Giorgio Armani: Haute Couture is “The Peak of My World"
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Giorgio Armani, the man who reinvented tailoring for women and men knows a thing or two about clothes that work for everyday life. Here, he tells T&C about transferring essential pragmatic applications of design to the haute genre.
Many people associate haute couture with high evening. You spearheaded the major red carpet phenomenon, and many of that genre's most memorable moments feature your glorious dresses. Yet you also invented a way of dressing for day, which you brought to Armani Privé from the very beginning. Why is it important to you to always include a significant range of daywear in Armani Privé?
Couture is the maximum expression of the best craftsmanship and the designer’s imagination, and of the heritage of expertise connected to fashion’s purest form of creativity. Because of this, I want it to be different from the prêt-á-porter, of course, and naturally the two different collections show the variations of my style. However, despite the differences, everything I do stems from a consistent vision, and so when I undertook to enter the world of couture, I wanted to really concentrate on what Armani could bring to this exquisite art form. Therefore, I decided to evolve my focus from eveningwear, which is the traditional arena of couture, to daywear and cocktail dresses. This seemed to me a very Armani thing to do—to apply my philosophy of making clothes for wearing in real life to haute couture, albeit this is a very rarefied form of real life.
What is it that makes couture "staples," both daywear and low-key evening pieces, compelling to the client?
The key is always to bring out the character of the wearer—never to overwhelm her or disguise her. For this reason, I aim to create pieces that are stylish rather than fussy and overly decorative. They are timeless. This means not only that they will make the wearer look and feel good, but also that they can be worn on many occasions. Couture is an investment and a celebration of beauty that lasts. Often my customer already knows and highly values the perfection and deep creativity of an haute couture garment, and so is predisposed to buy couture. She comes to Armani Privé because of my very particular take on the art of couture, the Armani lens, if you like.
Daywear "staples" have always been intrinsic to haute couture, yet we associate couture first with visual extravagance. Why?
Armani Privé is the peak of my world, and my timeless vision. These are exquisitely crafted dresses, meant to be worn for years. This beauty and craftsmanship are the key for me, not the extravagance. Extravagance may indeed have become the image of couture, perhaps because of its visibility at lavish occasions like balls, parties and red carpet events. But couture can be beautifully wearable.
Roughly, what is the split of collection looks between day and evening?
As this is a couture collection, the weight of the designs is still towards eveningwear. But daywear is also requested by clients.
Among daywear, what looks/pieces do clients order most often?
Jackets and trousers. The Armani jacket is still the key piece for daywear. can also feature as an eveningwear piece too, and has a striking effect as such.
What type of client buys “couture staples,” particularly daywear?
She has a love and deep knowledge of tailoring, and she is, of course, also wealthy.
Who is the Armani Privé couture client today?
Notably, with this [Spring 2021] collection my intention was to convey the profound aesthetics of haute couture to the younger generation, playing with volumes and proportions and using unexpected shades of color. However, the customer is a woman who has a little more experience and lives a sophisticated and rarefied lifestyle.
Armani was at the forefront of coronavirus relief efforts, especially in Italy. Has the pandemic impacted the kinds of clothes clients are ordering?
The work of my couture atelier has not been severely interrupted, as we always work in a concentrated and somewhat isolated way. As for sales, I believe that beauty is eternal, and our love of it a powerful force. If anything, the current situation has sharpened our wish for beauty in general, and that includes beautiful clothing and accessories. So actually, the pandemic has not altered the types of clothes that clients are ordering. They still want couture to bring beauty into their lives.
Photos by Danny Kasirye, styled by Mike Adler, hair by Charlotte Mensah at Premier, makeup by Valeria Ferreira at the Wall Group, nails by Michelle Class at LMC Worldwide, set design by Trish Stephenson at Patricia McMahon, production by Zoe Rose-Davis. Lead image: Armani Prive jacket, pants, and scarf; Giorgio Armani High Jewelry Collection earrings, necklaces, and bracelet.
Excerpts from this interview appear in the May 2021 issue of Town & Country. SUBSCRIBE NOW.
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