As a designer and a personality, many things can be expected of Yohji Yamamoto, after over twenty years of building his signature and such a defined aesthetic, developing within (and as a founding member) of the Japanese avantgarde school. Black can be expected, drape also. Exaggeration of volume, fine fabrics and striking slashes of gradient or deep red would be called quintessential ‘Yohji’.

However, one thing perhaps not expected by many of his followers is Yohji’s appreciation for another international fashion mogul – Giorgio Armani – whose world seems to run strangely parallel to Yohji’s, aside from obvious contrasts. Taking fashion to new and unexplored heights from the 80′s onwards, both men have garnered loyal followings across the globe, diffusing their names into more commercial lines, while retaining the prestige and luxury of their namesakes. The one from Tokyo took heavy wool, origami folds and a long, dark, soft line – the other from Milan took silk, crystal, power shoulders and evening romance. Both built their empires.

For A#2, fashion critic and journalist Maria Luisa Frisa interviewed Giorgio Armani, and accompanied their philosophical musings on Giorgio’s career and vision with an image of Giorgio by Toni Thorimbert taken in Milan in 1996. Below are some of their thoughts:

Maria Luisa Frisa: Do fame and power make you freer?
Giorgio Armani: Fame and power give you force and authrity, they make you freer, but at the same time they limit the space in which you can move. In theory you should be equal to your fame in a certain sense it obligates you, it obligates you to be always worthy of yourself. It seems like a paradox, but you become your harshest critic, your severest judge.

MLF: The fashion system is changing very quickly, its pressing pace forces it to change its working modes and strategies… Since the day you began working both men and women have changed significantly , both in mind and body. You created clothes which, at the end of the 70s, gave men and women a new definition and identity. How much has fashion contributed to this transformation?
GA: Fashion changes quickly because society changes. And we realise that is natural every day. But it also changes over the long term. I believe that clothing can also represent profound changes in a way of being, reflecting mental revolutions. That is why it bothers me to hear my work defined merely as having invented a uniform for the working woman. I had taken another road. For the woman who was demanding her rightful place and was entering directly into men’s territory, I offered an obvious tool, like the suit to define and empower her image. And, likewise, by reconstructing the man’s suit, I gave him greater awareness of his body and sensuality. The impact that these changes have had on fashion, well, that is for the critics to say. But yes, I believe they were important.

MLF: You once said that physical exercise, discipline and diet are behind your strength. Is a fit body a reflection of the mind?
GA: The ancient Greeks and Romans said it, mens sana in corpore sano. I don’t talk about it much, but I have put it into real practice over the past fifteen years. A fit body is more efficient and responds better to the needs of the mind.

MLF: What is it that strikes you the most when walking down the street?
GA: I am struck by peoples attitudes, by the gestures that seem to change a great deal and constantly. I like to view cities through relations among people. The city is the place of relationships. If the people disappeared for an instant the city would no longer exist as an organism.

MLF: Do you still want anything? What are your current desires?
GA: Not wanting anything is the beginning of the end. I am a man of moderation, but there is always something that attracts me and that I would like. From the personal standpoint, I have gotten a great deal from my life, I have never been obsessed with possessions. At this point in my life, I would like to enjoy some tranquility, a sort of wise distance from restless daily routine. As for my work, it would be a pity not to se the best that others produce and want to be the best of all. So, the desire is to be the first to recognise the changes in society and to be able to move with them.