Giorgio Armani, The Last Emperor

Officially the most succesfull Italian designer ever (his fortune is estimated over $8.5 billion!), Signor Giorgio Armani celebrates his 82th birthday today (born 11th July 1934).

Particularly noted for his menswear. He is known today for his clean, tailored lines. He formed his company, Armani, in 1975, and by 2001 was acclaimed as the most successful designer that Italy has produced, with an annual turnover of $1.6 billion and a personal fortune of $8.5 billion as of 2013. He is credited with pioneering red-carpet fashion.

As famous for underpants, watches and accessories as for his sharp suits, his has been the style of choice for generations of stars of music, sport and the silver screen, politicians, dignitaries and even the Milanese police force.

He was born in the northern Italian town of Piacenza, of Armenian and Italian descent. After military service as a young man, he became a window dresser at La Rinascente department store in Milan.

Having worked on a freelance basis for myriad designers including Zegna, Cerruti and Loewe, the first pieces he designed under his own name were a series of leather bomber jackets in 1970.

While building his fashion empire, he also designed costumes for more than one hundred films including American Gigolo and The Untouchables

When in 1975 he brought out a womenswear line using men’s fabrics, he set the wheels in motion for the ‘power dressing’ look that became synonymous with the 80s.

Among his many commissions, he designed the costume worn by Spanish bullfighter Cayetano Rivera Ordóñez, the suits for the England football team (twice), and the cover of a book of gospels for the Pope

Once Upon A Time: Lauren Hutten

Once upon a time, there was a girl that was born in Charleston, South Carolina, served cocktails as Playboy Bunny, and she notably appeared on the cover of Voque magazine on 41 occasions and earned more than any other model within a decade-long period. Became the face of a cosmetic giant, and starred several times on the silver screen, including American Gigolo (with Richard Gere), Lassiter and  The Joneses. Against all Odds-because: no classic beauty-she was the highest paid model in 10 years time! Eileen Ford, the grande dame of Cover Girls in that time, Hutton warned that if she would leave New York for two weeks, everyone would forget her. But Hutton didn’t listen….. She also didn’t listen to the criticism she got on the slit between her teeth. This rebellious lady with a penchant for motorcycling retained this imperfection, which took care of its iconic smile and a beautiful modeling career.

Lauren Hutton reclining in Haltson, photo by Francesco Scavullo, 1975

Lauren Hutton (born November 17, 1943) stood in front of the lenses of legendary photographers like Richard Avedon, Francesco Scavullo and Irving Penn. In 1973, Hutton signed a contract with Revlon cosmetics, worth US $250,000 a year for 20 days’ work, a professional relationship that would last for ten years. Hutton’s initial contract with Revlon involved representation of the Ultima II brand, twenty years later, Hutton would sign a new contract with Revlon to be the spokeswoman for Results, a collection of corrective moisturizing treatments. Also in 1993, Hutton performed as a runway model for designer Calvin Klein and The New York Times responded by publishing an article in Hutton was “just as good as the current flock of fledglings”.

Lauren Hutton by Francesco Scavullo, 1975

Following her recovery from a motorcycle accident in 2000, Hutton became the spokeswoman for her own signature brand of cosmetics, a line of cosmetic products for mature women. The brand was sold primarily in the USA, but was also available through secondary distribution channels throughout Europe and South America

In October 2005, Hutton was interviewed on the American Broadcasting Company (ABC)’s Good Morning America (GMA) program in relation to the future release of an edition of Big magazine that is entirely dedicated to Hutton’s career and includes eight pages of nude photos. Hutton agreed to pose nude for the feature, titled “Lauren Hutton: The Beautiful Persists,” when she was 61-years-old and explained to GMA:

I want women not to be ashamed of who they are when they’re in bed. Society has told us to be ashamed … The really important (thing) is that women understand not to listen to a 2,000-year-old patriarchal society.

Hutton, who is supposedly one of four women that has been offered US$1 million by Larry Flynt (LFP, Hustler) to pose nude, also explained that she first sought permission from her 14 godchildren, who said to her that the photographs would be “inspirational.”

Still a hard working woman, who also enjoys life. In July 2013, Hutton revealed that she was in the process of writing her memoir, which may be titled ‘Smile’, and also explained the value of traveling and exploration in her life thus far: “whenever I came back from Africa or the Antarctic, head swelling with the beauty of it all, I found I was loving life again. You look different because of everything that has gone on inside of you”.

by Jean Amr