He didn't consider himself an artist, yet Giorgio Armani was well-versed in the art of fashion, infused with a streak of genius.
In 1957, he left his hometown to study medicine at the University of Milan and become a surgeon. After a couple of years, however, he found a job that allowed him to explore fashion: he worked as a window dresser at La Rinascente, a crucial step in his increasingly creative direction, looking with interest to the world of clothing and developing his own vision.
His first opportunity came in 1964, when Nino Cerruti called him to collaborate with Hitman, the first elegant men's ready-to-wear factory.
It was here that his vision of the deconstructed suit was shaped, proposed for Cerruti with flowing fabrics, and later developed and matured this concept through the use of more traditional materials in the collections that would bear his name.

His first debut as a designer was in 1974 during the legendary Florentine fashion show at Palazzo Pitti in the Sala Bianca, and just a year later he founded Giorgio Armani Spa, initially dedicated to menswear and expanded to womenswear in 1976. Emporio Armani arrived in 1981, while Armani Privé arrived in January 2005.

Giorgio Armani chose Sergio Galeotti, whom he met in 1966 during a vacation in Forte dei Marmi, as his faithful right-hand man. When he left the Tuscan coast for his villa on Pantelleria, the scents of this land inspired the Acqua di Giò fragrance. It was his medical studies, however, that gave his fashion a surgical edge: the length of a hem, the cut of a dress, a glove never too long or a color never too bright, everything measured and proportioned down to the millimeter. Thus was born the unmistakable Italian style of Giorgio Armani, who shuns sensationalism aimed at excess for a healthy operation of cleanliness and a desire for essentiality, without impoverishing it.

But the real date to remember is July 24, 1975, when the Giorgio Armani label was born in Milan, marking 50 years of fashion history.
This moment will be celebrated this year, 2025, with a series of projects: Armani/Archivio, an exhibition followed by a fashion show at the Pinacoteca di Brera that retraces his style and the designer's stylistic legacy, as well as the digital platform that will be launched on August 30 during the 2025 Venice Film Festival.

His "creatures":
The deconstructed tailored jacket
Giorgio Armani's greige
Giorgio Armani men and the style of American Gigolo
Giorgio Armani women, from must-haves to Oscar-winning looks
Giorgio Armani Privé
Emporio Armani