In 1979, Giorgio Armani opened up about the doubts he faced during an interview with WWD. Despite acclaim for his collection with strapless blazers and inventive proportions, Armani described the backstage chaos as a “nightmare,” with even his partner, Sergio Galeotti, doubting the show’s success. Still, Armani was able to see a subtle shift in the definition of “chic,” moving toward more precisely tailored designs infused with a hint of humor. In anticipation of his return to New York City on Thursday and 11-year hiatus during his spring 2025 “One Night Only” show, WWD takes a look back at the interview where he discussed his “strange” success, paradoxes and the joy of copycats.
Armani — He’s swept away in a sea of raves
MILAN — Giorgio Armani is not a very good braggart. He has just ignited the fashion world with a collection, and he can’t quite believe it. Outside his sparsely furnished, frescoed 18-century palazzo headquarters, international buyers and press are raving about his strapless blazer, clean color sense and new proportions, while inside, Armani simply smiles and says, “That’s great.”
“I know it sounds strange,” he adds, sitting calmly crossed-legged in his flatteringly lit office. “But during the show I thought the whole thing was a disaster. Sergio (Galleotti, Armani’s partner and business manager) kept yelling, “This is terrible, It’s boring. It’s boring. Just get those girls dressed and on the runway and let’s get this over with. You don’t know what it was like backstage. A nightmare.”
Dig a bit deeper behind those swimming pool-blue eyes, the real tan, spunky, turned up nose and natural gentlemanly behavior — and Giorgio Armani finally admits there was indeed something special about this last collection that he was more directed and precise. And there was a new, definite energy involved.
At first, he says, he wanted to “clean things and make clothes look neat.” After he made the pieces (approximately five months ago), Armani was spurred on by the results. “The first thing I made was the jacket with one lapel. It seemed suddenly right and timely. From there, I decided — in about one second — to chop a jacket off at the bustline. Why not a shoulderless, strapless jacket?”
Through the entire process of putting the collection together, Armani says he felt a certain confidence — more than in previous collections. “I realized that the idea of chic is changing,” he says, slowly sipping a small cup of very black espresso. “Modern chic has nothing to do with old chic. Modern chic has nothing to do with a woman wearing a crepe de chine blouse with a matching bow at the neck.”
And modern chic has everything to with the charming, precise, neat and even humorous clothes the 46-year-old designer showed last week. In this, his ninth women’s apparel collection, Armani goes a step further, incorporating inventive ideas with his impeccable tailored approach.
If one is technical, Armani’s new creative binge started last season with his winter 1979 collection, in which he draped a tailored jacket. But realistically, Armani’s creative binge started the day he quit medical school, after three years of rigorous study. “It’s not that I hated the idea of being a doctor. I just simply could not stand the study. It bored me to death. So, I changed completely, I did not have the mentality for it.”
Once out of the classroom, Armani became an assistant menswear buyer for the Italian department store chain La Rinascente, which is roughly akin to a mix of Macy’s and Woolworth’s. After years there, Armani moved to Cerrutti, where he designed men’s clothes. In 1973, Armani met Sergio Galleotti, and with Galeotti and one harried secretary, his Armani label was christened. He has been churning out menswear since — building a big business and reputation on classicism with a twist.
Last year, the Armani empire sold $22 million worth of clothes to retailers worldwide. Twelve million dollars of it was for women’s clothes.
This season, it is definitely not the classics that are getting the attention. It’s Armani’s playing around with classical ideas that has really caught on. He cut jackets off at the bustline and left the lapels intact. He showed jackets with collars and just one graphic lapel. There were the artfully constructed, two-tone, fan-shaped tops; other roomy tops; big, wide short pants; amusing roomy culottes; swimsuits with lapels; swimsuits with huge bows across the bust; T-shirts with shirred puffed-up cap sleeves; grosgrain shoes; cube-shaped earrings and plastic flowers attached to bare shoulders; high waists with double buckles; sporty sailors’ berets with contrast trim in short, run-of-the-mill stuff.
“I think what happened is that … paradox appeals to me now,” he says. “l love to take elements out of their element: to take existing forms and then take them out of their context. I think that is probably the direction of modern fashion. To take a fresh look at things rather than accepting the acceptable.”
Armani himself could be one of those paradoxes. He is known as an extremely hard worker and a rather shy man who neither drinks, smokes nor dances till dawn. In Milan, Armani is not known to be wildly social. He is known as someone who happens to be friendly with various wealthy industrialists and personalities including Valentina Cortese, and — above all — as a man devoted to his staff. He does not take long social or business lunches, dining often at home (with his associates). And if he goes out, one finds him most often in the amusingly gregarious ambience of Un Torre di Pisa or the more formal setting of El Toula, where he often shows up in work clothes because he’s had no time to change. He is neither loud nor quiet, classic nor anti-establishment.
One of Armani’s favorite subjects is his recently furnished house on the obscure and primitive island of Pantelleria, between Sicily and Tunisia. “I really like to travel.” He notes, laughing as he doodles on a piece of Armani stationery. “I prefer to go a quiet, private, personal place and completely rest. I love my island house — everything is built in stone; each part of the house and all the bedrooms are completely separate and I have a huge patio and a swimming pool which is used as much as the ocean is. It is very simple and very neat — nothing chi chi or fancy.”
As for competition, Armani says he loves it, and one tends to believe him. “I even like copies,” he says. “I love to see myself copied. I have a certain ‘tendress’ for those who copy me. Sergio, on the other hand, goes out of his mind when he sees a copy. He is infuriated. I guess that’s normal.”
The designer, in fact, regrets Milan is not more competitive, particularly after last week’s showings. “I have no intention of moving anywhere but where I am” he says, when asked if the idea of showing in Paris appeals to him. “I am Italian and not French. I do wish that Milan had more strong designers more strong collections because it is healthier for everyone. Let’s say there are four or five big names here — Krizia, Versace, Missoni, Albini, Armani — but that’s not enough. You need more than a handful to carry a season.”
As for the French, Armani has definite thoughts. He cites both Mugler and Montana as strong “inventors,” noting, “If people like the clothes, they must respect the creative energy and strength behind them.
“For me, too aggressive fashion does not work. In the end, it is only a mannequin or an extremely stylish and strong woman who can wear it. I realized that fashion was moving in a very brutal, nostalgic, sometimes vulgar direction, and I refused it. The very first thought I had was to make refreshing, amusingly pleasant clothes. Fashion is work, but not drudgery. I think the most important thing of all — beyond the buyers and the press and all the fanfare — is I really enjoy what I do. I amuse myself like you can’t imagine. And it’s getting better and better and better.”