What is Giorgio Armani's legacy?

BarcelonaArmani is now history. With the death of Giorgio Armani, the fashion world bids farewell to one of the greatest names of the 20th century. His house hadn't been at the center of the creative storm for years, but it would be unthinkable to explain contemporary fashion without his influence. Armani is part of an unrepeatable generation of Italian designers—Gianni Versace, Franco Moschino, Gianfranco Ferré, and Dolce & Gabbana—who, for the first time, made Italy a global focal point. Today, it's natural to look to Milan for its trends, but it's thanks to this generation of designers that this revolution took place. Within this group, Armani opted for his own path, diametrically opposed to Versace's: while Versace sublimated the Baroque. kitsch, ostentatious ornamentation and explicit sexuality, he was embarking on a path of essentiality, clean lines and restrained sophistication that would write the first chapter of the minimalism that would dominate the following decades.

To truly understand Armani's impact, it is necessary to look at his contribution to menswear. He had a luxurious maestro, Nino Cerruti, who revolutionized television wardrobe with the series Corruption in MiamiFrom those changing rooms emerged looks iconic like Don Johnson's in the role of Sonny Crockett: relaxed-cut dresses combined with t-shirts and loafers without socks, a formula that redefined the idea of the urban man in the eighties.

Armani, heir to that spirit, went a step further: he reinvented the tailored suit to make it comfortable and sensual. He eliminated interlinings and padding, did away with waistcoats, added wide-legged trousers with pleats, and freed shirts from ties. The result was a tailoring style that exuded movement and nonchalance. His crowning moment was the wardrobe ofAmerican Gigolo (Paul Schrader, 1980): Richard Gere appeared far from the tough macho and also the boring businessman, making the suit an instrument of seduction. Armani's clothes turned the male body into an object of desire and anticipated the metrosexual phenomenon that would explode years later. Shortly after, the link with Hollywood would be further consolidated when he designed the wardrobe forThe Untouchables by Eliot Ness (1980), by Brian De Palma.

In terms of women's fashion, Armani understood the historical moment that women were living: thanks to the feminist achievements of the sixties and seventies, they were beginning to hold decision-making positions in the competitive working world of the yuppiesWith Calvin Klein, he embraced the trend of dress for success, creating outfits that took the codes of men's clothing to give women authority and presence. Marked shoulder pads, sober lines, quiet luxury, colors nude and a touch of androgyny served to convey professionalism. With today's perspective, we might question this masculinization, but at the time it was a powerful tool of empowerment that spread both in Hollywood and in the offices of Wall Street. In addition to anonymous executives, he created iconic garments for actresses like Diane Keaton, who wore an Armani blazer to attend the Oscars, and reinforced her image as a pioneer of genderless clothing, which she had begun years earlier with the look Ralph Lauren's masculinized in Annie Hall (1977). And, shortly after, Julia Roberts collected a Golden Globe for Steel Magnolias (1990) with an unstructured suit oversize that would mark the taste of an era.

With Armani, a designer leaves us who not only made clothes, but also defined ways of being, seeing ourselves, and desiring ourselves. A way of living fashion consistently until the very end: unlike many, he never sold his brand to the large luxury conglomerates, so he could remain Armani until the very end. His legacy is a reminder that fashion can be much more than trends: it can be a tool for cultural transformation. And now that the world seems obsessed with logos and hyperconsumption, perhaps we should return to that Armani who knew that, sometimes, the best way to attract attention is the silence of a pure line.