Giorgio Armani was named as International Designer of the Year at the GQ UK Men of the Year Awards in London on Tuesday.
Mr Armani's close friend, the film director Martin Scorsese, presented the award, saying that Giorgio Armani had succeeded in his own desire to “make the world a little more beautiful every day.” Martin Scorsese also said that he himself wore Armani clothes because of their casual elegance, fluid lines and sense of absolute timelessness. He reminisced about the two weeks he spent with Giorgio Armani making the documentary “Made in Milan” and said they were among the best weeks of his life.
Mr Scorsese said that there were two eras in Hollywood – BG and AG, “before and after Giorgio” - and pointed to the film “American Gigolo” as the one in which Armani's costume designs changed the way actors dressed forever. He also said that Armani had invented the concept of dressing actors for the red carpet.
Giorgio Armani's sponsorship and charity work were also mentioned and Mr Scorsese said that the designer had not hesitated to support the World Cinema Foundation which restores and preserves neglected films from around the world. Mr Scorsese said that Armani had been a great friend of the cinema and was a “towering original”. He thanked his friend for his “incomparable sense of beauty”.
Who is your Italian man of the year?
