A Rare Audience With Giorgio Armani: I Am Anti-Fashion

Giorgio Armani is waiting, talking Italian. Mr Armani – as he is always referred to, across multiple languages – doesn’t wait very often. He isn’t able to, given his empire complex, with brand revenues totalling €4.2 billion (£3.5bn) in 2019, which spans such esoteric delights as Armani homewares and hotels, floristry and chocolates. Of course, what Mr Armani is best known for is fashion: his eponymous label, Giorgio Armani, founded in 1975; Armani Privé, his range of made-to-measure haute couture clothing for women, shown in Paris since 2005; and Emporio Armani. If Giorgio Armani is the purest distillation of Armani’s aesthetic ideology and Privé is his extravagant, exuberant and indulgent side – as clothes costing upwards of £30,000 have a tendency to be – Emporio represents a youthful esprit, despite the fact it turns 40 this year. The line will be celebrated, come autumn, with a show at Silos, Armani’s minimalist Milanese exhibition space, Emporio outfits framed by photography that helps cement Armani’s vision, his universe. It is rare to get him to pause. Read more at British GQ.