Deep blue eyes, tanned skin, snow-white hair, navy blue T-shirts and trousers, and a radiant confidence – these were the hallmarks of one of the world’s best-known and most successful Italian fashion designers. Giorgio Armani created a multi-billion dollar empire by only being able to start his own business at the age of forty, for which he sold his VW Beetle and hand-painted polka dots on the fabric for his first clothes because he couldn’t afford more expensive, patterned textiles. After a few years, he was still mentioned among the greatest, easily identifiable if the characters wore his clothes in a film, and he freed successful businessmen (both men and women) of the 1980s from the shackles of stiff suits and miniskirts in the name of casual elegance. Despite this, his name became synonymous with luxury, and among the defining, legendary fashion designers of the second half of the 20th century, he was perhaps the strictest, most austere character.

Casually elegant

Giorgio Armani was born on July 11, 1934, in Piacenza, the middle child of a middle-class family. His mother was a housewife and his father was an accountant for a shipping company. As a child, he experienced World War II and the Allied bombings. Giorgio was nine years old when he and his friends found a cache of gunpowder and, when it was set on fire, he was so badly injured that he was hospitalized for a month and a half. His vision was in danger of being permanently damaged, and the experience inspired him to become a doctor. After the war, his father was briefly imprisoned for his involvement in fascism, and the family moved to Milan.

We lived in very humble circumstances. I love my job so much because I get to create in a world I never thought I would be a part of, a world I've only seen in movies, read about in books

– he later recalled the difficult beginnings.

After graduating in 1953, he began medical school, but three years later he had to join the military. After his discharge, he worked as a window dresser at the La Rinascente department store in Milan, and then became a salesman. He was still only twenty, but business trips had made him world-renowned and confident, taking him from India to the United States. In 1965, he joined the company of the Italian textile magnate Nino Cerruti, where he was already involved in fashion design and worked as a freelancer for others. The Armani name first appeared in 1974 on products from the leather clothing manufacturer Sicons, and a year later he founded his own fashion company under the name Giorgio Armani S.p.A.

Armani was already in his forties when he set out on his own, having been persuaded to start the company by his partner, Sergio Galeotti. Galeotti, who had an excellent business sense, handled the finances, while Armani took on the creative duties. He first attracted attention with a collection of casual yet elegant suits for men, and a year later he launched his women's collection.

I was the first to soften the look of men a little and harden the look of women. I designed clothes for men from materials intended for women, and I stole from men's fashion what women wanted, what they needed - and that's how the power suit was born.

In 1980, he dressed Richard Gere for the film American Gigolo, followed by hundreds of similar works, the most famous of which was Martin Scorsese s 1987 film, The Man Who Beat Al Capone. For Armani, this was certainly more than simple brand building, because he had loved movies since childhood, and by his own admission, even though he had a home cinema in his home when he was older, he still enjoyed going to movie theaters.

We were very poor, life was hard. As children we found refuge in the cinemas of Milan. They were the palaces of dreams, the movie stars were all so beautiful. I was completely enchanted by the ideal beauty of the Hollywood stars

– he stated.

And as she became more and more famous, she no longer had to seek out the company of celebrities, but they wanted to be around her: in the 80s, she was approached by stars who were tired of the exaggerated and kitschy fashion of old Hollywood and wanted to appear on the red carpet in simpler, more sophisticated attire. After the 1990 Oscars, WWD magazine, also known as the Bible of fashion, put a picture of Kim Basinger in a white satin ball gown and Michelle Pfeiffer in a restrainedly elegant Armani with this title: “The Agony and the Ecstasy.” In the photo, Armani symbolized the triumphant new age spirit.

The first Armani boutique, opened in 1983 on Via Sant’Andrea in Milan, right in the heart of the fashion district, sold not only clothes, but also underwear, swimwear, shoes, bags and perfumes. The product range remained wide later, and he designed TVs for Samsung, phones for LG, uniforms for police officers, taxi drivers, the Italian summer and winter Olympic teams, and he also founded his own restaurant and hotel chain.

I've always thought that fashion is not just about clothes. I reach a much wider audience by trying my hand at other areas. Whatever I do, I try to create things that are durable and useful.

The Milan flagship store moved to the neighboring Via Montenapoleone 2 in 2008, where a three-story fashion store designed by Armani himself is located.

At the end of the 20th century, however, a designer working for a global market could no longer afford to focus only on Europe; he had to be present in America as well. The Armani fashion store in Los Angeles opened on Rodeo Drive in 1988, and Armani strategically hired Wanda McDaniel, wife of the producer of The Godfather, to lure the most famous actresses to the store. The first big success came with Jodie Foster, who was voted worst-dressed star after the 1989 Oscars, but the following year she was so successful in Armani that she refused to wear anything else. Soon, the store's regular customers included the biggest stars of the era: Julia Roberts, Michelle Pfeiffer, Jack Nicholson, John Travolta, and later Cate Blanchett, Beyoncé, Lady Gaga, David Beckham and Katie Holmes. Armani personally didn't court celebrities at all, he felt he was a big enough name for them to seek him out:

If a movie star wants to wear Armani, they call us

– he said.

Emporio Armani has been expanding steadily over the past four decades, now boasting hundreds of boutiques in 37 countries around the world. When a new store opened on Rome's Via dei Condotti in 2013, stars like Mila Jovovich, Tina Turner and Sophia Loren attended the gala (the Armani boutique and café on Andrássy Avenue in Budapest, however, proved to be a commercial failure, closing less than a year after opening in 2009). In 2002, Forbes magazine named Armani the most successful Italian fashion designer, with an estimated net worth of $9.6 billion. In 2015, he opened a museum in Milan, showcasing not only his old and new creations, but also drawings of his designs and photos from previous fashion shows.

Pain as a teacher

Giorgio Armani's life was marked by countless upheavals, one of the most defining tragedies being the death of his partner, Sergio Galeotti, in 1985. He met the young architect in 1966, when he was 32 years old, with an age difference of 11 years between them. Galeotti soon left his family and work behind to move in with Armani, with whom he also built the business together.

He helped me believe in my work, in my energy

– he later said of him. However, Galeotti contracted the disease in 1984, at the height of the global AIDS epidemic, and died a year later, barely forty years old.

Armani never recovered from the loss of his partner, and in a 2001 interview he called his greatest failure in life that he could not save her from death. At the time, there was speculation that he would retire from work, but that was not the case, as he proved that he could hold his own not only as a designer but also as a company leader.

Creativity feeds on pain. If everything goes well, I'll be boring

– said the fashion designer, whose sense of duty helped him through the difficult times. That sense of duty, that level of discipline, that took him to the top professionally, but because of which he had no time for anything else besides his career.

 You can learn to relax, but I think it's too late for me. I've never been able to let go. Work has always been more important, I've been overly dutiful. But that's who I am, I couldn't behave any other way.

Armani has often mentioned that his work has required him to make serious sacrifices, that he does not have many friends but is surrounded by a small group of trusted people, and that he relies heavily on family members in his company, such as his sister, Rosanna, and nieces, Silvana and Roberta.

The fashion Caesar who didn't want to be fashionable

In recent years, many have criticized him for not being able to innovate, for not being able to show anything new, but he was not affected by this. He did not like the fact that the fashion world had accelerated to such an extent that companies were constantly churning out new collections, that luxury had become a kind of mass product, and that customers were rushing after trends.

I never wanted to be trendy. I have my own ideas and visions, and I'm not afraid to go against the grain. Fashion is always changing. Sometimes trends are in line with my style, and sometimes they're not. I don't really care. There's no point in going against the times, but I've never thought that what's new is automatically good.

Of course, his budget-friendly, more accessible brand, A/X Armani Exchange, was launched more than a decade earlier than Armani Privé, which showcased his haute couture creations. It was characteristic that although he never denied his homosexuality, he did not talk about it much, in 2015 – not exactly in line with the spirit of the times – he shocked many by stating in an interview that he did not like it when someone advertised their homosexuality in an extreme way: “A homosexual man is 100 percent a man. You don’t have to dress homosexually.”

He followed this himself. Giorgio Armani was one of those successful and creative people who seemed to wear a uniform. When it came to interior design, he liked to show off, but when it came to clothing, he always wore the same basic pieces.

I work in the fashion industry, but I don't dress fashionably because I know it wouldn't work for me, either because of my body type or my attitude.

He has admitted countless times that he is very interested in the human body and its aesthetics, but not in the way most people think. Several journalists have started their articles about him by saying that when he arrived for an interview, Armani immediately looked at what they were wearing, but not to judge, just out of professional interest.

His ideal for both men and women was natural beauty, and he spoke out against plastic surgery and even excessive body shaping. It should not be forgotten that he was one of those fashion designers who, after the death of an anorexic female model in 2006, undertook not to include models with a size zero, i.e. a European size 34, in their shows, and tried to rally his colleagues behind this (although there were unpleasant moments later). And yes, it is difficult to imagine this from someone who clearly wanted to stay young forever. Armani did not deny that he was not satisfied with his appearance, that he was full of complexes, he was 50 when he started working more seriously on being in good shape, but this was not only about vanity, but also partly about maintaining his health and thus being able to work better.

Due to his determination, which stemmed from his professional commitment and discipline, many people thought that he was a gloomy, unsociable person, but this was far from the truth. He often said that he did smile and even cry, although he admitted that it took time for him to dare to admit his feelings. His kindness could also be experienced up close by his fans, he rarely said no to a single photo or autograph.

What right do I have to reject someone if I've already said yes to someone else? That wouldn't be fair

– he said. He added that one of the greatest compliments for him was when someone said they liked him not because of his creations, but because he was a nice guy.

It feels great to have been able to create such an empire, but I still see myself as a simple, country boy.