Man, I Feel Like A Woman

With feminism making waves across runways, Kenny Rosmi looks to Giorgio Armani, and how the Italian designer played a part in giving women the power to wear the pants.

- Giorgio Armani

Drawing inspiration from the glamour of the ’40s and the revolutionary woman of the era, Katharine Hepburn, Giorgio Armani fashioned a new silhouette to convey a fresh approach to modernity, power, and luxury for women in the ’80s. Indeed, Hepburn, fully cladded in menswear in George Stevens’s Woman of the Year, was iconic—just as iconic as Armani’s version of feminine power suits decades later.

1975 marked the beginning of Giorgio Armani’s empire. The rumpled jacket, unlined and deconstructed, gave subtle hints of the body beneath. The jacket was so desired for its loose silhouette and relaxed mood that it became an immediate success, but what catapulted him to international fame was when his suits were worn by Richard Gere in American Gigolo. Not only did the film exemplify Armani’s trademark elegance and sensuality, but it also gave birth to the first mainstream acknowledgement of a power suit’s value.