The University of Parma and the CSAC (Centre for Studies and Archives of Communication) pay tribute to Giorgio Armani a few days after his passing.

From 22 September to 24 October, a selection of reproductions from the more than 8,000 drawings, sketches, and other material in the Giorgio Armani Collection, personally donated by the designer to the CSAC in the 1980s, will be on display in the Cloister of the University’s D’Azeglio Complex. The material selected covers the years from 1975 to 1980.

The title of this special initiative is a phrase that the great designer often used with his staff, and which he also repeated in several interviews: If I like it, you must like it too.

The inauguration was held on Monday 22 September, with speeches by Rector Paolo Martelli and Deputy Director of the CSAC Sara Martin.
Among those present was Barbara Lori, Vice-President of the Legislative Assembly of the Emilia-Romagna Region.

The reproductions, displayed in the cloister and accessible to all interested parties during the venue’s opening hours, offer a glimpse into the early stages of Armani’s creative process, highlighting the distinctive features of his style.

The original drawings, created using mixed techniques on paper and cardboard, are often accompanied by notes and fabric samples, and many bear the original stamp of the fashion house. This material is a valuable testimony to Armani’s working method and aesthetic vision.

The tribute celebrates the creative genius of one of the most iconic figures in Italian fashion worldwide. The slender, stylised female figures in the drawings recall the visual culture of the 1930s and the graphic inventions of artists such as Guido Crepax.

The representation of the female figure and the choice of materials express a new attitude, combining freedom of movement, elegance and awareness. Soft lines and flowing fabrics alternate with more structured materials, in a balance of contrasts that characterises the designer’s entire production.

The suit, reinterpreted through the famous unstructured jacket, becomes a symbol of contemporary feminine elegance, while the men’s proposals, far from classic rigidity, inaugurate an innovative vision of fashion, where gender codes intertwine and are redefined.

The inauguration on Monday 22 September was an opportunity to announce an exhibition of Armani’s original sketches, to be held at the University’s headquarters in the coming months.