'Grand monsieur': Legendary fashion designer Giorgio Armani stayed true to his vision, never wavered

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00:00thank you very much for being with us Giorgio Armani has died at the age of 91 a giant of the

00:16fashion world his unstructured designs revolutionized the ready-to-wear market his

00:21suits came to symbolize the 1980s in particular but the appeal of the Armani brand founded in

00:261975 was well basically top drawer before and after that decade let's get some analysis and

00:35context on the life and times of a truly unique designer these images are showing you just some

00:41of the things that he did but of course there's so much more that bears the Armani name and of course

00:47some major celebrities associated with it let's bring in our editor of culture Eve Jackson here in

00:53the studio Eve this very much mark in the passing of a true fashion icon certainly does Armani wasn't

00:59just a designer he was a revolutionary mark he was born in northern Italy actually trained as a doctor

01:05in medicine in the beginning but of course his true calling was fashion and in 1975 all those years ago

01:11he launched his own label and what followed was the rise of global fame his big break it came in

01:18Hollywood his softly structured suits for the film American gigolo turned Richard Gere into a style

01:24icon and made Armani a household name in the United States now by the 1980s his power suits became a

01:29signature of course in Miami Vice you'll remember that and Armani was crowned the designer of a decade

01:35he didn't stop at menswear did he he did not stop at menswear he certainly didn't he redefined actually

01:41how celebrities dressed um he was the first designer to actively court stars and pioneering what we now call

01:47celebrity dressing he started with Diane Keaton and soon everyone from Cate Blanchett who we see

01:53on screen with him there Beyonce and Jodie Foster they were all wearing Armani um by 1990 so many stars

02:00wore his gowns for the Oscars that women's wear daily dubbed the ceremony the Armani Awards now he didn't

02:07actually stop at clothes he expanded into fragrances interiors and even luxury hotels here he is 10 years

02:14ago talking about his career highlights there have been many moments from the beginning until today

02:22different moments some very strong some less emotional some more normal routine it's all a part

02:28of the system maybe my most emotional moment was when I saw my cover on time magazine

02:34now Mark despite this empire that he built Armani remained fiercely independent one of the few major

02:44designers to keep full control of his brand right until the end he had been unwell for some time he was

02:49forced to drop out of his group shows at Milan's Men's Fashion Week in June that was the first time in his

02:54career that he actually missed a catwalk event he leaves behind not just a label but a vision timeless

03:01style quiet confidence and fashion that enhances rather than overwhelms um people looking on now Giorgio Armani

03:08he was a master of minimalism he was a red carpet pioneer and he actually was one of the last legends of

03:14fashion's golden age indeed Eve thank you very much indeed for giving that uh initial taster of the life and

03:20times of Giorgio Armani who's passed away at the age of 91 let's bring in now uh Dana Thomas joining us uh to talk a

03:27little bit more about the life and times uh of Armani his importance in fashion of course and what it

03:33said beyond that uh Dana thanks for being with us uh can i just point out you're author of the book

03:37Fashionopolis so i'll set you free to talk about Giorgio Armani uh what he means uh what his legacy might be

03:45well i'm i'm lucky to say that i knew Giorgio Armani you know as well as one could as a journalist i spent 35

03:52years covering his career i profiled him in my first book deluxe how luxury lost its luster and i even

03:57got to go to china with him when he took his company to china in 2004 and and we went to beijing

04:03and shanghai together which was really quite remarkable he was an amazing man he was in in

04:08that you know as the french say he was a grand monsieur he he of course had a very singular vision

04:14and he stuck to it he never wavered from it but more than having been a you know a good designer giving

04:21us soft clothes and as and an easier chic silhouette to wear that always looked impeccable and and made

04:28us seem elegant he was a very very good businessman and this was not where you know his his strength

04:34was when he started out he founded the company with his life partner who then later died very early in

04:42the years of the career and the life partner sergio galotti was the business side of the company

04:48leaving giorgio to design so instead of hiring somebody else he took on the business side too

04:53and that's when he turned it into really an empire he you know along with having the menswear and the

04:59women's wear which we all know and love he then created uh armani privé au couture he started

05:06designing hotels he opened armani casa with the homewares he had um armani fury he had the lower price

05:13line emporio armani he had the ax jeans line for kid you know for teenagers and young people and

05:19students so pretty much you could live and wear armani of one sort or another from about the age

05:26of 16 to 91 like he was and you could do your own home you could vacation and it was it could be a part

05:33of your whole life and it could be your philosophy which was what it was with him i was discussing it

05:38with our editor eve jackson who's just alongside me here dana in the studio uh that once upon a

05:43time i was lucky enough to own an emporio armani suit uh you've just disillusioned me by telling me

05:48it's the cheapest part of the range because i thought it was your grand luxury but no it's the

05:52middle part it's the middle part what i can say is that it felt like i don't know wearing in the best

05:57possible way wearing pajamas it felt that comfortable you never wanted to take it off you know it was

06:02absolutely fantastic what do you think is that you looked fantastic in it ah well i felt fantastic in it

06:08whether i looked at that's another question i couldn't even sort of presume to say that i did

06:12but what i'm wondering is what do you think his legacy is because it's it's one of these things

06:17like if you think of vacuum cleavers you know the hoover brand became like the the sort of like

06:22reference if you think of internet searches google becomes that armani in a sense has transcended to

06:27become obviously sort of something that sums up a whole range of things well i mean his legacy would

06:34be the soft suit at you know like coco chanel with the black dress but uh but i think it's more than

06:41that he was the one who decided not to go into the conglomerates mr arnault bernard arnault the head of

06:48the ceo chairman of lvmh i remember meeting mr armani he said i've been talking to mr arnault but i'm not

06:56going to sell it to him i know mr arnault chased after georgio armani for years and also you know other

07:02other companies and have come and talk try to buy his company he said no we're not doing that he

07:09decided to keep his company he didn't buy anybody else's either he did not make a group in the era

07:15of groups and he and he he became you know he maintained his autonomy and he was sort of the

07:22the the one who was not going to be the anti-conglomerate he was the anti-conglomeration

07:30and corporatization of fashion he continued to have his family run and business it was he he had

07:38his niece helping with him he had his core team of people that had been there since forever everybody

07:43who worked there has worked there i mean i know people who've worked there since the 80s and they

07:47were probably there like since forever no turnover and it was really a family affair and in this time

07:54when it's all publicly traded and big groups like caring and lvmh mr armani showed that you could

08:00remain independent you could be a very strong and influential force in fashion you could maintain

08:07your integrity and be successful what was he like dana because obviously you met him you did the

08:14journeys with him you you wrote about him um he must have been a very exacting character uh was that

08:20another side to it yes he he was exacting but he was always lovely and polite he was actually quite

08:27shy i remember going to a dinner at his home one evening in milan brad pitt and george clooney were

08:33there so that was kind of cool and um and he would circle around but when every time i looked at him he

08:41was just sort of standing in the you know in the middle of the room by himself like a maestro

08:46orchestrating everything making sure everything was you know perfect but he wasn't socializing

08:53he was i mean he was hosting but he wasn't socializing it was very interesting so i walked

08:58over and i talked to him he said yes i'm not really one for small talk i'm like well this i know and he

09:04said and it's not really my way of being to have parties i'm i'm you know it's almost like a monk and

09:12and and i said right but he said but i love having people i love welcoming people and watching them

09:18have a good time so that's why i do this and i thought that was very interesting but he was really

09:23like he he worked in his office which was this big beautiful two-story you know room with you know

09:29bathed in sunlight and very i wouldn't say austere but pared down simple a desk a chair or two a glass

09:37table it was very simple and very clean like he was he would dress in his you know in an armani blue

09:43t-shirt and armani blue pants and very comfortable shoes and he he didn't have distractions he worked

09:50and he was focused but he was always so polite and so kind as as french say so well raised and he was um

09:57he was not one of these crazy tyrants that you find in fashion or you know one of these

10:02movies that is you know mood swinging or addictions or anything like that he you know didn't drink he

10:09watched he was very careful about what he ate and uh and he and he was and he worked out all the time

10:17he was very fit up until the end i saw him when did i see him in june in march maybe and he was in good

10:25form uh he was moving a bit more slowly gingerly but he was still in good form and he still had that

10:30twinkle in his eye dana thank you very much indeed for telling us all about giorgio armani it's it's

10:37sad that he's passed away but it's nice that he's been remembered with so many smiles which is i think

10:41possibly a a massive legacy to leave already as well as the clothes the designs and all those stories

10:47that you've been alluding to dana thomas fashion and culture journalist and author of fashionopolis who

10:52knew met and wrote about giorgio armani and our own culture editor eve jackson here in the studio

10:57giving us uh the initial response uh to the passing of what is a true fashion icon eve thank you as

11:03always very much indeed giorgio armani who's passed away at the age of 91. thank you both

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