How Armani modified the enterprise of style: “He was masterful in sticking to his vision”

Giorgio Armani leaves a legacy not solely as a seminal determine within the historical past of style, but additionally as a visionary enterprise chief who constructed a globally acknowledged model and multibillion-dollar enterprise empire, trade consultants mentioned after his dying Thursday at age 91.

“Armani made certain that his vision was consistent and that it was always classy, even down to presentation in the Armani Exchange stores,” Shawn Grain Carter, an affiliate professor on the Fashion Institute of Technology, informed CBS MoneyWatch.

Armani, or “Re Giorgio” (King George) because the Italians name him, famously created luxurious seems for Hollywood stars, whereas additionally producing trendy equipment and clothes for on a regular basis customers. 

While meticulously tailor-made clothes constructed from high quality materials has at all times been on the coronary heart of the Armani model, the designer expanded his enterprise over time to incorporate not simply perfumes and equipment however residence furnishings, cosmetics, books, flowers — even candies. Connecting all of them was subtle design, which Armani wove into all issues he put his identify on.

“He was masterful in sticking to his vision, but executing it in a way that would be accessible luxury, a quiet luxury, but still tasteful and elegantly crafted,” Grain Carter mentioned.

Among Armani’s most celebrated contributions and profitable enterprise maneuvers was the facility swimsuit, a softly tailor-made, ready-to-wear tackle workplace apparel that rapidly rose in reputation among the many American enterprise class.

Introduced within the ’70s, the Armani swimsuit was a daring deviation from the inflexible, restrictive fits businessmen had been accustomed to sporting. Armani’s elegantly tailor-made fits rapidly grew to become a should in each well-heeled man’s closet. 

Beth Dincuff, an affiliate professor at New York’s Parsons School of Design, mentioned Armani cultivated the thought of a “sophisticated man who cared about how he looked, who was aware of his physique and who wanted to show it off in a new way.”

Armani quickly introduced that masculine sensibility to girls’s style with the pantsuit, a shoulder-padded jacket and tailor-made trousers. This gave girls a refined possibility for the workplace that projected confidence and energy.

“That’s attributed to Giorgio Armani — making it OK for a woman to wear a pantsuit but still look like a woman in terms of a power aesthetic,” mentioned Grain Carter.

Armani’s designs additionally had a knack for tapping into the zeitgeist. He informed CBS News in 2006 that his new line of ladies’s garments was in response to the feminist motion. Women wanted their very own model of the standard males’s swimsuit jacket, Armani thought.

Celebrities and Armani

Using celebrities to raise the Armani model was one other to key to the designer’s enterprise success. He started by outfitting Richard Gere within the 1980 neo-noir crime drama “American Gigolo.” Armani went on to design garments for greater than 150 movies all through his profession.

“His idea to reach out to celebrities was very, very important,” mentioned Dincuff, noting that this strategy to advertising and marketing style was novel on the time.

Armani pivoted to dressing celebrities on the purple carpet within the Nineteen Nineties, the place his black-tie outfits and glittering night robes usually stole the present. Some early seems that captured standard consideration included the outsized Armani swimsuit worn by Julia Roberts on the Nineteen Nineties Golden Globes and a champagne-colored Armani swimsuit that Jodie Foster wore on the 1992 Academy Awards.

The checklist of celebrities which have worn Armani on the purple carpet is lengthy and consists of Beyoncé, Selena Gomez,  Anne Hathaway, Michelle Pfeiffer, Margot Robbie and Winona Ryder.

His personal boss

Central to Armani’s success was the truth that he by no means relinquished management of the multibillion firm he created, consultants informed CBS MoneyWatch. In rejecting a merger or sale to a bigger trade rival, the Italian clothier was at all times his personal boss.

This allowed Armani to keep up inventive management and consistency over his increasing enterprise empire, distinguishing him from different designers.

While he did strike a number of licensing offers over his profession with firms like EssilorLuxottica and L’Oréal, he stored nearly all of his enterprise portfolio in-house. That included the whole lot from Armani Privé, his high fashion style assortment and perfume line, to Armani Exchange — a extra reasonably priced style line geared towards youthful generations, mentioned Grain Carter. Armani additionally stored the collections Giorgio Armani and Emporio Armani below his purview.

“All of this was in-house and he controlled it from concept to production to distribution to marketing to how it is financed,” Grain Carter mentioned. “He was active at every level, at every step.”

Today, the Armani empire has greater than 9,000 workers together with seven industrial hubs and over 600 shops worldwide, in accordance with figures launched in 2023.

As for potential succession plans, the Giorgio Armani firm didn’t instantly reply to a request for remark.

“I cannot really contemplate the next person, because there will be no other Giorgio Armani,” Grain Carter mentioned.

The Associated Press

contributed to this report.