• Giorgio Armani staffers help dogs, cats find homes for National ...

  New York Daily News - Found 21 hours ago On the heels of National Shelter Animal Appreciation week, Giorgio Armani is going to the dogs.

• Oprah, Ellen at Water Tower Park

  Chicago Tribune - Found Nov. 6, 2009 Updated 9:55 a.m. I just got to Water Tower Park, across the street from Giorgio Armani and the Hershey Store, to see Oprah and Ellen... Ellen DeGeneres Finally Gets Her O - EOnline.com Question for Oprah: Broadcast or Cable? - New York Times CBS' Moonves on Oprah: `We're in Dialogue' - ABC News Ellen DeGeneres Finally Gets Her O - E! Online Explore All

  Hollywood Reporter

• Giorgio Armani and Emporio Armani New Eyewear Collections Channel ...

  Second City Style - Found Nov. 5, 2009 Giorgio Armani Style GA756 Give your fall wardrobe a dose of a retro attitude with the new Sixties-inspired frames in the Armani eyewear collections.

• Giorgio Armani Lip Wax Set

  Makeup Bag - Found Nov. 4, 2009 Giorgio Armani?s new cosmetic collection is defined by its silky, fluid textures, so I am extremely intrigued by the idea of ?Lip Wax.? The

• Five minutes with Elle?s Executive Fashion Editor, Stacey Duguid

  My Fashion Life - Found Nov. 2, 2009 After stints at Paul Smith, Giorgio Armani and Prada, Stacey was asked by Elle?s editor Lorraine Candy to join her favourite magazine, and...

• How Do We Solve a Problem Like Joe Lieberman?

  TPMCafe blogs - Found Nov. 1, 2009 He has a budding friendship With Giorgio Armani!

• Florida's complete game puts a swift end to Georgia's shenanigans

  SI.com - Found Oct. 31, 2009 After all, if the Bulldogs had pulled off the upset, we would have praised him as the finest clothier since Giorgio Armani.

• Giorgio Armani Courts Russians With Dazzling Shows

  ABC News - Found Oct. 30, 2009 MOSCOW (Reuters Life!) - Italian designer Giorgio Armani wowed Russian fashion-lovers with dazzling shows in Moscow this week, banking on a recovery Giorgio Armani courts Russians with dazzling shows - Reuters India Explore All

• Giorgio Armani courts Russians with dazzling shows

  Reuters - Found Oct. 30, 2009 MOSCOW (Reuters Life!) - Italian designer Giorgio Armani wowed Russian fashion-lovers with dazzling shows in Moscow this week, banking on a recovery Giorgio Armani courts Russians with dazzling shows - Reuters UK Explore All

• Giorgio Armani to Retire Soon?

  AOL Style Blog - Found Oct. 28, 2009 Filed under: Style in the News Designer Giorgio Armani visits Moscow. Photo courtesy of Giorgio Armani Giorgio Armani founded his company in...

Giorgio Armani (born 11 July 1934 in Piacenza) is an Italian fashion designer, particularly noted for his menswear. He is known today for his clean, tailored lines. He formed his company, Armani, in 1975, and by 2001 was acclaimed as the most successful designer to come out of Italy,¹ with an annual turnover of $1.600 billion, and a personal fortune of $5 billion.²

Fashion career

From 1961 to 1970, Armani worked as an assistant designer at a fashion house Nino Cerruti, where he designed for the menswear label "Hitman". In 1970, he left the company to pursue freelance work. He partnered with Sergio Galeotti to establish a menswear label Armani in 1974, and introduced a womenswear line in 1975. His sister Rosanna Armani subsequently joined him. Galeotti died of a heart attack due to AIDS in 1985 at his home in Milan,³

Armani achieved his international breakthrough by tailoring for numerous Hollywood names and especially for Richard Gere in the title role of American Gigolo in 1980. In 2001, Forbes named him the most successful Italian designer and estimated his net worth at $1.7 billion. He was given the same award five years later, as the magazine estimated his fortune at $4.1 billion.

Innovations

Armani was the first designer to ban models with a body mass index (BMI) under 18, after model Ana Carolina Reston starved herself to death due to anorexia nervosa.

The Armani Privé spring/summer 2007 fashion show was broadcast via MSN and Cingular cellular phones.⁴

After LG teamed with Prada to introduce the LG Prada phone, Samsung joined Armani to design the Giorgio Armani phone.

Armani designed made-to-measure suits for Christian Bale's character Bruce Wayne in The Dark Knight. Advertisements featuring 'Giorgio Armani for Bruce Wayne' were released in 2008 with pictures of Christian Bale wearing Armani suits. However, Bale later claimed in a GQ interview that the campaign was produced without his permission. ⁵

In sport

Giorgio Armani has a keen interest in sports. He is the president of the Olimpia Milano basketball team⁶and an Inter Milan fan, and twice designed suits for the England national football team.⁷ He has since designed suits worn by players of the London club Chelsea since August 2007.⁸ He designed the Italian flag bearers' outfits at the opening ceremony at the 2006 Winter Olympics in Turin. Armani also designed and introduced the EA7 range, a brand inspired by Ukrainian footballer Andriy Shevchenko, who at the time played for AC Milan and wore number 7 jersey.

Other businesses

Armani opened his first restaurant in the U.S., Armani/Ristorante. The restaurant opened in New York in February 2009 and has been rated by the Zagat Survey. ⁹

Notes

References

• Mackenzie, Suzie (2004-12-11). "The gentle touch". The Guardian. http://www.guardian.co.uk/weekend/story/0,3605,1369891,00.html. Retrieved 2007-09-23. 
• McCartney, Stella (2006-05-16). "The wisdom of King Giorgio". Independent on Sunday. http://news.independent.co.uk/people/profiles/article484641.ece. Retrieved 2007-09-23. 
• "Q & A: Giorgio Armani". The Scene (CNN). 2006-10-03. http://edition.cnn.com/2006/TRAVEL/06/01/milan.qa/. Retrieved 2007-09-23. 
• Lee, Vinny (2007-09-22). "Above the shop". The Times. http://property.timesonline.co.uk/tol/life_and_style/property/interiors/article2474210.ece. Retrieved 2007-09-23. 
• Schinke, Amanda (2008-10-07). "Liar, Liar, Armani on Fire!". PETA. http://blog.peta.org/archives/2008/10/liar_liar_arman.php. Retrieved 2008-10-09. 
• Giorgio Armani, Spring-Summer Couture
• Giorgio Armani - The Businessman, the Designer and the Brand

External links

• www.giorgioarmani.com Company website
• www.giorgioarmanibeauty.com Beauty website
• www.italian-fashion-designer.com Life of Giorgio Armani
• Giorgio Armani, UNHCR Goodwill Ambassador
• Giorgio Armani interview with Harper's BAZAAR