Whatever Happened to Emporio Armani’s Editorial Soul?

Fashion’s Changing Landscape Left Emporio Armani’s Magazine Behind

During this year’s Milan Design Week, amidst so many exhibits and installations, I stumbled upon two relics I had forgotten they even existed: Emporio Armani’s own magazine, and I specifically found two issues, “The Body”, their 17th issue published in 1997 and “Look”, their 10th issue published between 1993 and 1994. The EA magazine, curated mainly by Rosanna Armani herself, thrived for a decade before fading into obscurity when fashion took a sharp and forced turn into marketing and business expansions in the late 90s—basically when we started experiencing “The End of Fashion”, as sharply explained by Teri Agins’ book (great read, totally recommend).

Discovering these lost issues felt like reopening a time capsule from a different era of fashion communication—when ALL brands used to invest in creating narratives. A time when editorial storytelling wasn’t two buzzwords kept as an afterthought; everything was intentional, with each photo and brand campaign contributing to a cohesive vision. Today, much of what is labeled as “editorial” seems uninspired, and most of them reduced to models posing without context. There is still a wide selection of brands that still deliver a concept in-house without waiting for publications to do it for them (Loewe and Bottega Veneta come first to mind), but the majority of brand campaigns have become less…communicative, and as a result they have been converted into a quick TikTok scroll.

Scrolling through Emporio Armani’s current Instagram (since this is how we take a quick look at ongoing campaigns now), I could occasionally get a glimpse of that former spirit— a conceptual shoot here and there, a rarely thoughtful composition—but much of it feels blank. Polished, yet lacking depth and soul. I’ll give you an example of the actual situation of Emporio Armani. In Milan, the brand has become synonymous with the “maranza” culture: flashy logos, tracksuits, and (of course) a proliferation of counterfeits. It’s depressing to see a brand that once personified effortless elegance now get associated with such superficial displays.

The truth is that Emporio Armani wasn’t meant to be just a “logo line”. Launched in 1981, Giorgio Armani desired to create a more accessible, youthful brand that still embodied his design philosophy. The line aimed to capture the zeitgeist of urban youth by offering stylish, yet affordable clothing (and no, it didn’t include logo sweatpants at first). The iconic eagle logo, apparently sketched by Armani during a phone call with his late business partner, Sergio Galeotti, became a symbol of belonging for a new generation up until the late 90s. 

When it comes to the brand’s communication strategy, it was equally innovative as its main line. In 1988, Armani transformed Westuff Magazine, a publication from Florence focused on fashion, cinema, music, and culture, into Emporio Armani Magazine. The issues featured photographs by big fashion photo idols like Aldo Fallai and Peter Lindbergh, and insightful interviews with cultural and artistic figures, because Emporio Armani aimed to display an intersection between fashion and contemporary youth culture. 

Despite its early success, Emporio Armani’s image shifted over the years. Today, and at least in Milan, EA tends to be associated with the rise of the “maranza” culture — a term used in the north of Italy to describe groups of youth displaying ostentatious behavior and flashy clothes and accessories. The “maranza” aesthetic often includes branded (usually counterfeited and tacky) tracksuits, puffer jackets, and accessories such as monogrammed messenger bags or belt bags, aligning with the more commercial aspects of EA’s mass offerings. This association has diluted the brand’s original image, reducing it to a caricature of its former self.

I sometimes wonder how other fashion houses have managed to maintain and grow the integrity of their lines. Take Miu Miu, for example — Prada’s sister brand has preserved its editorial depth and continues to engage audiences with thoughtful storytelling and design. It has become a brand itself with a personal story, not the tacky version of Prada. Emporio Armani, however, seems to have forsaken its narrative-driven approach, opting instead for mass appeal. 

Nothing was lost, though. In 2021, Giorgio and Rosanna Armani released a special edition of the Emporio Armani Magazine titled The Way We Are, celebrating the brand’s 40th anniversary. While the release of this issue was a nod to a nostalgic past, it also highlighted the absence of the brand’s ongoing editorial efforts—isn’t that sad? We’re currently living in an era where online media, but especially print publications, are experiencing a renaissance, attracting a reasonable majority of readers who seek in-depth content. The decision not to revive  EA Magazine feels like a missed opportunity for the brand. 

Emporio Armani once built a universe that people aspired to be part of. It’s painful to see it reduced to a logo on a tracksuit, and it is sad to think that after the 90s, a lot of brands got reduced to that—it’s very difficult to get out from the logomaniacs who buy your brand for the wrong reasons. Perhaps it’s time for Emporio Armani to reconnect with its roots, to reestablish its editorial voice, and to remind the world of the sophisticated narrative that once defined it.