MILAN — For Giorgio Armani, it was always the clothes. And his clothes all started with the fabrics.
While other fashion empires make their money on handbags and footwear, Armani’s appeal has always been in the apparel, the core of his $10 billion empire.
After his death Thursday at the age of 91, Armani has been remembered for softening the 1980s power suit, decades of fruitful Hollywood collaborations and as a defining figure of Italian luxury ready-to-wear.
But he was also a keen business owner who maintained his independence in an era of consolidation, an innovative communicator and a boss who was in charge of every aspect of his business.
“I have to say, King George is the first in everything. The first but not the only,’’ said Mario Boselli, who was president of the Italian fashion chamber from 1999-2015. “He was the master of luxury ready-to-wear.”
The deconstructed, soft-shouldered Armani jacket catapulted Armani to fashion stardom, first with Richard Gere in the 1980 film “American Gigolo,’’ and then as the centerpiece of a women’s wardrobe.
“I would say that the famous Armani jacket was a discovery that allowed women to live every day with an Armani garment that could go from work to dates. Armani could dress a woman from morning to evening, I would say with great precision, for every occasion,’’ Boselli said.
Armani himself said in his 2015 memoir he wanted to create “a new kind of femininity that forced men to look at women with new eyes.’’
“I have great esteem for women. I think they know how to be seductive without resorting to an exhibitionism that easily slips into vulgarity and excess,’’ Armani wrote. He credited American women as “the first to appreciate my work — and my audacity.’’
Jackets remained the core of his collections through the decades. But with time he introduced more couture elements into his ready-to-wear in part to counter his image as the power suit designer, said Scott Schuman, the Milan-based photographer behind The Sartorialist fashion blog and the creator of the Armani tribute Instagram account @armaniarchive.
Every collection started with a cascade of textiles on a huge table, which Armani himself would examine after his team made a first selection.
“The collection, and the mood and the vibe started from the fabrics,’’ said Milan-based Austrian designer Arthur Arbesser, who was on the Armani design team for seven years until leaving in 2013 to launch his own brand.
“That was unique, I learned from him what it was to touch the fabrics, then to come in with another fabric and with another shade to form a gradient of colors,’’ Arbesser said.
Boselli first met Armani 45 years ago, arriving at his Borgnonuovo offices with a satchel of jersey knit samples as a sales rep for his family’s textile company.
“He saw the entire collection of fabrics, and chose them personally,’’ Boselli recalled. “That is not something everyone does. It takes time, it takes care. He had great respect for the work of others.’’
Shuman said the fabric choices made going into Armani’s stores “a sensory overload.”
Armani’s main objective: Creating beauty.
Armani’s aesthetic of timeless elegance was constant throughout the decades, which at times made fashion critics question its relevance. But Armani always had a following, from Hollywood stars who could count on him for stunning looks without too much risk, to everyday people who sought well-made, tailored looks to project them from morning to evening.
“Armani was a beautiful river of design. You could pop in and out, and there was some kind of continuity,’’ Schuman said.
Kenneth Richard, founder of The Impression, an influential fashion newsletter, called Armani “the original game-changer,” for the scale of a fashion empire he built himself, and for extending his brand into areas like home decor and hotels while maintaining his famed attention to detail.
“You can check into an Armani hotel, get fitted downstairs and go to a red carpet event. Where else can you do this? You are sleeping on Armani sheets, in an Armani bed, with an Armani couch,” Richard said. And all of it is owned by Armani, not licensed as many brands do.
On the runway, Armani “stuck to a singular voice through 50 years.”
“His aesthetic was refined, and approachable. You cannot become a $10 billion brand when you are consistently doing the same thing over and over again, without being approachable. He sells. People want to wear his clothing.”
Giorgio Armani’s final collection will be previewed during Milan Fashion Week later this month during an event marking 50 years of his signature fashion house.
Armani set up a foundation as a succession tool to avoid his businesses being split up. A rarity in the Italian fashion world, he never sold even a part of his company to an outsider.
He also indicated the creative succession would go to longtime collaborator Leo Dell’Orco and his niece Silvana Armani, who have headed the menswear and womenswear collections, respectively, for all Armani collections: Giorgio Armani, Emporio Armani and Armani Exchange.
The question of generational succession has always been a fraught one in Italy’s largely family run fashion industry. Armani’s attention to every detail in the empire he launched 50 years ago will make him a tough act to follow.
“He was involved in very step of the process from the very beginning to the end. Every photograph, every font, everything,” Arbesser said. “That is what makes a difference. These days, there is no boss, no creative director, who has so much control over everything. That is where the magic is. And that is where it is hard to see what is going to happen now.”
