Giorgio Armani has adopted a "do-more-with-less approach" for the Oscars.
Giorgio Armani
The 86-year-old fashion designer has dressed the biggest names in Hollywood every year, but this weekend will be notably different, with Armani "reusing a few styles" to reduce the impact on the environment.
Asked if he has scaled back on his resources ahead of Sunday night's (25.04.21) ceremony, he told WWD: "Yes I have, not least because there have been fewer requests. On top of this, and more meaningfully, we are adopting a sustainable, do-more-with-less approach even to red carpet dressing, reusing a few styles instead of throwing them away after one outing, with an enormous waste of skills and resources. My creations are timeless, and can be worn on many occasions.
"And I am pleased that the celebrities I have involved have enthusiastically embraced this initiative. Cate Blanchett, for instance, has worn the same dresses on more than one occasion. And in December, for the opening night of La Scala in Milan, numerous artists performed in clothes that were previously worn, but no less impressive. "This is a very important aspect for me: having a conscience matters, even at the peak of glamour."
Meanwhile, Armani insisted the red carpet is still important despite fashion shows going virtual in the past year, owing to the coronavirus pandemic, because it provides an "escape".
He explained: "Red carpet fashion still matters, in my view, as a moment of escape and dreaming, which is probably more relevant now than it ever was before. I am saying this from the perspective of a very pragmatic designer and entrepreneur. I understand a momentary lack of interest now that things have gone virtual, but it will matter again, and actually it already does."
However, he accepts that social media has far more of an "impact on revenues and success" of a brand than red carpet events.
He added: "It is about prestige and dreams, but those lead to dollars and cents. What I am saying is that red carpet exposure does not entice the commercial success of a certain item not lastly because for the red carpet we produce special bespoke or couture pieces. But the red carpet builds a popular aura: something intangible and difficult to define that nonetheless augments the prestige and gravitational pull of the brand. This said, today social media has far more impact on revenues and the success of specific pieces than ever before, even for a timelessly elegant label like mine."
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