On 11th July 1934 in the northern Italian town of Piacenza Giorgio Armani was born, long before any clothes designing, fashion awards and world domination was ever even considered. Giorgio grew up with his two siblings and parents Ugo and Maria and wanted to have a career in medicine, enrolling at the University of Bologna. After a couple of years into his studies Armani was called up for military service and after experiencing a military hospital decided that he wasn’t a doctor, instead turning to the world of retail and fashion. After various stints as window dressers, and a menswear buyer he landed a job as a menswear designer meeting a friend and future founder of Armani clothing, architectural draftsman, Sergio Galeotti. Together the pair opened a design office in Milan and Giorgio Armani spent a few years working as a freelance designer, collaborating with many of the premium high end fashion brands in Italy. 1975 finally saw the first ever ready to wear men’s Armani collection released for spring summer 76.

Huge amounts of success were to follow over the ensuing years with the 80s seeing the expansion of the brand and the ranges offered, with women’s clothing also becoming a focal point of the brand. One of the ranges released in 1981 was the Armani Jeans collection, a denim inspired selection that featured some of the most popular commercial Armani jeans available to date but also a very popular clothing range given the added diversity compared to the higher end lines. The main differences are the use of colour, with the bright, eye catching designs proving popular in the UK and Europe, and the use of the branding. Armani usually favours a small subtle logo or simply nothing, allowing the clothing to do the talking. However with the Armani Jeans range the branding is much larger, obvious and allows the wearer to show his true love for the Armani brand. As I said before the jeans and denim element of the brand have produced some of the most popular styles of jeans over the past twenty to thirty years. Each season the brand will release the standard styles J21, J07, J31, J15 and J12 which will relate to a certain style of fit, for example a J21 is a no nonsense regular fit, straight leg pair of jeans with the Armani logo on the back pocket and waistband. The difference season by season is the washes that Armani produce the jeans in, with black, indigo and blue denim all popular alongside the twists of chemical washes, rip repairs and tonal stitching. The benefit to the same style season by season is that an Armani fan will know the fit and cut and easily be able to buy his favourite washes in the style that he knows suits, they really are ready to wear.

Alongside the Armani Jeans collection is the much smaller range called EA7, a section of the Armani label that was first inspired by AC Milan’s famous number 7 and close friend, Ukranian striker Andriy Shevchenko. This range is branded and slightly more sporty than anything else Armani has produced and really does just pay homage to Shevchenko, however his name in England means considerably less than in Italy as he struggled to make the grade playing for Chelsea FC, coincidentally linking to another branch of the Armani brand suits for teams and home wear that currently adorns the VIP Armani Lounge at Stamford Bridge.
The Emporio Armani range is reserved at Mainline Menswear for the massively popular underwear that comes in various colours, materials and styles but all featuring the signature Armani logo and the initials ‘EA’. The underwear is currently being modelled by Portuguese footballer Cristiano Ronaldo and American actress Megan Fox, with the duo proving popular due to their toned physiques and popular underwear choice. David Beckham kicked it all off in the past few years after appearing with tattoos, six pack and Armani pants. If you’re looking for briefs or boxers, colourful or plain then Armani Underwear is a superb choice.
The Armani collection at Mainline Menswear is a hugely popular range that is snapped up by the older gentleman and younger professional alike who know they are buying designer quality with a globally loved and reputed brand name. Everything that you would ever need with the Armani brand logo on is available with a selection from jackets, hooded jumpers and t shirts to jeans and denims down to the lifestyle elements such as belts, wallets and trainers. If high end fashion or established Italian brands are your thing then you can’t miss out on Armani clothing and jeans.