fashion, said John Arlidge in The Times (U.K.).
After four decades at the top of his industry, the
Italian designer, 80, freely offers his strong opinions
on everything, including the obvious inferiority
of his rivals. He dismisses Prada’s designs
as “very niche, very elite, snob fashion,” and
mischievously claims that Gianni Versace once
told him, “I dress sluts; you dress church ladies.” Armani isn’t
impressed with many of his customers either. He says men work
out too much these days—“I don’t like muscle boys”—and scorns
women who undergo cosmetic surgery. “A small breast does not
have to become big. I prefer to look at a natural woman.” And
although Armani is gay, he hates it when gay men wear flamboyant
clothes that signal their sexuality. “A homosexual man
is a man 100 percent. He does not need to dress homosexual.”
But the sharp-tongued designer reserves his harshest words for
former Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi. “I cannot stand
Berlusconi. Everything he does I find very vulgar. The way he
speaks. And his women!” With Italy’s economy in such a perilous
state, Armani says, his country needs “a Margaret Thatcher. A
very daring leader. A woman with two balls—no, with four balls!”
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