Giorgio Armani

The man behind the Armani Empire, born in Piacenza, Italy in 1934, Giorgio Armani is one of the most famous, celebrated and influential designers Italy has ever produced. It was only by chance that he moved into the fashion world after studying medicine and having spent time learning photography Giorgio Armani then stepped into the fashion business by becoming a window dresser for Milan's premium department store, La Rinascente.

With his photographic background and a keen eye for detail, it was not long before Giorgio Armani became a clothes buyer for the store. The next step up for the young Armani was his role as assistant designer for the well-known fashion label and designer Nino Cerutti. He soon began working for other major fashion labels, such as Zenga and Ungaro.

Giorgio Armani was serious about fashion and in 1974 he and his partner, Sergio Galeotti started a men’s clothing line. In 1976 Giorgio Armani branched out into women’s fashion and formed his own fashion label and the Giorgio Armani fashion label was born.

The sources of Giorgio Armani’s inspirations have not changed and are still the same from when he started from travel, film, books, music and art; he describes it as essentially the culture that surrounds him.

Nonetheless Armani claims to base his vision on the everyday people in the street, believing that clothes should be made to be worn not just seen and drawing on the skills he learned as a menswear designer to produce contemporary clothes for women.

His fragrance line consists of more than 45 scents for both men and women that express that haute couture sexiness, each bold and seductive in their own way. Still, Acqua di Gio (an oceanic scent) and Armani Code (a warm oriental) lead the show as bestsellers. The earliest editions originate from 1982 and the newest ones from 2009.

Today, Armani is possibly even more popular than during the 1980s. His clothes are worn by Hollywood stars, his clothe have appeared movies such as the American Gigolo and the cast of the Untouchables. His interests in sports are known, he is the president of the Olimpian Milano basketball club, a fan of Inter from Milan and he designed sport suits for the English football team two times so far.

Giorgio Armani is now, without doubt, one of the most successful designers in the world. He has around 2,000 stores worldwide, and his annual sales of more than $1 billion. His catwalk shows often draw a distinguished crowd. In 2000, Forbes declared Giorgio Armani to be the world's most successful designer, with personal earnings of $135 million in 1999. In 2001, the magazine put him at No.19 (behind the Bulgari family and ahead of the Pradas) on a list of Fashion's powerhouses.

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