The bond between Giorgio Armani and cinema has deep roots «Life is a movie, and my clothes are the costumes»

There were countless international and Italian movie stars yesterday who joined in mourning for Giorgio Armani, the fashion designer who passed away at the age of 91. Sophia Loren, Claudia Cardinale, Julia Roberts, Anne Hathaway, Leonardo DiCaprio, Reese Witherspoon, Michelle Pfeiffer, Russell Crowe, Morgan Freeman are just some of the actors who chose to remember Armani publicly with a post on their social media pages or a statement. Since the 1980s Armani has dressed the big screen, beginning with the supreme elegance of American Gigolo, where Richard Gere wore some of the most memorable suits in the history of cinema. «I designed costumes for many films» Armani recalled in an interview «but my first collaboration with cinema happened by chance, like all truly exciting adventures, when a young director named Paul Schrader asked me to dress Richard Gere. Schrader was fascinated by the modernity of my style. The film was American Gigolo, and the rest, as they say, is history.»

Thanks to a unique silhouette, a line we now call classic but which in the 1980s was pure innovation, it is impossible not to recognize an Armani suit on screen. Whether it’s an archival look—as in the case of The Wolf of Wall Street, where DiCaprio had access to the maison’s 1980s wardrobe—or suits made specifically by the designer for the stars. After the success of American Gigolo, between the ’80s and ’90s Giorgio Armani’s name became increasingly established in the film industry, leading the designer to work on cult projects such as Brian De Palma’s The Untouchables, or Martin Scorsese’s Goodfellas and Casino, with images of the designer alongside Scorsese and De Niro still used today in the fashion industry for inspiration and moodboards. Armani also created costumes for Italian auteur films, including those of Bernardo Bertolucci, Giuseppe Tornatore and Paolo Sorrentino, in addition to supporting Italian cinema by repeatedly sponsoring prestigious events such as the Venice Film Festival.

Even in the new millennium, actors, directors, and costume designers have chosen Armani’s unforgettable balance on the big screen, on television, and on the red carpet. In addition to The Wolf of Wall Street, we find the silhouette designed by King Giorgio—the iconic jacket with broad shoulders and a cinched waist—in Miami Vice, where Don Johnson wore jackets directly on bare skin, in The Dark Knight, when Batman became the mysterious and fascinating Bruce Wayne, and also in the Ocean’s Eleven trilogy, where George Clooney and Brad Pitt had to embody an elegant duo of thieves to sneak into Las Vegas’s Bellagio casino.

Aside from classics and red carpet looks (the dresses the designer created for Sophia Loren, his great friend, Cate Blanchett, and the suit worn by Julia Roberts at the 1990 Golden Globes remain unforgettable), what perhaps most strongly marked the bond between Giorgio Armani and cinema was his long-standing collaboration with American director Martin Scorsese. Presented in 1990 at the Venice Film Festival, the documentary Made in Milan revolves around the figure of King Giorgio. The film explores not only Armani’s life and work, but also the designer’s relationship with the city of Milan.

Made in Milan is a poetic portrait of Giorgio Armani, a work that highlights the designer’s hard work and his innovative vision of clothing—an idea that still influences men’s style today. The very title of the documentary demonstrates not only Armani’s impact on Italian fashion, but also on the country’s broader culture and on the city of Milan, depicted repeatedly as a secondary protagonist and sublime backdrop of the story. We see Armani expressing his identity at its fullest, recounting what shaped him and his approach to creation. Scorsese offers the audience a refined, cultured, and pure image of the designer, translating onto the big screen all the qualities that made Giorgio Armani an icon for Milan, Italy, and the entire world.