio show.
Desert-island dreamy were the quilted-collar jacket and double-zip gilet looks in treated linen and technical fabrics that immediately followed the palms. Also especially strong were the accessories, running from wave-shaped woven rattan shoes to beautifully archetypal canvas and bridle leather totes, grips, and satchels. There were faux-sharkskin phone cases and envelope-shaped woven pochettes.
Light knit sweaters were tied diagonally across multibutton Nehru-collar silk shirts worn over pants with a puckered finish that echoed the sharkskin effect of the bags. The breadth of the fabrics and materials developed by Armani’s long-nurtured network of specialist manufacturers was on full display in richly textured woven shirting, lushly treated leathers, and the precisely draped tailoring fabrics in finishes that spanned metallic silver to inky midnight black.
Even more various were the tailoring silhouettes. This enormous collection disguised precise variation within apparent repetition: No two looks, even those couples sets, ever entirely overlapped. It was a resounding statement designed to affirm yet again Mr. Armani’s original style.
So what, I took the chance to ask Mr. Armani, would he counsel any younger creative currently rising in the fashion system to focus upon in order to build a foundation for longevity as solid as his? He replied: “My advice for the new generations is that each of us should look for our own signature. Maybe we can start by evoking the work of a designer we admire, a little like what happened in the tradition of art in the workshops, with students and masters. But then, through trial and error, it is essential to be able to achieve our own style.
“This also means not being in a hurry to be successful immediately, as we tend to do today. For example, I started relatively late. I opened my company when I was already 40. I took all the time necessary to develop my own aesthetic, and I think that this aspect has greatly benefited the definition of my personal style.”
He added: “Now I must make an effort to rest in order to get better soon so that I can be at my best, as I hope to be, in time for Paris.” Vi auguriamo una pronta guarigione, Mr. Armani.
