Giorgio Armani - A Man Of Tradition

Giorgio Armani takes his Cruise 2020 collection to Japan, where the similarities between the designer and the country run deeper than what meets the eye.

- Kames Narayanan

Fashion knows no boundaries, in both the literal and figurative sense of the phrase. The industry’s interim cruise (otherwise known as resort) collections have, with every season, taken to far flung locations just as they have built picture-perfect sets that transport the audience to awe-inspiring destinations. While cruise collections have planted flags on destinations across the globe, Italian designer Giorgio Armani has persisted on keeping his runway presentations close to home.

Armani’s purview detracts from the fashion circuit’s knack for setting the world up to be its stage. “I do not agree with this. After all, resort collections are mainly commercial; they have to be saleable and appeal to buyers,” said Armani at a press conference prior to his cruise 2020 showing.

If he were to take his cruise collection beyond Milan, it would be within good reason. For cruise 2020, Armani presented his eponymous label’s runway presentation at the capital of Japan, Tokyo. The impetus for the move, unlike at most fashion houses, had little to do with the inspirations the designer drew from the city but instead it was a paean to the brand’s longstanding relationship with Japan.

Unbeknownst to most, Armani’s influence in Japan dates back to the former years of his career. “I opened three stores there in the late ’80s because I could see that the Japanese customer would relate to my creations,” said Armani in an exclusive interview released by the brand. “My dialogue with the Japanese customer and with the citizens of Tokyo has been on-going since: in 1998 my Spring/Summer collections for Giorgio Armani were presented in Tokyo, and in 2005, the touring retrospective exhibition of my work organised by the Guggenheim Museum was put on at the Mori Art Museum in the city,” he continued.