Andy Warhol shot these Polaroids of Giorgio Armani in 1981—a quick session that turned into a cool silkscreen portrait. Armani said Andy stopped him in a hallway, took the photo in seconds, and that was that.
“It was a fashion occasion,” Armani recalled. “GFT [the Italian clothing manufacturer] was opening a new showroom. I received an invitation from Andy to represent the fashion scene-and with several others, including [designer] Mariuccia Mandelli, I accepted. Andy stopped me in a corridor for 10 seconds and took a photo to work off of, and when the final portrait was bought by GFT, he made quite a lot of money! Andy Warhol was a genius at marketing himself. Marco Rivetti [the CEO of GFT] sent one of the portraits to me as a gift sometime later. It is now hanging in my office. Years ago, Andy Warhol and I spent an evening together visiting a variety of New York nightspots. Even though I didn’t speak any English, he wanted me to accompany him so that he could introduce me to the city’s night scene. I have very fond memories of my time with him.”
You can see what Andy saw: It’s Armani before the global empire, but already pure elegance: soft blazer, sharp cheekbones, that just-woke-up-and-designed-a-masterpiece energy. In an interview, Armani was asked what he thought his Warhol portraits captured. He responded, “I think that he wanted to portray me as an icon. That is what Warhol portraits do: They elevate the subject into an icon of the pop culture he was documenting. These days, as I am older and wiser, I realize that there is a danger in becoming an icon, as people can see you as remote and untouchable, and they are less willing to tolerate you doing things that don’t fit with their preconceived idea of you.”
This encounter illustrates Warhol’s ability to swiftly turn encounters with public figures into art that elevates them into icons—merging fashion and pop art in a singular moment.
Warhol’s use of Polaroid photography, later adapted into silkscreens or vibrant prints, allowed him to explore his themes of celebrity, mass media, and iconography—a hallmark of his pop art legacy.
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