HG sans TV -- "The House of Armani"

House & Garden, April, 1990.  Giorgio Armani eats up the camera, staring straight ahead with those intense, icy blue eyes.  In this photo he was in his mid-fifties, still disarmingly handsome and quite decidedly a master of the universe of high fashion.

To command the renovation and appointments of his Milan apartment, Armani chose New York architect/designer Peter Marino, clearly Armani's equal in self-assurance and adherence to quality and authenticity.  And 21 years ago, HG gave us a peek inside this shrine to Good Design.

These tall, sleek ebonized doors are French polished --whew!   In the background, the bronze leopard, one of a pair, is from the 30s, attributed to the famous Atelier Primavera.  The big cats are crouching on a low goatskin table by Jean Michel Frank.  In the foreground the sofa, surrounded by a folding screen, is pure Frank-style.

Remember the "flirtatiousness of materials?" (see my 3/ 1/11 post.)  Here's a perfect example:  the desk is cerused oak, the lamp is plaster and parchment, the chairs are woven straw.  They are all by Jean Michel Frank.  In a lower stratosphere -- but still flirting -- are the walnut and goatskin cabinets that flank the Minnesota limestone mantle (the other cabinet not in view)  that were reproduced from a Frank model.  The amazing wall was hand painted by a New York artist to mimic a parchment grid.
(Click on the photo for a close-up.)

These two shots comprise the salon, which is a mixture of vintage Frank, found in Paris, and faithful reproductions.  The symbiosis between the two designers was apparent with Marino's comment that "'a fashion designer does not like to be dictated to,'" and Armani's broad instructions to create a setting that  "'suggested a period in the past as a point of reference.'"  That period was Paris in the '30s.

In the dining room the walls are lined with parchment (gasp!)  The pedestal table  by Peter Marino is in bleached oak.  The cerused oak chairs are by Jean Michel Frank.  The kitty is Armani's tabby (cats love cameras!) that had his food presented on ironed white linen napkins.

In an upstairs bedroom, the austere luxury continues.  The walls are lined with sycamore and the fall front bureau is black lacquer with pigskin-embossed drawer fronts.

The designer's closet is "a model of elegant restraint."

The bathroom was pre-existing, but relates nicely to the spare aesthetic of the rest of the apartment.  The bench is by Frank.

John Fairchild, the founder of WWD, called Armani the "Jesuit monk of fashion."  His home, as realized by Peter Marino, is a testament to that description.  

"'...modernity without futurism.'"  That's how Giorgio Armani described the aesthetic he strived for in the design of his apartment.  

French Vogue Decoration also published Armani's apartment in its August/September, 1991, edition. Although I'm focusing on House & Garden,  I have to include this brilliant photo below (by Marco De Valdivia) as it appeared in Vogue.

Armani's kitty shares the platform with the magnificent leopards.

Just a few years later, Condé Nast closed House & Garden.    It was brought back (HG redux!) in 1995, publishing its first reinstated issue in September, 1996.  Its lead feature, which began a series called "First Principle," was of an elegant New York City apartment designed by a young man at the top of his profession.  But sadly, this project was published posthumously.  Do you know who this design talent was?  Hint: early on, he was a protege of Andy Warhol's.

Thanks for reading, everyone!