Giorgio Armani, Pitti Uomo 15, 1979. Courtesy Pitti Immagine, All Rights Reserved

The picture shows two elegant looks styled by two male models; the models are wearing two similar tuxedos – or dinner suits – composed by loose trousers, long jackets with wide lapels, white shirts; the looks are completed by papillons, and one of them shows a boutonnière on the right side of the jacket. The two outfits belong to Giorgio Armani’s 1979 collection, shown in Florence in occasion of Pitti Immagine 15.

Florence has been one of the Italian capitals of fashion at least since 1951, when the first collective fashion show was organised by Giovanni Battista Giorgini and held in the Sala Bianca. in 1954 was founded the Centro di Firenze per la Moda Italiana (CFMI) to promote Italian fashion, but it was only from the 1970s that Palazzo Pitti became the stage for showcasing the many aspects of Italian fashion to international markets. Pitti Uomo was founded in 1972, with the precise intent of promoting clothing and accessories for men. It was in this context that Giorgio Armani showed his first collections, using the catwalk to communicate his idea of menswear, and preceding what he would later do in Milan with his womenswear collections.