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Giorgio
Armani
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Armani,
Giorgio (1934- ), Italian fashion
designer, hailed as a master
tailor and as a designer whose
clothes combine elegance,
quality, and practicality. He was
born in Piacenza, Italy. Armani
abandoned his medical studies and
studied photography before
becoming a window dresser at a
Milan department store. He worked
there in the menswear department,
then spent ten years (1961-1971)
with Nino Cerutti, a leading
men's fashion house. After Armani
left Cerutti, he founded his own
firm; clothes designed by him
first appeared under the Armani
label in 1975.
The
Armani line was notable for
informal, loosely-fashioned
blazers and rumpled silhouettes.
Although designed for men, his
fashions were so popular with
women that Armani began to design
for them as well.
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In
1980 he introduced Armani USA, featuring
lower-priced, mass-produced copies of his
custom-made clothes. That same year, he
designed Richard Gere'swardrobe for the
film American Gigolo, as well as uniforms
for the Italian air force. He also began
to design his own fabrics. In 1982 he
introduced his perfume, Armani. In 1981 he
became one of the few designers of men's
clothes to win the Neiman-Marcus Award for
Distinguished Service in the Field of
Fashion.
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