Fashion legends: Giorgio Armani
- Feb 16
- 4 min read
The life, influence, and enduring legacy of Giorgio Armani , from Hollywood to the runway and Milano-Cortina 2026.
As Milan hosts the Winter Olympics, we also take this moment to honor a towering figure in fashion, the great Italian legend who left us this past September 4 and whose influence was immeasurable. He softened and feminized the suit for men and popularized it for women, defining the aesthetic of the late twentieth century. We’re talking about Giorgio Armani.
Born in the industrial city of Piacenza, Italy in 1934, Armani’s journey was anything but conventional. Initially trained for medicine earning a scholarship , he ultimately found his calling not in the hospital but in the atelier, stepping into the world of clothing at La Rinascente in Milan before honing his craft with Nino Cerruti. It was a humble beginning for a man who would go on to redefine how the world dressed.
In 1975, he founded his own house in Milan. From the beginning, Armani challenged the rigidity that dominated men’s suiting. He removed padding, softened shoulders, and added lightness to the rigid cuts of the new work uniforms. The result was radical, power without aggression, elegance without excess. The suit became fluid. Masculinity became redefined.
Then came the turning point. In 1980, American Gigolo introduced the world to Richard Gere dressed in Armani’s unstructured tailoring. Cinema amplified what fashion insiders already knew, a new aesthetic had arrived. The Armani man was controlled but not rigid, confident but never loud. The world became crazy for Armani.
Yet his influence went far beyond menswear. Armani recognized that the same tailoring that empowered men could also free women. By transforming structured lines into fluid silhouettes, he made the suit not just acceptable, but truly desirable for women in professional spaces. He didn’t masculinize women; he refined power dressing into something both precise and sensual. By the late twentieth century, his soft color schemes, clean lines, and disciplined minimalism had become synonymous with modern sophistication.
For the most formal and exclusive occasions, at his 71 years Armani launched in January 2005 Armani Privé, his couture line that elevated elegance to true art creations.The debut collection of 31 looks was presented during the Spring/Summer 2005 haute couture shows in Paris. From Cannes to the Oscars, Privé has dressed legends in fabric and taste . Celebrities such as Cate Blanchett, Penélope Cruz, Lady Gaga, and George Clooney have worn his creations. In Privé, Armani demonstrated the ultimate mastery of silhouette, color, and drape a universe where tailoring became poetry, and the wearer became the story. How he used to say “Elegance is not about being noticed, it’s about being remembered.”
Armani Privé
Throughout the 1980s and 1990s, the Armani empire expanded from ready-to-wear to couture, beauty, and hospitality, but the philosophy remained the same: elegance in simplicity. In a world often seduced by spectacle, Armani built a legacy on sophistication through minimalism. His aesthetic became the uniform of cultural leaders, actors, entrepreneurs and individuals who valued authenticity and chic minimalism over noise and extravagance.
On September 4, 2025, Milan lost one of its most defining figures. The tributes that followed were not only about fashion, but about a man who redefined how confidence could look and feel. His contribution was not seasonal. It was structural.
Italian designer Giorgio Armani acknowledges the applause at the end of his presentation for Armani Prive during the Women's Haute-Couture Spring/Summer 2025 Fashion Week to mark its 20th anniversary, in Paris on Jan. 28, 2025 at his 91 years old.
While the world is celebrating winter sports during the 2026 Winter Olympics in Milan and Cortina, Italy has also honored one of its greatest cultural icons.
The Opening Ceremony of the Milano-Cortina 2026 Winter Games became an unexpected yet powerful tribute to Giorgio Armani. As Team Italy entered the stadium in EA7 Emporio Armani uniforms, the message was clear: precision, elegance and quiet strength remain central to the country’s identity. The most emotional moment came during the flag presentation, when sixty models in green, white, and red suits moved in formation, culminating with Vittoria Ceretti carrying the Italian flag in a custom Armani Privé look, blending couture, art and ceremony.
The Tribute to Giorgio Armani at the Opening Ceremony of the 2026 Winter Olympic Games
It was not the first time an Olympic inauguration embraced Italian fashion, Turin 2006 had already intertwined design and national pride , but this time it felt especially symbolic. More than a celebration of sport, Milano-Cortina 2026 is becoming a defining tribute on the world’s largest stage, confirming that Armani’s aesthetic is now inseparable from Italy’s cultural legacy. Armani had spent decades shaping how the world presents itself; in Milan, the city that shaped him, his work was immortalized once more.
Because Giorgio Armani did not simply design clothes.
He redefined how elegance, confidence, and sophistication were and still are worn whether on the street, the red carpet, or even the Olympic podium.
1934-2025
Article by Olivia Domínguez Trias de Bes
What would you wear for a Valentines date? Vote for the Best red carpet Armani Privé Look
1.Penélope Cruz (2012) for the Academy awards
2.Naomi Watts (2016) for the Academy awards
3. Nicole Kidman (2018) for the Academy awards
Comments