Fashion Designer Giorgio Armani was born on July 11, 1934, in Piacenza, about 50 miles south of Milan, in the Emilia-Romagna region of Italy. He attended medical school for two years, dabbled in photography, fulfilled his military obligations in 1957, then worked in a prestigious department store, La Rinascente, as a window dresser. He joined Nino Cerruti as a designer from 1961 to 1970. Armani began a free-lance design business in 1970 with the encouragement of his close friend Sergio Galeotti, and established his own men's wear label in 1974. Armani, whose relaxed designs for women are inspired by men\'s wear, also uses men\'s wear fabrics in his sophisticated, unstructured jackets and suits for women. With this approach, Armani has established a new standard of understated elegance: easy-fit garments for women, precisely cut and beautifully tailored.
