Elegance Remembered: The Life and Legacy of Giorgio Armani
- Claudia Limaverde Costa
- Oct 7
- 4 min read
Updated: Oct 9
‘Elegance is not standing out, but being remembered’ was Giorgio Armani’s guiding philosophy when he founded his innovative fashion house in 1975, redefining menswear before debuting womenswear the following year. In menswear, he deconstructed traditional tailoring by introducing softer fabrics and gentler lines. For womenswear, he pioneered the opposite, sharpening tailoring to create workwear that symbolised equality and empowerment. To Armani, a good suit needed to feel like ‘a second skin.’ As he put it, he wanted to design for ‘the woman who lives and works, not the woman in a painting.’ His philosophy, therefore, centered on dressing real women - not idealised figures - and on harnessing fashion to instill confidence and elevate femininity as a source of strength, especially in the workplace
In addition to workwear, Armani also cultivated a sense of elegant simplicity. His haute couture collections harmonised minimalism with sleek design, creating pieces that were both refined and memorable. Armani’s reputation has transcended him, and with his recent and unexpected passing, his legacy endures as iconic and deeply respected. He will always be remembered as a frontrunner who led with style rather than fleeting trends, remaining true to his belief that ‘true style is about originality and a sense of adventure.’
In 1975, at his first Milan Fashion Week, Armani presented a radical take on workwear that would help to shape the era of so-called ‘power’ dressing. He drew deep inspiration from Chanel’s pioneering power suit of the 1920s, the now-iconic wool jacket and skirt that became synonymous with the house. Armani, however, reinterpreted the concept by borrowing from men’s tailoring and applying it to womenswear, declaring that ‘a suit is the uniform of sophistication.’ This drastic shift in design proved integral during the 1980s and beyond, as increasing numbers of women entered the workplace. Armani’s suits imbued them with both confidence and elegance, embodying his belief that the Armani woman should never be afraid to be herself. By removing the restrictions of earlier styles, he empowered women to embrace immaculate tailoring with a redefined silhouette, blurring gender lines and modernising a domain once reserved for men.
Armani’s vision was soon amplified on the global stage. At the 1978 Oscars, Diane Keaton stunned audiences in an oversized Armani women’s suit - a striking departure from the traditional gown, and a bold modern expression of Armani’s philosophy that women’s wardrobes should be able to ‘compete sartorially with what their male colleagues were wearing.’ Julia Roberts followed suit at the 1990 Golden Globe Awards, describing her menswear-inspired Armani look as ‘the epitome of being dressed up.’
Today, the presence of tailored suits on the red carpet feels almost natural. At the recent Met Gala, themed Superfine: Tailoring Black Style, stars including Teyana Taylor, Doechii, and Zendaya dazzled in their own reinterpretations of men’s tailoring. Each look respectively reads as a continuation of Armani’s radical deconstruction of traditional tailoring, emphasising how fashion remains a medium for expressing both individuality and collective shifts in style.
Armani’s drastic reinvention of men’s tailoring — softening it and stripping away the restrictive nature of the traditional suit — took the fashion industry by storm, creating space for a more modern and expressive man. Drawing inspiration from women’s tailoring, he removed padding to create an unstructured jacket that draped naturally over the body, producing a sense of elegance in motion, revealing the wearer’s natural silhouette, and adding an understated allure.
For Armani, a good design was never about treating the body as a hanger for clothes, but instead was about ensuring that the wearer felt comfortable. Comfort and confidence were always at the forefront of his creations, setting him apart from designers who prioritised aesthetics over wearability. In doing so, Armani redefined the notion of elegance and luxury, presenting them not simply as embellishment but as a matter of detail.
Alongside tailoring, Armani also refined the world of haute couture by redefining elegance as a timeless state of mind, one rooted in individuality rather than perfection. As he put it, ‘Perfection is an illusion. It is more important to be human.’ For Armani, timeless elegance was expressed through neutral tones, particularly his signature greige (a blend of grey and beige) and through sleek, understated silhouettes. To convey luxury, he often turned to silks, which added fluidity and motion to his designs. Over his 50-year career, Armani continually reinvented his collections, using fabrics and colours to captivate audiences while maintaining his own cultivated elegance.
Among his standout pieces, part of the F/W 2026 haute couture collection was a strapless black-and-grey striped bodice, adorned with sequins and paired with a voluminous layered tulle skirt. While neutrals dominated his palette, the rare bursts of colour left a lasting impression. One striking example came in his AW 2021 collection: a strapless gown with a watercolour effect, gem-encrusted borders, and a full layered tulle skirt. Another unforgettable look from the SS2025 collection featured a sequinned appliqué cover-up paired with a flowing rhinestone headpiece, worn over a soft grey tulle top and matching skirt-trousers, creating a perfect illustration of Armani’s ability to balance restraint with spectacle.
Armani radically transformed the fashion world and challenged traditional gender boundaries within it. He softened men’s tailoring to create a sense of allure, while simultaneously empowering women through the now iconic concept of power dressing he pioneered. Although tailoring defined much of his legacy, his haute couture collections revealed the true depths of his talent and everlasting love for luxury. Armani sought to redefine the image of the ‘real’ woman, encouraging her to embrace confidence and elegance in a modern context. For him, design was a form of art that transcended his own life and stood as a commentary on the world he wished to shape and the legacy he wanted to leave behind. As he once explained, ‘the difference between fashion and art is that fashion is meant to be worn.’
Written by Claudia Limaverde Costa
Edited by Co-Fashion Editor Arielle Sam-Alao
Comments