wilhelmina dan agency

Wilhelmina Dan Agency

Wilhelmina Dan Agency

In April of 1982 Time magazine featured Giorgio Armani on its cover. Armani's first radically different blazer appeared in the fashion world under his own label between 1974 and 1975. His sartorial style exhibited a decidedly relaxed, even rumpled look. The designer softened these new jackets by pulling out the padding and lining and leaving out stiffeners of any kind. He combined thinner lapels with baggier pockets and longer jackets. "Armani's unstructured look makes even his English wool suits feel as comfortable as silk pajamas," observed a writer for People magazine.

In 1980, Giorgio Armani USA offered the American market a hybrid of the two styles. His more fluid sport coats of the first half of the decade could be compared to cardigan sweaters, with comfortable, sloping shoulders. These jackets were teamed up with T-shirts for a studied, informal look. The unmistakable Armani style evolved into an even more simplified version of the original groundbreaking blazer. In his spring 1990 women's collection, Armani "called attention to the generous flow of jackets by stripping them of superfluous detail," wrote Dan Lecca in the New York Times Magazine.

Wilhelmina Dan Agency

Armani's feminine version of the menswear jacket looked like it was borrowed from Greta Garbo's closet, or so imply some fashion critics. "My first jackets for women were in fact men's jackets in women's sizes," he told Time magazine. But it's Armani's use of strategically modified menswear fabrics and tailoring in women's suit jackets that is his "special contribution," stated Geraldine Stutz, president of Henri Bendel department store in New York City, in the same publication. "No one had ever done that before." While the jacket forms the foundation of the Armani empire, the Italian designer does create a variety of other garments as well. In 1982, for example, his fall collection featured felt hats, gaucho pants, and light suede hooded sweatshirts in what were described as "jelly bean" colors. Jackets were gold lamé for evening and longer for daytime wear. Fabrics included silk-lined cotton and mixtures of velvet, silk, wool, and linen, in a plethora of patterns and stripes.

Wilhelmina Dan Agency

Whatever Armani chooses to offer in a collection, he is praised for that sense of relaxed comfort. "It's the fit of the armhole," pinpointed Dawn Mello in Vogue. And "somehow his clothes never seem to wrinkle." The man with the steel-blue eyes is not only a brilliant designer, he is also an astute businessman. A writer for Forbes magazine noted that, in general, Armani "sets prices to maximize profits rather than minimize output." The company Giorgio Armani SpA made $350 million in the international market in 1988, $90 million of which came from the United States. The designer has targeted several different markets while maintaining high profit margins. In Italy, Vestimenta sells the priciest line for Giorgio Armani Via. In 1988 it was possible to spend $1,800 for one of Armani's best American suits for men. Blouses ran for between $30 and $400, and blazers ranged from $650 to $800, made by Gruppo GFT. Designed for the 20-years-old-and-up crowd, the Armani label appeared on less pricey suits and sport coats: $700 and $360 respectively.