Giorgio Armani Reveals His Secret Dream To Dress Royalty

At 85, fashion mogul Giorgio Armani is still going strong. He tells John Arlidge what’s wrong with the industry today and reveals his secret dream to dress royalty.

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MOST FASHION FOLK are wildly entertaining on the runway but hopelessly dull off it, anxious not to utter a word out of place, lest they spark a row or a consumer boycott. Giorgio Armani is the opposite. His shows are so muted he is often criticised for being boring. “Il Signor Beige,” detractors sniff. But off the runway he is honest to a fault. Just ask him about the future of fashion. “There’s too much fashion and of very little quality,” he says, at his home in Milan. “The current situation is unsustainable. We have to slow down. Designer brands cannot operate like fast fashion.”

What irks him is the new trend to produce multiple splashy collections throughout the year for different market segments. These days, there are pre-collection, cruise and resort shows before you even get to the traditional autumn and spring seasonal fixtures. The ever-expanding fashion calendar is unsustainable not just in a creative sense but also an environmental one, Armani believes. Fashion is “on the wrong side” of the growing environmental debate, he says without hesitation. “We need to be more responsible, producing less but better, in a more ethical way. My style is timeless. My items last and are, as such, sustainable. I want to work even more in that direction.”

Another innovation, social media, is also harming fashion, he argues. “Social media is important, allowing you to connect directly with your followers. We’ve been active on Instagram since 2012.” But he warns that “self-streaming and celebrity culture can produce the wrong imagery – blatantly showing off, getting as much attention as possible at any time.” He told