If there’s a brand that anyone knows from just mentioning it, that’s for sure Giorgio Armani. Of course, many decide to just call it Armani.
Now, people who aren’t well-versed about luxurious brands and their products because they haven’t been able to buy them or just decided not to do it don’t understand the hype around any of them, but especially Armani whenever someone goes crazy for a new perfume or makeup from the brand.
What we can tell you for now is: it is worth going crazy about it, and we’re just other people included in the list of clients that would buy another product from ANY of the collections without a doubt.
However, understanding why people spend hundreds or thousands of dollars on one of the products or collections isn’t only about acquiring them. Knowing the quality, how hard the brand has worked to reach its peak today, and knowing its history, can help appreciate everything about it.
In fact, we consider it is a mix of both.
This is why we decided to cover this amazing and stunning luxury brand to guarantee you are well-aware of why people turn their heads to anyone wearing or using anything from Armani and why its success isn’t something the brand doesn’t deserve.
The Beginning of the Brand: Giorgio Armani
Well, for starters, we aren’t actually referring to the brand in specific on this heading. Instead, we’re talking about the man that started it all and who gave the brand its name.
You will notice that most luxury brands like Chanel, Carolina Herrera, and many others actually follow the name of their creators and founders. This isn’t any different for Armani. Therefore, we have to focus on the face and brand behind this brand before anything else.
Giorgio Armani was born on July 11, 1934, in Piacenza, Italy. His family came from humble origins and had to experience the hardships of World War II.
His mother, Maria Raimondi, and father, Ugo Armani, raised him with Sergio, his older brother, and Rosanna, his younger sister.
The life of the future designer wasn’t as glamourous as his worldwide brand, which is why you can expect a very simple yet fulfilling life.
He went to secondary school at Milan’s Liceo Scientifico Leonardo Da Vinci.
Since he was very young, he showed interest in anatomy and loved to make dolls out of the mud and used to hide a coffee bean inside them. This is why it isn’t weird to know that he spent two years in medical studies at the University of Piacenza.
After three years of study, however, he decided to leave and join the army in 1953. He was assigned to Verona’s Military Hospital, where he attended many shows at the Arena. He wouldn’t know that this was the beginning of his fascination and change of heart about his career back then.
After his military service, Armani left the university to become a window dresser at La Rinascente in Milan. This was a pretty famous Milan department store that continues operating.
Armani became a salesman for the menswear department, where he gained valuable experience in marketing. Then became a designer for the brand, Nino Cerruti.
During his journey in this world and the experience he was gaining by working in several departments, he met Sergio Galeotti, who became a very close friend (and future romantic partner), who played a great role in his life after he encouraged Armani to do freelance work for other companies during his period as a designer in Cerruti and later, convinced Armani to open Milan’s first design office.
As a result, Giorgio worked for brands like Allegri, Hilton, Montedoro, and Tendresse as a freelance designer who had lots of talent to offer.
After taking part in a runway show at Sala Bianca, the Pitti Palace in Florence, Armani received international attention.
Starting the Brand that Would Change It All
Galeotti and Armani became business partners in July 1975. They founded Giorgio Armani S.p.A. after several derivations and considering that they didn’t want to continue working for someone else. Instead, Armani was eager to have something of his own, especially with all the attention he was receiving.
They launched a line for women’s and men’s clothing during this year, and Giorgio presented his first collection for men of ready-to-wear clothing in Spring 1976, followed by a women’s line for the same season.
The clothes were innovative at the time. They had a natural fit and a subtle color palette that people weren’t used to seeing compared to other brands that were around.
Armani quickly established a unique relationship with the fashion industry thanks to his innovation and how well people received his first collections.
Due to his success over the years and how the brand was growing, Armani started producing clothing for the United States in 1979 and launched his main clothing line for women and men.
In the beginning, his collections weren’t that popular with people in the USA, but after TV personalities wore the clothes in 1980, people couldn’t wait to get their own pieces.
From here, success just followed the brand, and the company entered into an agreement with L’Oreal in the early 1980s to produce perfumes.
They expanded to include Armani Junior, Armani Jeans, and Emporio Armani lines. The Emporio line was introduced in Milan, and a new boutique by Giorgio Armani followed. Soon Armani was worn on the red carpet by many Hollywood stars and just kept growing strong in the luxury world.
That being said, the creator, Armani, didn’t stay in the clothing business only. Instead, he expanded to other businesses like hotels and restaurants over the years and took the brand to a new level.
What Makes Armani Unique?
When a brand becomes popular and accepted by its target customers, people start wondering more than ever why it is so popular. Isn’t it just another brand with many products that are super expensive? Not quite.
Compared to other brands, the beauty of Armani lies in its longevity in terms of trends but also in how long clothes or any other product can last when using it.
For clothing, the clean lines and elegance provided by the simple yet stunning designs are what make people fall in love with it.
Since Armani started with clothes, it is only natural for us to focus on their aspects first, but what can we say about the rest, like perfumes, makeup, and specific designs?
Perfumes are known for their unique fragrances that aren’t just another marketing strategy based on trends and regular perfumes from other brands. Instead, the brand has made sure to establish its signature in every single line it releases.
The same happens with makeup and other collections, and artists and celebrities choose Armani for the simple fact that the founder’s strategy to make it more famous during the 1980s was to bring clothes to the Oscars. As a result, Armani is the option to go every single time we’re in awards season.
Also, the brand focuses on quality, not quantity.
It is normal to see brands, whether they are luxurious or not, release collections every season or even more frequently.
However, although Armani follows the structure, they are more eager to work around high-quality products and not only quantity. This is why you can see the differences in the texture of the clothes and the quality of the rest of the products and collections.
Finally, although brands decide to expand their domains to other niches, this one has perfectioned the process.
People love how much elegance, quality, and comfort Armani offers, and this applies to any of the lines and collections as well as services you can access:
- Giorgio Armani’s signature line: This collection consists of classic Armani suits and Oscar gowns. It is designed for consumers between 35 and 50 years old.
- Emporio Armani: It is a brand that targets young professionals in the 25-35 age bracket. It offers fashionable, contemporary designs that are appropriate for the target market.
- A/X Armani ExchangeThis is the Armani fashion house’s licensed brand for a chain of retail outlets. This is the ultimate testament to the strength of the brand. Armani Exchange offers customers the full experience of Giorgio Armani’s luxurious fashion by offering all its apparel, accessories, and other products. It provides a casual fashion that is high quality yet affordable, which is precisely what the mass market wants.
Of course, there are many others, and you can expect a huge crowd being excited to get any of them or enjoy in a hotel or restaurant.
Let’s Talk About Prices: Armani’s Value
Well, you can’t expect a luxury brand to be cheap even when they focus on being affordable for some situations.
It continues to be more than what many people would be willing to spend, and that even includes us, although we have some pieces and have visited a few places owned by the brand.
Now, before talking about the prices of the products, you must know a few details.
Giorgio Armani, leveraging its strong brand equity in fashion apparel, has expanded into categories such as eyewear, watches, and cosmetics.
To ensure every collection and line is accessible to all market segments, they focus on using affordable yet durable and long-lasting materials.
Underwear, loungewear, jewelry, and many other types of lines are also included among the collections you can find.
This means there’s a lot we need to cover, and we will make sure to include a few prices from restaurants or hotels. However, before that, let’s say something straight: the brand is worth about $8 billion.
With such net worth and value, this will be our stepping stone to know the prices. Just keep in mind we will include ranges, not specific prices for each piece (since it is almost impossible), and depending on the line:
- Womenswear: dresses, pants, shirts, shorts, and similar clothing range from $165 to $3.000.
- Menswear: t-shirts, vests, pants, jackets, shorts, and more, ranging from $135 to $5.000.
- Shoes: for both women and men, most of the options go from $600 to $1.250.
- Bags: belt bags, travel bags, and more start at $1.095 and go up to about $6.125.
- Accessories: like wallets, ties, purses, belts, jewelry, and more, go from $125 to $30.000.
- Fragrances: come in different presentations. 30 ml usually cost $76, 50 ml $98, and 90 ml $128.
- Kids: most pieces start at $70 and go up to 500.
- Hotel rooms: a night usually costs $600 (the cheapest).
- Restaurants: some dishes can start at $50 and go up to $1.800.
Celebrities Love Armani
This is out of the discussion: every artist and celebrity loves the brand, be it wear it or go to eat and stay in a hotel.
Due to the marketing strategy back in the 80s, people just choose to wear Armani not only during awards season but for any special event or casually.
Therefore, we can say Armani has gained everyone’s hearts over the years, and celebrities like Jodie Foster, John Travolta, and Michelle Pfeiffer were among the first ones to wear it.
In fact, the latter became a close friend to the designer and is part of the long-time endorsed celebrities of the brand.
A-list artists and celebrities are included among the people Armani has dressed over the years. Including others like Cate Blanchett, Julia Roberts, Beyonce, and Lady Gaga, the first two endorsed by the brand.
He has been an amazing addition to the fashion world, and people don’t get enough of his brain, ideas, and incredible sense with clothes and businesses.
Of course, we’re missing many others, especially those from Italy that definitely choose Armani over other designers and brands 80% of the time (just like we would do).
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