In photos: Celebrating Giorgio Armani at 90

(CNN) — When “Sex and the City” lead Carrie Bradshaw sees Mr. Big step out of a Presbyterian church in Manhattan, she notes with particular reverence that he was “wearing Armani on Sunday.” Looking suave, slick and seductive, the sight leaves Carrie overwhelmed and she gives in to her impulse, accosting Big on the street — in front of his mother no less. The power of a Giorgio Armani suit.

The designer’s legacy has always been enmeshed in tailoring. In the 1980s, Armani offered a softer alternative to the hard-cornered, hyper-masculine power suits so popular in the decade. Then in the 1990s he streamlined the puffed-out silhouette altogether — designing slouchy yet sophisticated pieces in linens and silks still emulated on runways and red carpets today. His oeuvre is also synonymous with another subversion of the norm: Greige, the creamy, earth-toned hue which became a trusted leitmotif throughout the designer’s collections.

In his nine decades, the formally untrained Giorgio Armani has worked his way up from humble window dresser to Italian fashion behemoth — and has collected a number of fabulous moments in between. From Julia Roberts breaking the mold by wearing his menswear on the Golden Globes red carpet in 1990 to a living retrospective at the Guggenheim Museum in New York, Armani has left an indelible mark on fashion. In fact, he was the first haute couture designer to live stream a show on the internet — something many fashion houses treat today as a priority.

And although Armani once said “it’s important not to live off nostalgia,” in celebration of the fashion titan’s 90th birthday we have decided to indulge, momentarily, with a look back at his career highlights so far.

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