Two Decades Of Decadence: A Look Back On Armani’s 20 Years Of Crafting Exquisite Couture

Shortly before his passing, Sasha Slater spoke to the Italian maestro whose exquisite couture has enthralled Hollywood and dominated the red carpet for two decades

Giorgio Armani is a quiet revolutionary, but a powerful one. This year, he celebrates the 50th anniversary of a brand whose aesthetic has transformed the red carpet over the decades from the frou-frou vulgarity of the Eighties to the impeccable elegance of today’s Oscar winners – of whom he has dressed more than any other designer.

His dominance of film’s A-list came about by chance when what he calls “the new Hollywood” of the late 1970s – actors such as Richard Gere and Diane Keaton – approached him. By the time Diane Keaton had worn an Armani jacket to collect her Best Actress Oscar for Annie Hall in 1978, and Richard Gere had smouldered in his unstructured blazers in American Gigolo in 1980, the Italian designer’s takeover of Tinseltown had begun. When Jodie Foster wore a long-line single-breasted cream jacket and loose, sparkly matching trousers to pick up her statue for The Silence of the Lambs in 1992, it was, he says, “definitely a turning point. His dominance of that year’s ceremony was so complete that WWD renamed the Academy Awards, labelling them the Armani Awards. “It all happened very naturally,” Mr Armani recalls now. “Then I worked to ensure this connection would continue.” From that point on, what serious actress would consider facing the flash-bulbs in anything but Armani?

The launch 20 years ago of Giorgio Armani Privé, the designer’s made-to-measure line, was the logical next step. “I felt the need for a new means of expression,” he explains. “Haute couture allows me to explore a different side of my style.” Simultaneously ‘a dream and a service’, Armani’s couture vision is no wild departure from the 90-year-old’s guiding aesthetic, which he describes as “clean, elevated and timeless.” That remains true whether you’re buying an Armani candlestick, a piece of fine jewellery or a lipstick. But what Privé does allow him to do is to free his imagination. In his couture collections, he says, “everything is precious, even what might not appear so.” Because each stitch is done by hand in his ateliers, it links him to the couturiers of the past, ‘preserving ancient knowledge.’ Characteristically, though, however challenging the techniques or expensive the materials maybe, he tells me: “I like to hide the preciousness behind something that seems very simple.”

That doesn’t apply only to the marquee names striking a pose for the paparazzi. Mr Armani is adamant that his Privé designs are not “garments made just for beautiful photographs or the runway, but creations for real clients.” Those clients, he accepts, have “undoubtedly privileged lives,” but he remains convinced that “haute couture has a role: a niche one but a very solid one.” So whether he is dressing a star for the Cannes film festival or a private client for her special occasion, “the emotion is the same.” To begin with, he sought out: “a specific type of woman to dress. And in a way, that woman was already looking for me – figuratively speaking – so it was a wonderful pairing.” That customer was searching, he believes, for clothes to convey ‘an idea of strength, freedom and effortless elegance.’ Other designers lace their catwalk models – and actresses on contract – into explosions of tulle or swathes of heavy velvet, whereas an Armani Privé piece should never: “feel like a costume. It doesn’t disguise or restrict. I offer everyone, both actresses and ordinary women, the chance to be themselves, just in a more streamlined and elegant version.”

Although he says the vision behind his Privé collections has become “more refined,” neither his style nor the demands of his couture clients have changed over the years. “I knew from the beginning what I wanted: to find a balance between fantasy and reality.’ As for the clients, made-to-measure creations are no longer solely for the aristocracy, but simply for women attending occasions that call for a unique way of dressing.” The constants of his Parisian Privé catwalks remain season after season: ‘Impeccable day jackets and embroidered gowns are perhaps the styles that linger most vividly in the collective imagination.’ For evening, he says: “I love dark colours, black or midnight blue, but I also like a metallic shimmer to illuminate the clothes.” As for drawing the eye: “I find embroidery and anything that catches and reflects the light particularly captivating.” For day, meanwhile, he leans towards “neutral tones, perhaps broken up by unexpected accents of colour.”

His private customers remain a closely guarded secret, and he demurs when asked who among his enormous A-list clientele stands out, but then admits, fabulously: “I have a wonderful relationship with Sophia Loren.” Indeed. He dressed the Cinecittà legend for her 90th-birthday celebration last autumn in a white crystal-encrusted jacket – from Privé; where else? “She is not only a beautiful woman,” he says now, “but also extremely generous and courageous, [with a] magnificent candour.” He also shares a ‘sincere friendship’ with Cate Blanchett, who is on the front row at many of his Privé shows. “She’s a modern woman and always has a unique elegance about her because she’s authentic and natural. I like her for her personality and independence – characteristics that defi ne my ideal of femininity.” The third of the illustrious trio of Privé clients he names is Nicole Kidman, whom he admires because of her talent and beauty, but even more because “there is a naturalness and freshness about her that makes her shine without having to overdress.” At its best, the couture gown ‘mirrors the special character of the woman who is wearing it’. Perhaps that is the true mark of Armani Privé: the fact that, far from adding distracting embellishment, the designs provide an impeccable frame, allowing the woman herself to shine.

Lead Image: Used Throughout: From left: Lila wears SS07 embroidered silk dress. Daria wears AW19 tulle dress. Jianing wears SS08 silk and organza dress, all Giorgio Armani Privé

Photography by Agata Pospieszynska. Styling by Miranda Almond. Hair: Simone Prusso at Walter Schupfer Management. Make-Up: Chiara Guizzetti at Green Apple Italy, using Armani Beauty. Nail Artist: Sara Cuifo at Green Apple Italy. Models: Lila Pankova at M+P Models, Daria Malchuk at 26 Models Milano, Jianing Zhang at 26 Models Milano. Location: Palazzo Orsini, Via Borgonuovo, Milan

From Harper’s Bazaar Arabia June 2025 Issue