After Dinner Speakers: Giorgio Armani, Kiri Te Kanawa, Steve Bowbrick

Born in Northern Italy in 1934, the young Armani had thought of becoming a doctor before he turned to fashion. Starting on the shop floor, he soon became assistant designer with Cerruti, then went freelance. Giorgio Armani first made his name with his elegant, sexy men's suits.In 1974, after many years experience in all facets of fashion, Armani launched his own womenswear, with an unconventional emphasis on unstructured ease and masculine shapes. It was his pattern mixes that attracted the initial attention; plaid shirts over other shirts in co-ordinating plaid and pants, and classic raglan coats over kangaroo-pocket sweaters. Armani kept making what had become the ultimate power suits for men, but more than that, he changed the way women dressed. He made the supple neutral-toned tailored jacket a business uniform, the pantsuit a way to look chic anywhere, and his own name a by-word for sleek, exquisite tailoring and taste. And in the nineties, he succeeded with drop dead glamour, dressing stars for the Oscar night and transforming the way Hollywood looked. Armani made movie stars fashion icons once again. Understated elegance pervades all Giorgio Armani clothes, and has made him one of the world's most critically acclaimed as well as commercially successful designers. Armani designs for a thinking audience, and his underlying aesthetic sense enables him to eliminate the superfluous and to emphasize comfort in his clothes. Giorgio Armani likes to explain his thinking about style and design by reference to three golden rules; eliminate the superfluous, emphasize the comfortable and acknowledge the elegance of the uncomplicated. It's a simple philosophy perhaps, but it is also one which has revolutionized the fashion of the last fifteen years, literally changing the way men and women dress the world over. From his very first collections Giorgio Armani created clothes which abandoned rigid conventional tailoring and were, as one writer put it, "ostentatious only in their rich comfort." Also notable for their use of multi-textured fabrics, Armani's unique clothes found ready buyers from the outset and their appeal has never faded. In particular the designer's legendary unstructured jacket soon became, and remains, a fashion classic. Today there are more than 2,000 stores worldwide selling Armani collections, and the Armani label comprises everything from perfumes and lingerie to shoes and umbrellas. This international fashion empire, with Giorgio Armani as its sole head, has estimated annual sales of more than $1.7 billion. Born in the town of Piacenza in Northern Italy, and one of three children, Giorgio Armani grew up with hopes of becoming a doctor. After two years at medical school, however, he realized he couldn't bear the sight of blood and his ambitions turned towards a career in design. He began as a buyer for Milan's largest department store, La Rinascente, and then spent six years working as an assistant designer for Cerruti. For a while he worked as a freelance designer and only in 1974 did Giorgio Armani begin to design under his own name. He created his first women's collection in 1975. Today the center of Armani's empire is to be found at 11, Via Borgonuovo, an elegant Milanese palazzo built in the seventeenth century. Behind its facade are not only Giorgio Armani's own spacious apartments, but also the design studios where everything from perfumes to ties are created, and the theater where each season's shows are presented. Giorgio Armani himself is a fit and tanned man with bright blue eyes. His usual outfit comprises a plain navy pullover and grey or navy trousers. He admits to being a workaholic and to being "extremely demanding" and his attention to every detail-not only to the design of his clothes, but also to the fittings of the shops which sell them and to each and every Armani advertisement-is well known. Meanwhile the Armani organization goes from strength to strength. Back in 1982 Giorgio Armani became the first fashion designer to appear on the cover of Time Magazine since Christian Dior and he won prestigious awards throughout the world, among them the Grand 'Ufficiale Dell'Ordine Al Merito, Italy's highest government award. Despite such acclaim, he remains a shy and retiring man. Whenever possible he avoids the limelight, preferring instead to be at work in his studio on the designs which will bear the Armani name: designs which eliminate the superfluous, emphasize the comfortable and acknowledge the elegance of the uncomplicated... The Evolution of Giorgio Armani Giorgio Armani's talent and his entrepreneurial spirit are the two qualities which have enabled him to achieve great success in building a genuine fashion empire since launching his own business in 1973. His approach to creativity is distinctive, seen as it is through a prism which balances the social changes in the world and the evolution of consumer tastes and needs. As he views it, his designs are often influenced by what his audience inspires. "Drastically imposing a fashion-whatever it may be-would mean having no respect for the consumer. As far as I am concerned, I do just the opposite: if I catch sight of a man or woman on the street dressed in a way that strikes me as uniquely elegant, I might interpret it for my collections. The goal I seek is to have people refine their style through my clothing without having them become victims of fashion." His evolution in taste and style has led Armani to eliminate the superfluous, emphasize the comfortable and stress the elegance of the essential in his clothes. This philosophical approach is seen as the foundation of his designs and his success. As proof that his approach has gained widespread approval and following, Giorgio Armani today heads an international fash ion empire with estimated sales over $1 billion. Some 2,000 stores sell Armani products throughout the world. In addition, the Armani name is represented by 20 licensees and 1 large joint venture in Japan. He also has a 100% share holding in ANTINEA which manufactures the women's clothing for EMPORIO ARMANI and is a share holder in SIMINT, the Modena based manufacturer of his jeans and basics for Emporio Armani, INTAI which produces his ties, and LUXOTTICA which produces his eyewear. Before he created his first collection more than 20 years ago, Armani had a history of 20 years in the fashion business, working as a buyer, fashion coordinator, staff and freelance designer, all resulting in an exceptionally rich and varied evolution of his style. Now Giorgio Armani is poised for the future with a vision that crystallises his approach to fashion as timless and yet always timely. It is a fashion statement that truly passed the test of time.