Giorgio Armani’s Final Interview — In Conversation with Alex Bilmes for Perfect Issue 9.
Giorgio Armani photographed by Willy Vanderperre for Perfect Issue 9.
Fifty years ago this October, a designer then unknown even to many fashion industry insiders showed his first collections for men and women. He was 40 years old, relatively late to launch a new enterprise of this kind. His company, formed earlier that same year, was called Giorgio Armani…
Today that name is so well known, and so freighted with meaning and associations, that it might be worth remembering that before it was splashed across billboards and magazine spreads and stitched into the linings of suits and gowns, and jeans and shoes and handbags, and printed on T-shirts and tracksuits, and etched on to bottles of fragrance and cosmetics and sunglasses, and watches and jewellery, and furniture and homeware, and above the doors of hotels and restaurants, and long before it was a brand name recognised wherever in the world people desire to live a life of style and sophistication, a life more glamorous and carefree than the one they actually live, Giorgio Armani was the name of a boy born in the summer of 1934 in Piacenza, in northern Italy, 40 miles from Milan.
The second son of Ugo Armani, an accountant for a transport company, and Maria, who organised children’s summer camps, his childhood was marked by poverty and war. Italy, under Mussolini, marched out of the Depression and into World War Two, when Giorgio was six. Piacenza was heavily bombed by the Allies. At nine Giorgio was badly burned by an exploding shell. He was blinded for 20 days, with no idea if he would see again.
That detail is related in Mr Armani’s handsome illustrated autobiography, published in 2015. It is a story of self-invention so incredible that it requires no hyperbole, a story of humble origins not merely transcended but trounced. On the cover of the book is a photo of the infant Giorgio. It is reproduced in black and white except for the boy’s eyes, which are cornflower blue and already fixed on some far-off prize.
Originally, he wanted to be a doctor. He studied medicine in Milan for three years, but decided it wasn’t for him. In 1957 he found a job as window dresser at La Rinascente, the famous Milan department store. (It’s still there, 10 minutes’ walk from Mr Armani’s principal home and headquarters, on Via Borgonuovo.) By the mid-1960s he was designing clothes for Nino Cerruti, a crucial figure in Italian men’s fashion, though not nearly as crucial as his then-employee was to become. In the late 1960s, he met Sergio Galeotti, an architectural draftsman, who became his partner in life and in business, and who eventually persuaded him to set up on his own.
In the 1970s and 1980s Giorgio Armani brought a new, liberated spirit to dressing for work, and a new elegance and sexiness to dressing for fun.
‘It was a game at the time,’ he once told me. ‘Formal that was more casual, casual that was more formal. That’s the area a designer can play in, without going too much to an extreme.’
Extremes have never been Mr Armani’s thing. (I’m not calling him Mr Armani out of some exaggerated reverence; everyone calls him that, even behind his back.) Unlike many fashion designers, he is concerned less with the spectacular statement than he is with obsessively refining and reworking a series of silhouettes he sketched many years ago, for clothes that can be worn by anyone with an interest in looking stylish and feeling attractive.
Mr Armani’s flash of inspiration in the mid-1970s was to understand, in a way no designer before him had, that the way men and women lived and worked had altered, that the distinctions between work and leisure, and between traditional masculine and feminine roles, were blurring, and that as a result a rigid uniform for the office and a different one for the home was no longer practical or desirable. He removed linings, he softened shoulders, he wrapped and folded and draped the fabrics of his clothes around their wearers. ‘I think I was quite ahead of my time,’ he told me. No kidding.
Of his original conception, he has said, ‘I chose to subtract instead of add, to react against style that served as an end in itself.’ To me he said that the clothes he seeks to design are ‘those that give freedom, those that don’t put men and women in a cliché’.
In the public consciousness, the defining moment for Giorgio Armani was 1980, when he dressed Richard Gere, unforgettably, for Paul Schrader’s film American Gigolo, one of the defining modern celebrations of male beauty.
In 1985, Sergio Galeotti died, tragically young. By all accounts his loss is the great sadness of Mr Armani’s life. Once, in Tokyo in 2019, I asked him about a dazzling diamond pin in his lapel. It was a gift, he told me, from Galeotti. Mr Armani has said that he was unsure, in 1985, whether he could go on alone. He went on.
Today Mr Armani is a billionaire many times over. He employs thousands of people. His labels include Giorgio Armani; Emporio Armani; Armani Privé; Armani Hotels; Armani Casa, for the home; Armani Dolci, for the sweet of tooth; Giorgio Armani Beauty; Armani Fiori (flowers); EA7, his sportswear line…
He has imprinted his trademark on industries outside fashion. Giorgio Armani is associated with music (he’s dressed stars from Clapton to Gaga), sport (football teams including Chelsea and Inter Milan, numerous Olympians) and especially cinema. Name a major movie star of the past three decades, from De Niro to DiCaprio, Glenn Close to Cate Blanchett, and they’ve worn Armani on the red carpet. Many of them have worn Armani in character, too, from De Palma’s The Untouchables to Scorsese’s The Wolf of Wall Street.
‘I never made a plan,’ he told me in 2019. ‘Day after day it happened. I just followed my feelings, did what I thought was right. I stuck to my position.’
In July, shortly before his 91st birthday and his company’s 50th anniversary, I emailed Mr Armani a series of questions for this issue of Perfect. Within days I received the replies below. (Translated here from the Italian.) As ever, his answers revealed a man who is courageous, thoughtful, gracious, trenchant in his opinions, and with a Stakhanovite work ethic that has carried him through his long and remarkable life.
Gwendoline Christie & Honey Dijon wearing archive Armani, photographed by Willy Vanderperre for Perfect Issue 9.
AB: It is 50 years since the founding of Giorgio Armani. I know you are someone who prefers to look to the future rather than the past, but do you understand why others might want to encourage you to pause and reflect on that? It is an incredible achievement. How do you feel about this anniversary?
GA: To have reached 50 years of working with my name on all my creations, in fashion and beyond, is a tremendous achievement and something I am very proud of. But precisely for that reason, it is a milestone I prefer to reflect on lightly, without becoming overly proud, and instead focusing on the positive aspects. Over the past five decades, I have had the opportunity to create a world, refine it, sculpt it, chisel it and expand it according to my vision. I am aware this is a privilege granted to few, but it is also a privilege I have earned through hard work.
AB: What are the qualities that have allowed your brand to endure for so long in an industry that is fickle by its nature?
GA: I believe my work has endured because it fundamentally stems from a very precise aesthetic that I developed at the start of my career. Despite working in fashion, I chose not to align with passing trends, but rather to create my own idea of timeless classics that blended male and female and could accompany bodies and roles as society changed. This has translated into an aesthetic that has captured the collective imagination on multiple levels, as diversification has always been a fundamental aspect of my work.
AB: When you think back to 1975, what were your ambitions for the business?
GA: I am aware that when you start out, you hardly expect to be successful for decades. In 1975, I was simply happy and energised by the chance to strike out on my own with Sergio Galeotti by my side and finally express what I wanted after working for others. I hoped my language would be well received by the public, but I couldn’t know that at the beginning. So it was a time when I looked to the future with trepidation and anticipation.
AB: The world has changed since then, but have you changed?
GA: Of course. The world has changed, life and fashion have changed, and I have changed. I do not believe that being consistent with an aesthetic principle means rigidity, because consistency and rigidity are not the same thing. For me, consistency is the ability to maintain your spirit while allowing it to evolve over time, without remaining fixed in one position. My style is based on a softness that complements attitude and body, making people stand out and highlighting personality over clothing. That has never changed, but over the years it has been enriched with new and different nuances.
AB: If you could go back now and give that younger man a piece of advice, what would you say to him?
GA: It is an interesting question, but also a purely intellectual exercise. Everything I have done in these 50 years has helped me get where I am and become who I am. So what I would say to him is to follow that same path and perhaps try to enjoy life a little more.
AB: One of the most profound recent changes in the way we live is the way that people interact with the world and with each other. Which is now through a tiny screen we carry in our pockets. Is that a change that you welcome?
GA: I belong to a generation for whom the computer was already a huge revolution, so the advent of the smartphone is almost a Copernican shift. I understand its usefulness, but I also see major limitations that strip the passion, humanity and connection from relationships between people.
AB: All revolutions have casualties. The tech revolution has changed media, entertainment, education, medicine, politics, travel, everything. And it is changing fashion. People watch fashion shows on their phones, they shop without ever leaving the house. It’s certainly more convenient. But is it progress?
GA: No. To me, anything that replaces interaction between people, or the physical relationship between a person and an object, whether a garment or a book, is not true progress. The progress offered by new media primarily lies in the speed and ease with which we can access virtually everything, which is perhaps why nothing truly satisfies us any more. Personally, I remain a supporter of genuine interaction between people.
AB: You did perhaps more than anyone to break down old notions of formal and casual. Now it sometimes seems that certain high fashion labels are more focused on sneakers and backpacks and slogan T-shirts than they are on cut and fabric and creativity. Do you agree?
GA: I agree. For me, the idea of blurring the line between formal and sportswear was a deliberate pursuit, born of a desire to make clothing that truly engaged with contemporary ways of living and their demands. Today, some brands tend to focus on easy-to-sell accessories at the expense of genuine creativity. It is a narrow vision that has no real advantage for the fashion house in the long run.
AB: A word you use is ‘elegance’. Is that harder to find today than it was in the past?
GA: Elegance has always been very rare, but it is perhaps even rarer today. I am not nostalgic, however, and I do not like to look back at the elegance of the past, although certain historical moments will never cease to inspire me.
AB: Another industry close to your heart that has been significantly disrupted by technology is cinema. Once we learned to walk and talk and dress and even make love from watching movies. Now everyone is glued to YouTube and the streaming services and cinema is struggling. Does that matter?
GA: The magic of the big screen is irreplaceable for me. In cinema, I found a moment of escape and of creative and cultural education when the world was devastated by war and misery. It saddens me that it is facing difficulties today and no longer has that same pull.
AB: I want to ask you about the state of the world. A narrative has taken hold that asserts that everything is getting worse –socially, politically, economically, environmentally. Do you sympathise with that idea? Is everything getting worse or is it getting better?
GA: Having lived a long life and having had many experiences, I can say that this is not an easy time. However, I am not a pessimist, and I have no wish to go back in time or shut myself away. I am also a man of action, so while I accept the situation, I am committed to improving things. Small actions, when combined with other small actions, lead to great results.
AB: You grew up in a world at war. The world is at war again. You also grew up in a world where autocratic leaders had seized control of great nations. Now autocratic leaders are in charge again around the world. It feels like the bad guys are winning. What advice do you have for those of us living through this difficult time?
GA: We are living through truly difficult times, which I never imagined would return. The only advice I can give is that with wisdom and heart, we can overcome any situation, although not without hardship and suffering. The best approach is to tackle things one at a time. Otherwise, the immense negativity can be overwhelming.
AB: Let’s talk about Armani, the brand. In your autobiography you write this: ‘My purpose in fashion is to offer a less severe, less rigid allure to the male figure, and a less mannered style to the female figure — all the while preserving elegance and distinction and the idea that others should notice you for your mind and your self-esteem.’ Is that still your purpose?
GA: My purpose as a designer has remained unchanged: to offer men and women tools with which they can express and represent themselves as they are, allowing the person to emerge rather than letting the clothes take over. I have refined this approach over the years to keep up with the times, but the same principle has always guided me.
AB: Some brands change their ethos and aesthetic completely when a new designer is appointed. They go from austere to flamboyant, sober to sexy, depending on the aesthetic of the new creative director. Whoever your successor is, would you encourage them to take a new direction, to reinvent Armani, or should they stick to the formula?
GA: My wish for the future is that my aesthetic of purity and the idea of creating clothes that accompany the person, while reflecting a changing society, will always be consistently maintained. I believe these principles will offer a highly stimulating creative challenge for any designer.
AB: Is there a difference in the psychology of being the designer of your own brand, or being a designer for hire, for example Karl Lagerfeld at Chanel or Tom Ford at Gucci?
GA: I believe there is a huge difference. Putting your own name and face on something creates a different sense of involvement and responsibility than working for someone else. This does not mean you work any less, but interpreting a code, however radical or different from the original, is still not comparable to being entirely yourself.
AB: We are probably already at the point where executives are wondering if they could dispense with designers altogether and ask AI bots to design new fashion collections. It would save a lot of money, and they wouldn’t have to worry about the egos and the scandals. Is there any reason you can see why this wouldn’t work at Giorgio Armani?
GA: A collection designed by artificial intelligence would not work at Armani, nor do I think it would work anywhere else. I am firmly convinced of this. Artificial intelligence can be a helpful tool. But the mind, creativity and human value are something else entirely, and they are irreplaceable.
AB: What are you most excited about for the future of Armani?
GA: What excites me most is that it hasn’t been written yet; it is a blank page. But I believe I have created such a strong and well-defined code that those who come after me will be able to expand it in many directions. I always enjoy the challenge of the future, the idea that times and circumstances will push us to find a suitable response in line with everything that has been done so far.
AB: Another quote from you: ‘Over the past 40 years all I’ve had time for is work. I’ve never had any other pastimes. I’m engaged in an obsessive relationship with my work, perhaps.’ Do you ever have cause to regret that? What have you sacrificed for your professional success? And what keeps you working?
GA: In the last 50 years, I have indeed sacrificed everything for work, and I have done so because my work truly excites me. What still drives me not to retire at this age is precisely the fact that working makes me feel alive and engaged. It is a burning urgency that comes from within and is hard to explain in words, but it is my life force.
AB: What does having money teach you about life and about people?
GA: It has taught me two things: the importance of giving back by helping others and working for the community, and then, as banal as it may sound, that money does not equate to happiness. I have experienced moments of great happiness even during economically difficult periods in my life, because there have been such times and I am not ashamed to admit it.
AB: You are instantly recognisable to millions of people around the world. What’s the best thing about being famous and what’s the worst?
GA: Success and fame are certainly something to be proud of, and they make me an instantly recognisable public figure. For me, this is not merely a source of glory but also a great responsibility, as I believe I have demonstrated over the years, especially during the pandemic. People in the public eye have a duty to set an exemplary standard and to work for the benefit of others, and this is something I strive to do every day, especially for my city Milan.
AB: If you could be anonymous for a day, if you could walk the streets unrecognised, where would you go and what would you do?
GA: I would probably take a walk around my neighbourhood, Brera. Or a stroll in the park. Something very simple that would help me reconnect with nature and the environment. Nothing special, just a moment of relaxation and serenity.
AB: There’s a whole industry now dedicated to helping people prolong their lives through diet and exercise and much wackier things like blood transfusions and gene therapy. How do you account not only for your own longevity but your vitality? Do you have any tips beyond eating right and working out?
GA: I believe my longevity is due to my highly disciplined lifestyle, in terms of diet and the daily exercises incorporated into my morning routine for years, my dedication to work and my inner strength.
AB: We know there are downsides to growing older. But what are the benefits of ageing?
GA: I think ageing has its advantages, especially in terms of awareness and thinking, because you gain experience that helps you approach things more consciously. Personally, I have never been afraid of the signs of time on my body or face. Every phase of life has its charm, and ageing brings with it the beauty of having written your own story and being able to reread it in your memory, page by page.
AB: It is said that as we age, we acquire wisdom. Is that true?
GA: We should, but it is not an absolute and incontrovertible fact. For some, this never happens. The important thing is to treasure your experiences as you grow older. Only in this way can you acquire wisdom.
AB: What happens to us after we die?
GA: I would like to know, as I’m sure we all would. The only thing we can do is to work hard throughout our lives to ensure that the memories of us, when we are no longer here, are positive, praiseworthy and meaningful, not only for those who loved us but for others as well.
AB: Your name will live on long after you. Do you care about that? What would you like people to say about you after you’re gone? What will your legacy be?
GA: Ultimately, the only consolation we can find in the idea of life ending is the opportunity to leave behind meaningful and enduring memories. I can do this through my work. I want my legacy to be one of style, but also of the relationship between the creator and their customers. For me, the person has always come first; they are what matters most. My entire style was created to celebrate people’s personalities, without confining them in uncomfortable or excessive clothes. I would like to be remembered as someone who had the courage to look beyond the immediate scope of his actions to imagine something that did not exist, someone who responded to a need he sensed in society by offering tools that allowed people to express themselves to the fullest.
Giorgio Armani photographed by Willy Vanderperre for Perfect Issue 9.
Interview conducted 2nd of July 2025.