JUANA SUMMERS, HOST:
The Italian fashion designer Giorgio Armani has died at the age of 91. The Armani Group announced his death on its Instagram page. Armani revolutionized the suit jacket and helped modernize late 20th century fashion with clean lines, soft colors and expensive price tags. Reporter Diana Opong has this remembrance.
DIANA OPONG, BYLINE: The name Armani is synonymous with fashion and luxury.
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OPONG: Take Lady Gaga at the 2022 Grammys. She wore a sleek, one-shoulder column gown made with black silk. In the back of the dress was a chic cascading white train that floated behind her. The two-toned look was a show-stopping elevation of a simple silhouette with dramatic flair. But Armani grew up in a family without much money, as he said in the 1990 short documentary by Martin Scorsese.
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GIORGIO ARMANI: (Speaking Italian).
OPONG: Armani grew up in a northern Italian city not too far from Milan. That's where he founded his luxury fashion house in 1975. He loved early 20th century designers, sculptors and architects. He also was fascinated with film. A movie made Armani a household name in the United States.
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OPONG: In the opening scene of "American Gigolo" from 1980, actor Richard Gere, in a high-end boutique, tries on a single-breasted, brown-colored, two-button Armani jacket. Such a streamlined silhouette was uncommon in men's fashion back then. Armani jackets lacked traditional padding and shifted away from standard colors like blue and black, says design historian John Potvin.
JOHN POTVIN: The fact of the matter is that he completely took the stuffing out of jackets. He made formal wear sportswear, incredibly comfortable, incredibly accessible.
OPONG: Well, maybe not accessible to everyone. This was a luxury brand, after all. But Armani's designs revolutionized trends in officewear. Women in the corporate world embraced his clean, masculine lines as well. In 1990, Julia Roberts wore Armani to the Golden Globes.
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JULIA ROBERTS: I want to thank my mama.
OPONG: Roberts accepted her best supporting actress award for "Steel Magnolias" wearing an oversized Armani gray suit with a purple tie, a daring choice outside of the confines of extravagant floor-length gowns.
POTVIN: No other designer has affected the development and path and history of fashion for both men and women.
OPONG: Potvin says, by the end of his life, Giorgio Armani was everywhere - accessories, makeup, perfume and even at the mall with Armani Exchange. But Armani never lost his cachet. The magic of his style and vision endures.
For NPR News, I'm Diana Opong. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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