MEN AT WORK: Russell Crowe touted Giorgio Armani’s ability to “combine masculinity with elegance” ahead of the designer’s namesake show. The rugged actor was unaware that Armani would later take the time to chastise designers that go to extremes and deliver clothes that are appreciated by the “small, confined” world of fashion insiders.
“Someone once said that I took a very difficult job upon myself to renew a wardrobe, revisiting and adapting it, and I appreciated this comment. Young designers now are having much more fun. Visually, it’s more fun and easier,” he said.
Without naming brands, he pointed to the bounty of flowers on some runway looks and said that this “makes no sense at a time when stores are feeling the pinch, with people increasingly going out to restaurants rather than buying clothes.” He urged creative minds and producers to think about this issue.
“We must be in line with the times but not slaves of the past. With our designs, we must say something more but not too much. But who will wear that stuff?” Armani said with an incredulous expression. “Whom are we doing this for? We do a serious job, and it’s not about the monster on the cover.”
Feeling his responsibility as an entrepreneur, too, he underscored that workers’ wages depend on such decisions. “Someone must dare speak up. We must keep the public in mind, who should be comforted by our work.” Realizing that he could be perceived as “a preacher,” as this is one of Armani’s recurring sound-offs, he added. “By all means, everyone can do whatever they want, but I feel that, at 82 in a few months, I see things with distance and a detachment that young people cannot have. They should mediate creativity to make companies work.”