Giorgio Armani’s masculinity is characterized by a discreet elegance and a certainty that is not unrelated to the designer’s own aesthetic. A living legend since the 1970s, Armani balances classicism and modernism in an almost architectural rationalism for menswear.
Giorgio Armani’s menswear has always been characterized by an almost architectural rationalism.Rationalism, developed in Italy in the 1920s and 1930s, is an architectural style. The ancient Roman architect Vitruvius declared in his book Ten Books of Architecture that architecture is a science that can be rationally understood, and that in the design process, emphasis should be placed on the purposefulness and logic of the building, advocating simplicity, clarity, and lucidity, and emphasizing the importance of spatial design while meeting functional requirements – a creative approach that is similar to that of Giorgio Armani. This idea is almost similar to Giorgio Armani.
In 1975, designer Giorgio Armani and Italian architect Sergio Galeotti founded the brand together. Armani’s design is based on the balance between simplicity and modernism, the lines and silhouettes are extremely modernist and sharp, and the fabrics are carefully selected, under the premise of respecting the body, the purpose of the design is to “To win over complexity with refinement”. Compared to women’s clothing, which is decorated with elaborate embroidery and overflowing with gorgeous decorative styles, Giorgio Armani men’s clothing is closer to the repeated writing of the image of masculinity that spans the ages and breaks down limitations. Armani tries to find a kind of timelessness in men’s clothing, for example, he once revealed in an interview that he has in mind the ideal image of masculinity, and he pointed to the twentieth-century golden age of Hollywood. actors Clark Gable and Cary Grant, “that effortless, elegant male figure.”
Restraint, rigor, rationality, freedom, purposefulness and a symbol of “manliness” have long been the hallmarks of Giorgio Armani menswear, which reached its peak in the 1980s and 1990s thanks to the influence of Hollywood films. American Psycho”, used to cover up the perverted murderer Patrick Bateman (Christian Bale) true face is a whole body used to represent the image of elite men, expensive Armani suits, can be visualized, representing the decency of the successful men and the hands of the murderer, no change of face between the creation of a surprisingly great contrast; “American Dancer” Richard Gere, who has a strong body, good taste and good taste, is the most important actor of the film. Richard Gere in “American Dancer”, who became famous for his role as Julian, a man with a strong body and unconventional tastes, wandered among women in an Armani suit used to emphasize his towering figure, and made Giorgio Armani synonymous with male sex appeal and seduction, which has since swept the world.
Almost at the same time, Giorgio Armani became the “uniform” of most successful men – his suits made the “uniform” of men no longer just a standard for work. These suits, often with large shoulder pads, were elegantly understated, classic in design, and made of fine fabrics. Of course, his designs also served as a dress code for some professional women, and have been described as “power suits” – a clear statement of how women should behave in the workplace.
Whether consciously or unconsciously, under the influence of the Power Suit, Giorgio Armani became a pioneer in exploring the field of “unisex clothing”, especially under the concept of “dressing for success” – a concept that was to be understood as “dressing for success” – and “dressing for success” was to be understood as “dressing for success”. Giorgio Armani became a pioneer in exploring the field of “unisex clothing”, especially in the context of the “dress for success” concept – a social environment in which clothing was considered essential to a man’s success in his career. This social context gave Giorgio Armani clothing, especially men’s clothing, a deep sense of identity, and even subconsciously influenced the wearer himself – expressing his own position through his clothing. Of the classic “power suit” silhouette, he wrote in his autobiography Per Amore: “How can a young, energetic, uninhibited man contrast with the old way of thinking if he is confined to a suit that deprives him of his individuality? ” His designs are the best answer, “clothing with an intellectual masculinity”. While designing “male uniforms”, he is also breaking through the limitations of “uniforms”, the definition of “orthodox masculinity”. The limitations of the definition of “orthodox masculinity”.
This view is supported by fashion writer Giusi Ferré’s book Giorgio Armani: Radical Sex, in which Ferré argues that through his designs Armani conveyed “a precise sensuality, restrained but at the same time intense and radical, focusing on the fluidity of the sexes. ” This interpretation of the nature of transgender style is the strongest evidence of the contemporary nature of his creations: he actively explores the modern fusion of identities and cultures, highlighting the power of femininity while offering a reflection on “orthodox masculinity”.
The Giorgio Armani menswear style is not difficult to define, even in the public’s subjective perception, but it is a departure from the ever-changing trends and retains a DNA that can be called “timeless”: well-tailored, appropriately utilitarian, and with a certainty that is attuned to history and transfers to the wearer; they are echoed on the wearer’s body. They have the quality of being detached from the fast-paced change of fashions, seeming to have a certain timeless style that is not linked to the loud slogans of the mainstream trends, but rather to the minutiae of distinguishing between seasons and preferences, and to a considered self-perseverance. These deja vu “minimalisms” are precisely the ones that require the most care and attention, and are, to use a colloquialism, “the carelessness of effort”. This persistent and ever-refined simplicity is analyzed, to quote Armani himself, “If you don’t look for fleeting trends, classicism and modernism are really the same thing.” This seems to go some way to explaining why we can always feel a sense of déjà vu in Giorgio Armani’s designs.
The Giorgio Armani Spring/Summer 2024 menswear collection is described as being “resolutely current”, i.e. instantly reacting to what’s happening in the moment through the design of the clothes. What are these times?
After three exceptional years of restlessness, people are beginning to reflect on the pace of life and the pursuit of inner peace, and the ‘Old Money’ style that we discarded at the end of the last century – perhaps there are many new terms being used to describe this style, which is not about fads, but is about the pursuit of the future. Once abandoned at the end of the last century, “Old Money” – perhaps now a new term to describe a style of dress that is not about fashion but about a quiet aesthetic – has made a comeback, a resurgence that aims to evoke the understatement that has long characterized our approach to fashion: is it necessary to go for the fad when life has become fragile? What kind of clothes do we need when trends are stripped away? Can clothing itself have a longer life than the old and the new?
Spring/Summer 2024 menswear is more akin to the free-flowing style of the early nineties, after the “power suit” was in full swing. Taking Black Monday 1987 as a reference to the financial crisis, Giorgio Armani’s shoulder-padded suits, which were originally designed to emphasize strength and power, were gradually stripped of their heavy padding, and the silhouettes became softer and softer, while the fabrics remained as fine as ever, as if they were to be removed from the austere restraint of the “successful man”. As if to escape from the image of the strict and restrained “successful man” to a more free and open image of the new urban man – as the soft and light silhouettes of this season’s show brought a sense of movement and lightness – this change was recognized by Armani’s team. -A change that Armani described as a symbol of “inner freedom”.
Slimly proportioned suits, functional and utilitarian jackets, brightly printed knitwear, cotton linen tops that gently envelop the body, lightweight and waterproof nylon jackets, polka-dot silk scarves tied around men’s necks …… Armani changes the way people feel about clothing by changing the details of the clothing, designing for the real world, for real clothes. Armani designed for the real world, for real dress, and he gave a timely response based on the changes in society in such a soothing, meticulous way that few people realized the importance and revolutionary nature of the changes in clothing that he brought about through his changes in details – especially in this day and age of unparalleled reverence for sound volume and dominant iconic symbols. His careful restraint and rationalism in design is based on realistic and contemporary thinking and execution, carried out with persistent enthusiasm and passion, as he wrote in his autobiography, “I am pragmatic and rational, but I act from the heart.”
A blank sheet of paper and a pencil with the word Giorgio Armani on it were the beginning of Giorgio Armani’s career in fashion, and they are the tools with which he continues to write about masculinity today. He collects the past, records the present, and holds his own in the flux of fashion.