“The President of the Republic, Sergio Mattarella, received Maestro Giorgio Armani this morning at the Quirinale, to whom he conferred the honor of Knight Grand Cross of the Order of Merit of the Italian Republic”. This is how the Quirinale announced the recognition that rewards a key figure in Italian fashion, a great master of style and seriousness, one of the most famous stylists in the world to whom we owe the merit of having represented the name of Italy and the Made in Italy quality around the world.
The Order of Merit of the Republic, and that of the Grand Cross in particular, is among the most prestigious of those that the Quirinale can award and should not be confused with the Order of Merit for Labour. This year Sergio Mattarella wanted to offer it to the French president Emmanuel Macron who just today signed the Quirinale Treaty with Italy.
Certainly this is not the only acknowledgment that Giorgio Armani can display in his many years of career, from the beginning in 1975 when he founded the company that bears his name in Milan. Since then it has been a constant growth both from an entrepreneurial point of view with the birth of brands such as Emporio Armani, EA7, Armani Exchange, Armani Casa, Armani Hotels, and so on in a galaxy that does not even exclude flowers and sweets.
Armani was the designer who revisited the men's suit for career women, understated but extremely refined clothing, flattened heels and dreamy dresses in shaded shades, in contrast with Valentino red, for modern women but with a classic look. No one has tried more than him to combine comfort and elegance. In the men's field, a revolution: the famous T-shirt worn under the jacket that he depopulated in Hollywood when the young Richard Gere immortalized it in the film American Gigolo, launching a new Italian style in the world.
