When it comes to prominent Italian fashion designers, Giorgio Armani is easily one the most successful and influential around. Armani started his fashion empire in 1975 with a ready-to-wear men’s apparel line. A year later he introduced a collection women. Both collections offered clean tailored lines with architectural design influence. The designer was catapulted to worldwide popularity 1980, when his tailored men’s suits were worn by actor Richard Gere in the film American Gigolo. Several years later in 1984, Armani outfitted actors Don Johnson and Phillip Michael Thomas in the highly visual television series Miami Vice. Armani soon became one of the most-sought…