He also takes a moment to make a nice little appeal to simplicity in fashion: “You have to be always, always, coherent with your personality and not disguise yourself.”
For a total legend, Armani seems weirdly open and unassuming. I’ve met nuns that are more defensive and arrogant. (Kidding, I’ve never actually met a nun. That’s just an expression no one’s ever used before.)
Asked to share some advice with young people that have just begun to explore the horrifying and perilous working world, Armani tells aspiring fashion designers to go to school, because school is more of a thing today than it was when he was getting his start in the land before time. He reminds all the ambitious kids out there that success like his comes at a cost: “You have to make a choice, leaving something behind and sacrificing some aspects of your personal life.”
The designer then talks about his own career, which didn’t really begin until his early thirties. Up until that point, he “used to potter around,” working as a window dresser at a department store.
And I didn’t really have to work hard, because I was good-looking and the female managers of the company used to favor me, making things actually really easy for me.
But then I realized that I couldn’t and didn’t want to go on living like that, on the fringes of a beautiful profession without working hard, without risking, without standing up for it.
So I learned how to work in different areas of the profession. First I committed myself exclusively to the fashion design, because I had a partner that dealt with all the economical and practical aspects. And then, when my partner passed away, I had to take care of everything by myself. I had to somehow wake up and this too made me who I am today.
…a human! If you’ve watch too many interviews with Karl Lagerfeld, as I have, it might come as a surprise that not all fashion deisgners are superficial robotrons.
Video below:
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Image via Getty
