Vogue Australia 2015-05...

efore I met Giorgio Armani for the first time,

backstage at a Privé show in Paris, I was a young

actress in search of the quiet strength his designs

seemed to afford. Whether I could afford them

was another matter, and yet I reached beyond

myself and spent my first pay cheque on an

Armani suit, not unlike those Jodie Foster was

sporting on various red carpets at the time. I learnt, though, the

chic you feel wearing Armani is all your own.

Like the designer, I spent my childhood years idolising a

cinematic sort of glamour: women like Bette Davis and Greta

Garbo, who radiated light as if they were the source. I also admired

Giulietta Masina, the star of Fellini’s La Strada, in which her

character is forced to play the clown. It was her lack of

self-seriousness I found so appealing. With clothes, too, I’ve

always been drawn to pieces that have a slight sense of humour or

irreverence. By high school, I’d developed a taste for menswear,

bought at second-hand stores around Melbourne. As a teenager,

you’re a bit of a burlesque of yourself: more hardcore about

your  beliefs and aesthetics. Since then my look has broadened,

but  the basics have endured: my go-to is still a jacket and

custom oxford shoes.

When I have the pleasure of dressing up, I frequently reach for

Armani, because even his evening dresses have a touch of the

masculine and that mix-and-match duality speaks to me. There’s

a  sensuality there. When you watch American Gigolo, in which

Richard Gere parades around in every manner of suit, or look at

images of Michelle Pfeiffer from that early 80s period, you have

a strong sense of what the clothes are covering, the bodies beneath.

At my first fitting with Mr Armani, he got down on his knee to

pin the hem under my skirt and started giving me advice about

undergarments. Talk about hands-on! Then we had lunch together.

With my woeful schoolgirl French and my traveller’s Italian,

there’s always a slight barrier to conversation between us. I can tell

you he has a fabulous laugh. Sometimes I feel like I’m with a lover

• sigh, not to be – because instead of talking we end up just holding
  hands. Still, I feel we manage to understand each other. You are
  not invited into his world casually; relationships, for him, are not
  transitory things. It’s the same way his designs transcend the
  fleeting three-month fashion seasons. There’s something almost
  tectonic about him.
  I remember every design of his I’ve ever worn. For my role as
  a maniacal CIA operative in Hanna, he helped costume me in a
  cool grey skirt-suit and the perfect cashmere overcoat. At the
  Academy Awards last year, I was wearing a gold- and crystal-
  studded Privé dress that fitted me like a glove. Such attentiveness
  felt like a vote of confidence. I treasure the time he came with his
  niece Roberta to visit the Sydney Theatre Company, of which he
  was then a patron. At first it took some convincing because of the
  distance and his busy schedule, but I said: “Look, there are lots of
  boats, great theatre and a lot of very handsome men.” We ended up
  having an absolute ball. When he toured the company, he shook
  hands with all the dressmakers and talked to them about theatre.
  Just like those old movie stars, he radiates a certain light. ■

REFLECTING ON HER long friendship with

Giorgio Armani, Cate Blanchett celebrates her

equally enduring devotion to his timeless label.

Ta i lor e d love

B

152 – MAY 2015

AS TOLD TO JONATHAN VAN METER PHOTOGRAPHS: GETTY IMAGES SNAPPER MEDIA

Giorgio

Armani

and Cate

Blanchett

in 2013.