Must Have Been the Blue Porsche

Maybe it was Mao. Or the blue Porsche.

On second thought, it must have been the blue Porsche that helped launch designer Giorgio Armani's career.

After having to sell a Volkswagen just a few years earlier to help start his men's clothing line in 1974 (the women's line began one year later), a young Armani splurged and bought a blue Porsche.

"I would show up with my blue Porsche, more Milanese than the Milanese themselves, the very picture of self-assurance," recalls Armani*.

The Porsche may have helped Armani establish himself as a confident businessman, but it was his style that has transcended decades, making him one of the best-known clothing designers in the world.

And while Armani certainly has influenced fashion in the last three decades, a major question remains. Does Armani create fashion, or mold it?

Armani says he designs clothes fashioned after his audience:

"Drastically imposing a fashion-whatever it may be-would mean having no respect for the consumer. As far as I am concerned, I do just the opposite: if I catch sight of a man or woman on the street dressed in a way that strikes me as uniquely elegant, I might interpret it for my collections. The goal I seek is to have people refine their style through my clothing without having them become victims of fashion," Armani spells out his fashion goals.

What began as a small company whose products were clothing for men and women has become an empire. More than clothes, Armani's company markets different brands of clothing, eyewear, bedspreads, towels and shoes, to name a few. Armani does not just design what people wear anymore - people are using his products not just on themselves, but on their walls and in their homes. An Armani-decorated home or clothing has come to represent wealth and power even in the United States, an ocean away from his Italian stomping grounds.

By the 1980s, Armani became the first fashion designer to make the cover of Time magazine. Armani clothing had become synonymous with style.

What is the secret to Armani's success?

"My energies are concentrated in my hands when I touch fabric. I think that my constant, almost maniacal research on fabrics is one of the reasons behind my success."

Maniacal fabric research was not what one would have expected from Armani, who was born on July 11, 1934, in Piacenza, Italy, about 50 miles south of Milan. He went to medical school for two years, tried photography and was even in the military - certainly not the traditional route for becoming a world-famous fashion designer.

After completing his military obligation, Armani began working for La Rinascente department store - think of it as a Neiman Marcus for Italy. Armani dressed window mannequins in styles and fashions that other people had created, but the future star of the fashion world still was not designing for himself.

Finally, in 1961, Armani teamed up with Nino Cerruti, another Italian designer, and began designing clothes. This partnership lasted until 1970 when Armani broke away to do free-lance designs before establishing his own business in 1974.

As Armani's success has grown all over the world, so has his following in America.

"I love America and the Americans," he says, speaking of how comfortable he feels in the United States.

Armani reflects on the welcoming atmosphere in America, even compared to his home country. The way American women like Michelle Pfeiffer and Jodie Foster wear his designs - sometimes without makeup, hair-dos, or heels - fascinates him, as he appreciates the more relaxed American style.

His appreciation of American dress coincides with his philosophy on style. Armani encourages dressing simply - removing and subtracting excess accessories and layers. The adage that less is more holds true for the Italian designer.

Today, Armani is at home dressing models for Milan catwalks. His styles are cutting edge, influencing style like few have since Christian Dior or Coco Chanel. You can find Armani products in over 2,000 stores worldwide, while the company's sales top an estimated 850,000,000 dollars annually.

And rest assured...850,000,000 dollars buys a lot of blue Porsches.

*=quotes are excerpted from an Armani interview with Moda Online.