The designer reinvented power dressing, redefined what it meant to look modern and was the architect of how we dress now
G
iorgio Armani dressed all of us. Whether or not you ever had the money for a jacket with an Armani label, you wore a jacket that he invented. He was the mastermind of contemporary style, the architect of how we dress now. If you have worn an unstructured suit with a T-shirt to a wedding; if you have worn muted neutrals to work; if you have thought it might be chic to paint your living room grey: that was Armani.
Armani was working until his final days. Invitations had already been sent out for his next show, to be held on 28 September in the 14th-century courtyard of Milan’s Palazzo Brera. A spectacular party to accompany the show was planned as a celebration of the 50th anniversary of the brand, which he founded in the summer of 1975.
On my phone I have dozens of videos of Armani taking catwalk bows at the end of his Milan ready-to-wear and Paris haute couture shows. For the past decade, everyone in the audience at each of his shows has been aware of being in the presence of a living legend. Each brief catwalk appearance has felt like a moment to capture, because even legends don’t live for ever.
