Giorgio Armani - Hardcover

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0892072792 ISBN 13: 9780892072798

Publisher: Guggenheim Museum, 2003

Synopsis

Armani has been universally credited with both radically changing the rules of contemporary fashion and, by removing excess ornament and translating traditional sportswear looks into business and evening wear, creating a timeless version of modern dress. A wealth of illustrations, including editorial and advertising shots and new, specially commissioned photographs, charts the evolution of Armani's designs from the earliest sketches to their carefully orchestrated presentation as finished work. Celebrated authors from the worlds of fashion, film, art and design analyze the scope of Armani's achievement and his cultural and sociological impact on the ways both women and men dress today. In addition, personal photographs of Armani's houses and travels offer an intimate look at the man behind the fashion legend. Elegant and unprecedented, this lavish volume accompanies a major exhibition at the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York, exploring the life and work of the highly influential fashion designer Giorgio Armani.

About this title

Review:

A long, long time ago in a galaxy far, far away, the future began. The future of fashion, that is. Of course, it wasn't quite so long ago (it was the 1970s), and it wasn't quite so far away (it was Milan, Italy). Right there and then, the world witnessed the birth of the sports coat. This one jacket spawned the beginnings of casual dress and semi-androgynous fashion. This may not seem so radical now, but think about what came before. Look back to the Vogue magazines of the mid-20th century: the clothes were spectacular and elegant with very fitted waists, skirts with crinolines, crisp lines in men's suits. It was a severe and dramatic look; the body was very contained, almost sculpted by the clothes. But the times were changing, and comfort was coming into its own, explicit in the hippie wares of the 1960s.

Along came Italian designer Giorgio Armani. He fused the softness of jeans and ponchos with more convention, and built a fashion empire from the deconstruction of the shape-shifting suits of the 1940s and '50s. Fashion publisher Patrick McCarthy explains, "His mission, a rather democratic mission at that, has been to return elegance to clothing without abandoning the ease and comfort that crept in during the 1960s." Armani, the catalog accompanying the exhibit at New York's Guggenheim Museum, showcases the designs of this now very famous fashion insider. From sportswear to glamour, the book traces the history and styles of Armani's last three decades. Chapters range from ideas about gender, world culture, and architecture to a most interesting essay on Armani's relationship with cinema (his rise to fame was very tied to the release of the film American Gigolo). The photographs range from magazine advertising and billboards to family and celebrity pictures to lineups of Armani-clothed mannequins. -- J.P. Cohen

About the Author:

Award-winning fashion designer Giorgio Armani launched his menswear label in 1975, with his first womenswear collection following a year later. Armani’s popularity grew with his costuming of Richard Gere in American Gigolo in 1980. By 2001 he was acclaimed as the most successful designer to come out of Italy, with a retail network now encompassing 37 countries.

About this edition

• Publisher: Guggenheim Museum
• Publication date: 2003
• ISBN 10: 0892072792
• ISBN 13: 9780892072798
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 400
• Editor: Koda Harold, Celant Germano, Cross Susan, Vail Karole