Giorgio Armani might have passed away, but his legacy lives on in countless ways.
One of those ways is in the clothes that he designed and the people that he styled in dozens of films and through his collaborations with filmmakers and costume designers across numerous time periods and genres. You might think of a type of look when hearing his name, but his work in film showed just how diverse he was – he could boldly design the look for 1930s Chicago cops or futuristic politicians (and everything in between), maintaining his craft and attention to detail throughout. Even if you didn’t know it was Armani, you still knew.
In “Giorgio Armani: The Book,” Armani said, “When a filmmaker calls me, I always evaluate the project carefully. In fact, cinema allows me to work with clothes in a way that upholds my vision of style; in that I help to build a character. It’s the kind of operation that, when it really works well, rewards you in the most satisfying of ways: eternity. A successful character surpasses the barrier of time, he or she becomes a legendary figure and not just because of the way they act, but because of the way they’re dressed.”
One of his biggest and most frequent collaborators was Martin Scorsese, who often utilized Armani for his projects (more on that in a minute) and who made an entire documentary short about the designer, which you can watch below in somewhat crummy quality. Armani even helped Scorsese get some of his projects made and was a key contributor to Scorsese’s World Cinema Project.
“I met Giorgio Armani for the first time in 1983, in Milan. We found common ground right away. I loved fashion and he loved cinema—in fact, he was inspired by the films he saw as a young man. Over the years, a real friendship bloomed. And then, a collaboration. I made a film portrait of Giorgio, and he gave us the support we needed for a documentary on Italian cinema, and then on the World Cinema Project. Through all the years, he’s been a constant for me. A pillar,” said Scorsese in an official statement. “Giorgio was more than a clothing designer. He was a real artist, and a great one—people use the term ‘timeless’ quite often, but in his case it happens to be true. There’s nothing hip or tied to the moment in Giorgio’s designs. They’re genuinely elegant, inside and out, and they aren’t meant to be gazed at on a runway. They’re for people to wear, to enhance their own individual sense of natural elegance. I’ve had to say so many goodbyes. This one hits hard. But his artistry, his presence and his abiding friendship will never leave me.”
“American Gigolo” (1980)
When people think about Giorgio Armani and movies, they probably first think of “American Gigolo” – the clothes he designed for Richard Gere are still referenced and imitated today. What’s fascinating is that Armani was hired shortly after starting his fashion label. It was all happening for him, all at once. His looks for Gere – everything from his crisp suits to his more casual attire (the open shirts, the trench coat) – were instantly ingrained in the public consciousness and did much to dictate the look of menswear for the decade that followed. It’s rare for a designer to make such a splash so early, but here Armani did it. And while he would collaborate again with writer/director Paul Schrader (on 1990’s “The Comfort of Strangers”) and Gere (for 1992’s “Final Analysis”), there was no topping their initial breakthrough.
“Streets of Fire” (1984)
Costume designer Marilyn Vance famously dressed Eddie Murphy in an unforgettable Armani suit for Walter Hill’s “48 Hrs.” For Hill’s next film, the rockabilly fantasia “Streets of Fire,” Vance collaborated with Armani for the film’s costumes. For the movie, set in a mash-up of the 1950s and 1980s, Vance and Armani created 200 costumes that were sewn in duplicates and triplicates at Armani’s Milan factory, also contributing to the extras’ costumes on set. Talk about an undertaking. For such a huge effort, the costumes are absolutely undeniable – the plunging neckline of Diane Lane’s pop star Ellen Aim, Michael Paré’s leather duster, the doo-wop looks of The Sorels (who get to perform one of the soundtrack’s big hits) and Willem Dafoe’s bitchin’ leather get-up. They are all so incredible. This might be a larger piece of his cinematic legacy if anyone on earth had seen “Streets of Fire” (it was a notorious bomb). Now that it’s rightfully aged into something of an unsung masterpiece, the acclaim for Armani and Vance’s work should start to flow.
“Phenomena” (1985)
You can tell that Dario Argento, the Italian filmmaker behind masterpieces like “Suspiria,” “Tenebrae” and “Deep Red,” was operating at the peak of his influence and the height of his powers when he snagged Armani for “Phenomena.” If you’ve never seen “Phenomena” and, we’re guessing you haven’t, it stars Jennifer Connelly as the daughter of a famous American actor who is dispatched to a Swiss boarding school where her psychic connections are developing at an alarming rate. (The movie, which also features a killer chimpanzee that legend has it bit off one of Connelly’s fingers during production, is hard to decipher and even harder to explain.) But the costumes! Oh the costumes! Chances are that if you have seen or remember anything about “Phenomena,” you’ll remember Connelly (in only her second film role) with a largely unbuttoned white men’s shirt – part of an all-white ensemble she wears towards the end of the movie. It’s one of those looks that is so simple but is so instantly iconic; a true Armani specialty. Elsewhere in the movie Connelly wears a sweatshirt with an Armani logo and Armani dresses Daria Nicolodi in a high-collared shirt that perfectly encapsulates that robotic ‘80s flair. An underrated Argento movie and one of Armani’s finest film contributions.
“The Untouchables” (1987)
Another one of Armani’s cinematic career highlights was his work on Brian De Palma’s gangster classic “The Untouchables,” based on the television series of the same name. What’s incredible about Armani’s scope of work on “The Untouchables” is how many characters he dressed and how distinct each of the looks were. (The only character he didn’t dress was Sean Connery’s Irish beat cop – more on him in a minute.) From Kevin Costner’s straightlaced Elliot Ness to Robert De Niro’s over-the-top Al Capone, it’s all so beautifully constructed and tailored, a perfect fusion of the 1980s elegance and classic 1930s shapes and silhouettes. If you were menacingly walking around us with a baseball bat and were forcing us to choose our favorite look from the movie, though, it’s probably Bill Drago’s all-white ensemble as notorious mob enforcer Frank Nitti (a very real and very violent character from the Chicago underworld who served as Capone’s bodyguard). Particularly towards the end of the movie, when Ness and Nitti have their final faceoff. Close your eyes and you can see every character and what they were wearing in “The Untouchables.” That’s the Armani way.
“Goodfellas” (1990)
“As far back as I can remember, I always wanted to be a gangster,” so said Henry Hill (Ray Liotta) at the start of Scorsese’s “Goodfellas.” And as far back as anyone could remember, they also wanted to be dressed in Giorgio Armani. Armani dressed the various underworld characters in Scorsese’s critically acclaimed hit. And it was really a perfect fit – their clothes, usually sharply angled suits that occasionally have a shimmery iridescence, are their armor. It’s how they show to other people how much they are worth, how powerful they are and how dangerous they can become. It was the beginning of a long and fruitful partnership between the two men (as outlined above). But even if their collaboration began and ended with “Goodfellas,” it would have been one for the history books.
“Rising Sun” (1993)
Is Philip Kaufman’s “Rising Sun,” based on the bestselling novel by Michael Crichton, a particularly memorable movie? Not at all. But it is a very stylish one. It’s set in the world of Japanese corporations in America. It was shot (masterfully) by Michael Chapman. And it’s on this list for a very specific reason – more than a decade after Connery was the only member of the “Untouchables” cast to not be dressed by Armani, the designer finally got to dress the former 007. A writer on the movie remembered visiting the set and asking Connery what he was wearing. “Armani?” Connery shot back. And his suits really are pretty great – sharp, with a turtleneck underneath – perfect for a figure that glides in and out of the shadows. This isn’t the best work Armani ever did on film but it is important for that significant reason. Armani and Connery, together at last.
“The Dark Knight” (2008)
For Christopher Nolan’s super-sized sequel, Armani got perhaps the coolest film credit of his career. In the closing credits for “The Dark Knight,” this is his credit – Christian Bale’s Bruce Wayne tailored wardrobe handmade by Giorgio Armani. Hell yes. Armani’s clothes not only help delineate Bruce Wayne from his Batman persona, the true style of a playboy billionaire with nothing to lose, but also help make the character richer and more dimensional. Unlike other superheroes, who adapt an alter ego to fight crime, this guy is always Batman. Bruce Wayne is the mask. And in that way the sharp figure that Armani cuts for Bruce Wayne – wide-shouldered, two-button blazers, crisp shirts, gorgeous ties – is just as important as the Batsuit or anything else. In a world as hopelessly stylish as Nolan’s Gotham, it’s Bruce Wayne in his handmade Armani wardrobe, that really stands out. Armani would return for Nolan’s “The Dark Knight Rises,” this time giving the same love and attention to outfits worn by Michael Caine, Gary Oldman and Joseph Gordon-Levitt, as Wayne’s protégé. Hey, it makes sense.
“Inglourious Basterds” (2009)
Wait – what did Giorgio Armani do in “Inglourious Basterds?” Isn’t the whole cast wearing fatigues for the entire movie? Well, mostly, yes. But there is the big premiere at the end of the movie, which is where Armani came in. He’s technically credited with “Brad Pitt’s evening attire,” which means that Armani was responsible for Pitt’s iconic white tuxedo that he wears through that last section of the movie (including, when he gives Christoph Waltz his swastika forehead scar). Everything about the suit is just perfect – the wide lapel, the red carnation, the black trousers, the fact that the suit jacket is slightly off-white, where the shirt is white. It’s just an incredible ensemble. If you’re going to submit one look to a movie, why not have it steal the entire show?
“Duplicity” (2009)
The story goes that Clive Owen, the star of “Duplicity,” introduced the movie’s writer/director Tony Gilroy to Armani at Milan Fashion Week. The two hit it off and Armani worked with costume designer Albert Wolsky to create the distinctive looks for Owen – mostly his richly tailored suits (some darker, others creamer and lighter) and ties (some tightly coiled, others loose), perfect for corporate espionage. You can tell that both Owen’s character and Owen himself are extremely at home in Armani’s costumes. And it added another layer of sleekness to an already laser-cut movie.
“The Social Network” (2010)
David Fincher movies are known for their attention-to-detail, especially when they are based on a true story. (Read the book “Shooting Zodiac” by Robert Graysmith to hear how attuned to the facts Fincher was.) For “The Social Network,” his tale of the foundation of Facebook, Fincher and Justin Timberlake, playing Napster founder Sean Parker, had Armani create the wardrobe for the character, just as Parker had hired the designer in real life. Apparently all of Timberlake’s costumes had labels in the pockets that said “Giorgio Armani for Sean Parker,” just like the real deal. And you would think that such a detail – unless by audiences – wouldn’t add much to the movie and the character and the performance, but it absolutely does. Not only does it set Parker apart from the more raggedy tech start-up bros (Mark Zuckerberg was known for his god-awful style, including his giant Gap sweatshirts with the logo emblazoned on the front) but it adds to his allure. In many ways Parker was the snake in the Garden of Eden of early Facebook (there’s a reason he orders appletinis) and his costumes add to that allure.
“The Wolf of Wall Street” (2013)
What makes “The Wolf of Wall Street” so cool – and such an essential piece of the Armani-on-screen mythology – is that costume designer Sandy Powell was given access to the Armani archives from the man himself. She knew that she wanted to outfit her grotesque Wall Street power players, during their violent ascent in the 1980s and 1990s, in authentic Armani from the period. Powell was inspired by what she saw and based much of the movie’s wardrobe around her research (tailed by Leonard Logsdail), while two actual vintage Armani suits made it into the final movie. Because you have to have something from the archive in the actual movie, right?
“Elysium” (2013)
For “Elysium,” Neill Blomkamp’s wonderful bonkers follow-up to his debut “District 9,” Armani designed the clothes for Jodie Foster’s Jessica Delacourt, a dubiously accented defense secretary keeping watchful eye over the titular space station, a refuge for the wealthy and powerful after Earth has gone to pot. She flitters from one meeting to the other, making clandestine deals with a psychopathic killer (Blomkamp regular Sharlto Copley) and attempting to stop Matt Damon’s criminal from gaining access to the facility. To that end, Armani draped her in steely metallics that have an actual sheen, implying that, like the other defenses on Elysium, that she is a mechanism meant to stand in Damon’s way. She is but a cog in the machine. She might think she is above, but she has become so enmeshed she is starting to actually look like a piece of the space station. His designs for Foster are some of the most playful and outlandish of his career and they are also an obvious highlight. They’re out of this world.
“A Most Violent Year” (2014)
Jessica Chastain brought Armani onto “A Most Violent Year,” J.C. Chandor’s mini crime epic. And the costumes that Armani made for Chastain, working with costume designer Kasia Walicka-Maimone, are truly stunning. (Just look above.) Among the outfits he crafted for her are a long, white coat, with a big circular belt buckle and jet-black gloves. It both helps her stand out from her surroundings (and the men she is frequently next to) and also allows her to slip into the snowy background of New York in winter. For a movie that is all about power, it’s Chastain, and her Armani-made ensembles, that let you know who is always in charge. She might be dolled up, but she is the one pulling the strings. Like “The Wolf of Wall Street,” there’s also a lot of fun to be had comparing the looks that Armani made for movies set in the 1980s to the movies he made in the actual 1980s. You know what? He never missed a step.
