INTRODUCTION
I’ve always thought of the T-shirt as the Alpha and Omega of the fashion alphabet. The Creative universe begins with its essentially, and, whatever path the imagination takes, ends with its purity.
What intrigues me about this piece of clothing – which has crossed our entire century unscathed and is poised for a glorious future – are the sensations that it transmits to me. The first is a sense of cleanness that goes beyond the superficial meaning of the word; it implies presenting oneself to others without artifice or disguise. The second, which may seem contradictory, is the unabashed sex appeal that this garment has like few others in the modern wardrobe: under a T-shirt, the beautiful bust of a women or the handsome chest of a man are sculpted and desirable without becoming vulgar.
And then, I love the T-shirt as an anti-status symbol, putting rich and poor on the same level in a sheath of white cotton that cancels the distinctions of caste. It also excels as a means of communication: writings, drawings, poems, slogans, photos, worn as a way to tell the world who you are, what you think, where your ideas are directed.
Finally, I must confess it: despite the fact that some people think I am a man without vices, I am a T-shirt addict. It’s the first thing that I put on in the morning and the last thing I take off at night!
©1996 by Alice Harris and Umbrage Editions, Inc.
Introduction ©1996 by Giorgio Armani. Text ©1996 by Nan Richardson.