Giorgio Armani believes the fashion industry needs to slow down. Thoughts, biography and initiatives of one of the most celebrated Italian designers in the world.
"I have always believed in an idea of timeless elegance."
Giorgio Armani is an Italian fashion designer and entrepreneur, founder of the eponymous company, considered one of the most important in the world in the fashion industry.
An innovative designer, Armani revolutionised his field with his deconstructed jacket. A groundbreaking garment, with no structure, no padding and no lining, with completely reinvented proportions. A jacket that is "relaxed, informal, less rigorous, which hints at the body and its sensuality", capable of adapting to the person wearing it like a second skin, regardless of gender.
The designer, one of the best known and most celebrated internationally, is once again ready to change the rules of the game. To rid himself of those superstructures that prevent fashion from adapting to social change, from responding to the needs of consumers and the planet. He intends to overturn the patterns that transform it into a "pure game of communication", trapping it in a cage made of clothes that do not last a single season, "cruise shows all around the world", models that do not reflect the varied reality in which we live, and "grand spectacles" that are perhaps nothing more than "wasteful spending that pollutes" and "coats of nail varnish over nothing".
It is time to "restore value to authenticity", to ensure that fashion behaves just like a deconstructed jacket, managing to dress a world that, now more than ever, needs to slow down. The pandemic has shown us that we cannot keep feeding a throwaway society, stripping the Earth of its resources in the name of appearances. That is why it is now time for the fashion industry to become a "human-scale system" once again.
These are just some of the thoughts that Giorgio Armani set out in an open letter published in Women's Wear Daily, a magazine so authoritative it has earned the epithet "the Bible of fashion". With that letter, the designer was the first in his field to reflect on what the health crisis could teach us. It should help us understand, for example, "how absurd the current state of affairs is, with the overproduction of garments and a criminal misalignment between the meteorological season and the commercial season." And how "a careful and intelligent slowdown is the only way out. A path that will finally restore value to our work."
Armani was also among the first to choose to hold shows behind closed doors to protect his employees, the press, buyers and guests; to close the shops, hotels and restaurants in his chain; to choose to convert his Italian facilities to producing disposable gowns and to make donations to hospitals, charities and organisations active in environmental protection.
Stopping is not easy, but it is often "a sign of strength"; slowing down the pace of one's work is not always straightforward either, but it is the right key to making that work more valuable. And to allowing it to evolve, perhaps eventually leaving "summer collections in boutiques at least until the beginning of September" and organising shows and runway presentations that have no major environmental impact, but rediscover the beauty of being "local" — as envisaged by Steven Kolb, president of the Council of Fashion Designers of America.
Giorgio Armani has from the very beginning devoted himself body and soul to his work, and he knows well what it means to be capable of evolving. Born in 1934 and raised in Piacenza, it was in Milan that he found a way to express his passion. From his first studio — two ground-floor rooms in corso Venezia — he could hear the protest marches of the Years of Lead passing by. Drawing after drawing, he tried to "imagine a new way of dressing for a society in full evolution". Living in Milan taught him that there is no reason to be afraid of stopping, because Milan never stops. And it taught him that one must not fear making sacrifices to realise one's dreams. That is why he gave up his degree in medicine to accept a buyer's position at the department store La Rinascente. It is surely also thanks to this gamble that, on 24 July 1975, Giorgio Armani S.p.A. was born.
That was only the beginning. In the years that followed, the Emporio Armani, A|X Armani Exchange, Armani/Casa and sportswear line EA7 Emporio Armani were launched. Then in 2005, the entrepreneur presented his first Haute Couture collection, Giorgio Armani Privé, in Paris. A few years later he opened his first hotels in Milan and Dubai.
Results that earned him accolades of the calibre of a cover of Time, an art exhibition at the Guggenheim museum in New York on the cultural and sociological impact of his work and his role as a trailblazer in the world of cinema, and, in 2008, the Légion d'Honneur. In 2010 he received the title of Designer of the Year at the GQ Awards in London. Five years later he celebrated the anniversary of his brand's founding by inaugurating Armani/Silos in via Bergognone in Milan. More recently he was awarded the Outstanding Achievement Award by the British Fashion Council for his creative contribution to the fashion industry.
The Armani group has eliminated animal fur from its production, investing in the research of alternative materials, many of which are recycled and recyclable. In the A|X Armani Exchange collections, some garments are made from recycled denim, while certain bags in the Emporio Armani line are made from regenerated leather fibre. A selection of jackets with 'cashmere fluff' padding, rather than goose down, has also recently been introduced.
A fabric made entirely from recovered bottle polyester has been used in the production of numerous technical garments in the sportswear collections. All products that meet sustainability criteria can be identified by the 'Armani sustainability project' logo.
In February 2021, the eyewear lines were also brought into this project: around twenty models are to be presented over the course of the year; some will be made with 100 per cent recycled materials through a process of recovering industrial waste and subsequent re-granulation, while others will use a fine bio-acetate composed of cellulose and plasticiser derived primarily from renewable sources. The eyewear will be complemented by lenses made from partially bio-based materials or pure crystal. The packaging has also been revised with this in mind, and will be made from recycled polyester or paper.
The point just mentioned is one on which the company is working not only for eyewear but also for its other products: the goal is a progressive elimination of single-use plastic. Collapsible boxes — foldable so as to take up less space — make it possible to significantly reduce shipping volumes, while also being fully recyclable.
Strategies to reduce the environmental impact and greenhouse gas emissions arising from production have also been put in place at the Armani group's headquarters and production facilities. Among the main measures adopted are the use of recycled paper and waste sorting, the reduction of energy consumption through better regulation of heating and air conditioning systems, the installation of a photovoltaic system at the Via Bergognone complex, and the use of electric transport for travel between the various sites in Milan.
Furthermore, all Italian companies within the group use energy drawn exclusively from renewable sources — a commitment that will gradually be extended to subsidiaries and points of sale in other countries. Outstanding examples are the Armani Outlet Green stores, with a concept launched in 2019 in Sanremo and Hong Kong: built entirely according to sustainability principles, these spaces feature versatile display structures that can be easily adapted over time.
Strong relationships with its own stakeholders and constant monitoring of the supply chain are fundamental to the Armani group, which is among the signatories of the Fashion pact, an agreement through which fashion companies commit to reducing the footprint of one of the most polluting industries in existence.
There are many important initiatives in the areas of environmental protection and human rights that Giorgio Armani has chosen to support over the years. In 2006 he declared his support at the World Economic Forum in Davos for (PRODUCT)RED, an initiative supporting the Global Fund to fight Aids in Africa. In 2010 he launched the Acqua for life project in collaboration with L'Oréal and partners including Green Cross International and Unicef, while the following year he began a collaboration with the J/P Haitian relief organization, founded by Sean Penn with the aim of helping the Haitian population in the wake of the tragic earthquake that struck the Caribbean nation.
In 2016 he confirmed, finally, the establishment of the Fondazione Giorgio Armani for the realisation of projects of public and social utility, with the aim of ensuring the long-term stability of the group's governance structure, in keeping with the principles underpinning his work as a designer and entrepreneur. His profound commitment to social responsibility and respect for the environment earned him the appointment as ambassador for responsible tourism by the United Nations.
Emporio Armani has reaffirmed its active involvement in sustainable development with a plan dedicated to expanding green spaces in nine areas of the world where the brand is present and operates, starting from Milan with support for the Forestami project.
It is essential that change should involve figures such as Giorgio Armani and enterprises such as his, precisely because fashion plays a crucial role in the survival of the planet. Small companies as much as large ones can make a difference, famous people as much as ordinary ones, regardless of everything. Even Lewis Hamilton, whose sport is highly polluting