Giorgio Armani

Italian fashion designer and award winning top star who created his "Armani" fashion empire in 15 years. As a youth, he first studied medicine then became an assistant menswear buyer and fashion coordinator in Milan. He worked for eight years as a designer for Cerutti before going freelance. He opened his own house in Milan in 1975, the president and founder of Giorgio Armani Corp. and Boutiques. With Machiavellian style business tactics he made a fortune, basking in celebrity. By 2001, Armani had achieved widespread acclaim as the most successful designer of Italian origin, and he was widely credited with pioneering red carpet fashion.

Armani was raised during war time in the industrial city of Piacenza, a frequent target for air raids. One day when he was nine and his sister, four, a schoolmate found a smoke grenade and wanted to show it to him. The subsequent explosion killed his friend and burned Giorgio from head to foot. He spent 40 days in hospital in excruciating pain. He also remembered the pleasure of having chicken for dinner after months without.

He served in a hospital during the War. In 1949, his family moved to Milan where he studied medicine, then got a job in a department store setting up displays. When he met ten-year-younger Sergio Galeotti in 1966, he found a friend and partner for both business and his life. They opened a small office from which he marketed his garments. From 1974, he began to represent with emerging Italian fashion industry, along with Versace, becoming a household name in the following 20 years.

In 1979 he openly declared his bi-sexuality. His partner, Sergio, died of AIDS in 1985. He not only lost his friend and lover of nearly 20 years but had to take over the financial and legal aspects of his business. Armani later described his inability to prevent Galeotti's death as the greatest failure of his career.