Giorgio Armani (born 11 July 1934) is an Italian fashion designer, particularly noted for his menswear. He is known today for his clean, tailored lines. He formed his company, Armani, in 1975, and by 2001 was acclaimed as the most successful designer to come out of Italy,[1] with an annual turnover of $1.6 billion, and a personal fortune of $5.3 billion.[2]
Innovations
Armani was the first designer to ban models with a body mass index (BMI) under 18, after model Ana Carolina Reston starved herself to death due to anorexia nervosa.
The Armani Privé spring/summer 2007 fashion show was broadcast via MSN and Cingular cellular phones.[3]
After LG teamed with Prada to introduce the LG Prada phone, Samsung joined Armani to design the Giorgio Armani phone.
Armani designed made-to-measure suits for Christian Bale's character Bruce Wayne in The Dark Knight. Advertisements featuring "Giorgio Armani for Bruce Wayne" were released in 2008 with pictures of Christian Bale wearing Armani suits. However, Bale later claimed in a GQ interview that the campaign was produced without his permission.[4]
In sport
Giorgio Armani has a keen interest in sports. He is the president of the Olimpia Milano basketball team[5] and an Inter Milan fan, and twice designed suits for the England national football team.[6] He has since designed suits worn by players of the London club Chelsea since August 2007.[7] He designed the Italian flag bearers' outfits at the opening ceremony at the 2006 Winter Olympics in Turin. Armani also designed and introduced the EA7 range, a brand inspired by Ukrainian footballer Andriy Shevchenko, who at the time played for AC Milan and wore number 7 jersey.