The Armani fashion house was founded in 1975 by Giorgio Armani. Born in Piacenza, 40 miles south of Milan, in 1934, Giorgio entered the fashion industry as a window dresser but soon established himself as a fashion designer. Over the years, the name Armani has grown to become a global brand synonymous with elegant simplicity and sophistication, an ethos that has continued to motivate and inspire Giorgio, and is apparent in everything from Armani clothing, jewellery, watches and cosmetics to Armani perfume and even home interiors.
Although Giorgio's first foray into perfumes was in 1981 with the release of Giorgio by Giorgio Beverly Hills, the first Armani branded perfume was released in 1982. Simply called Armani, this chypre perfume for women (now discontinued) was to be the first of many successful perfumes to be released under the signature Giorgio Armani label. This was followed in 1984 by the release of the first Armani fragrance for men called Armani Eau Pour Homme.
The 1990's saw the release of Armani's first floral fragrances in the form of Gio and Acqua Di Gio both of which shared the same soft-edged square bottle designed to emulate the unstructured look of Giorgio's jackets. He then followed this up with Acqua Di Gio Pour Homme, a marine fragrance that was supposedly inspired by the isle of Pantelleria where Giorgio spent many of his vacations.
In 1998 the first duo fragrance was launched in the form of She and He. These were the first Armani perfumes to be released under the more youthfully inspired Emporio Armani label and was the beginning of a new duo fragrance trend for Armani. In 1999, the original Armani Mania for women was released. Although popular, this woody oriental fragrance was short lived and with its black packaging and black lid, it was often confused for a men's fragrance and later discontinued.
The next Armani perfume to be released was another Emporio duo, White She and White He in 2001. Lighter and fresher than the original She and He fragrances, White was originally intended to be a limited edition Summer fragrance but is still available today. Following on from Armani White's success, several duo Giorgio Armani perfumes were released between 2003 and 2006 including Night for Him and Her (now discontinued), City Glam and Remix.
2004 saw Armani branching out with his first Armani Prive fragrance, Ambre Soie. This unisex fragrance was not designed to have mass appeal and like the rest of the Privé range had limited distribution and was very expensive. The range includes Prive Bois d'Encens, Prive Eau de Jade, Prive Pierre de Lune, Prive Cuir Amethyste, Prive Eclat de Jasmine, Prive Rose Alexandrie and Prive Vetiver Babylone.
Over the last few years, several new Giorgio Armani perfumes have been released including Sensi and Sensi White, the new and more feminine Armani Mania Pour Femme and Armani Mania Pour Homme. 2004 saw the release of Armani's first oriental fragrance for men, Black Code (later renamed to Armani Code) which proved extremely popular and was followed in 2006 by Armani Code For Women. The most recent Armani perfume releases in 2007 were Armani Attitude For Men, and Emporio Armani Diamonds (promoted by Beyoncé Knowles).
2008 has seen the release of Emporio Armani Diamonds for Men fronted by the hugely popular Josh Harnett as well as an addition to the Armani Privé range in the form of Oranger Alhambra. This new fragrance has however gotten Armani into hot water due to trademark infringement. Giorgio's inspiration for this latest fragrance was the Persian gardens within the walls of the Alhambra, an ancient hilltop fortress and World Heritage Site in Granada, Spain. Unfortunately, commercial use of the word Alhambra has been protected since 2001 but trustees for the Alhambra seem willing to drop any legal action in exchange for a "mutually beneficial" arrangement. Despite this minor setback, things still look good for Giorgio Armani and we're sure to see many more exciting new perfume releases in the coming months.
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