Giorgio Armani has come under fire for comparing the way women are treated by designers to rape.
On Friday, Armani spoke to reporters while presenting his Emporio Armani line at Milan Fashion Week.
According to Women’s Wear Daily (WWD), the fashion designer told the media he is “at a moment where I can say what I think”, before presenting his controversial analogy concerning sexual violence.
“There is so much talk about women being raped, but women today are regularly ‘raped’ by designers,” the 85-year-old said.
“I am thinking of certain ads where women are shown in a provocative way, half naked, and many women feel pressured into looking like that. That for me is rape. It’s unbefitting.”
The Associated Press reported Armani also stated: “We say that women are being raped in a corner. Women continue to be raped by designers.”
When asked to clarify his remarks, the Italian designer said: “Women can be raped in various ways. Throwing her under a stairwell or suggesting she dresses in a certain way: for me, that is raping a woman.”
Armani’s comments sparked criticism on social media, with one person describing his comparison between fashion advertisements and rape as “nonsensical and dangerous”.
“The exploitation of women in fashion imagery is not a new phenomenon, far from it. And I do think Armani has tried always to be respectful of women in his work,” tweeted Booth Moore, executive editor at WWD.
“But the word ‘rape’ is very charged, in any language.”
“This is literally vile. Pretty insulting to just throw it around,” another person commented.
In a statement to The Independent, Armani said he “can understand how today for the press” his comments may seem like “a strong statement”.
“If I could turn back and have used another word to express that all of us designers have the duty to respect the women we design clothes for I would,” the designer added.
“But I used this term, provocatively, to move things, shifting the attention to a matter that I believe is very important, and that is close to my heart.”
Armani added he believed he had “invented a new type of femininity” that balances “between rigour and sensuality”.
1/24 2017
A picture shows the messages “#Me too” and #Balancetonporc (“expose your pig”) on the hand of a protester during a gathering against gender-based and sexual violence called by the Effronte-e-s Collective, on the Place de la Republique square in Paris
AFP
2/24 2018
Italian actress Asia Argento (C) and US singer and actress Rose McGowan, who both accuse Harvey Weinstein of sexual assault, take part in a march organised by ‘Non Una Di Meno’ (Me too) movement as part of the International Women’s Day in Rome
AFP/Getty
3/24 2017
Victims of sexual harassment, sexual assault, sexual abuse and their supporters protest during a #MeToo march in Hollywood, California
AFP/Getty
4/24 2018
South Korean women staging a monthly protest against secretly-filmed spycam pornography in Seoul. Since May 2018, the monthly demonstrations against secretly-filmed spycam pornography in Seoul has shattered records to become the biggest-ever women’s protest in South Korea where the global #MeToo movement has unleashed an unprecedented wave of female-led activism
AFP/Getty
5/24 2017
Swedish MEP Linnéa Engström sits behind a placard placed on her desk that reads “Me too” during a debate about combating sexual harassment and abuse in the EU at the European Parliament in Strasbourg
AFP/Getty
6/24 2018
Activists participate in front of the Brandenburg Gate in a demonstration for women’s rights in Berlin
Getty
7/24 2018
A McDonald’s employee holds a sign during a protest against sexual harassment in the workplace in Chicago
AFP/Getty
8/24 2018
An activist participates in the 2018 #MeToo March in Hollywood
Getty
9/24 2018
Women protest in New York
Getty
10/24 2018
Women hold a banner reading “still feminist” with the Eiffel tower in background
AFP/Getty
11/24 2017
French activist Jean-Baptiste Redde, aka Voltuan, holds a placard as protesters take part in a gathering against gender-based and sexual violence in Paris
AFP/Getty
12/24 2018
Activists and advocates for survivors of sexual abuse, including Democratic candidate for Illinois governor at the time JB Prtizker (left), gather in the Federal Building Plaza to protest the confirmation of Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh in Chicago, Illinois after the Senate Judiciary Committee voted out Supreme Court nominee Judge Brett Kavanaugh and agreed to an additional week of investigation into accusations of sexual assault against him before the full Senate votes on his confirmation. Christine Blasey Ford accused Kavanaugh of sexually assaulting her when they were both teens
Getty
13/24 2018
A group describing themselves as #MeToo/#YoTambien survivors, hold a candlelight vigil outside the Mexico Consulate to support the women taking part in the human caravan heading through Mexico to the US border
AFP/Getty
14/24 2017
Victims of sexual harassment, sexual assault, sexual abuse and their supporters protest during a #MeToo march in Hollywood
AFP/Getty
15/24 2018
South Korean demonstrators hold banners during a rally to mark International Women’s Day
AFP/Getty
16/24 2018
Dozens of women and men attend a rally and march in Washington Square Park for international Women’s Day in New York
Getty
17/24 2017
People carry signs addressing the issue of sexual harassment at a #MeToo rally outside of Trump International Hotel in New York
Getty
18/24 2017
Victims of sexual harassment, sexual assault, sexual abuse and their supporters protest during a #MeToo march in Hollywood
AFP/Getty
19/24 2018
South Korean demonstrators hold banners during a rally to mark International Women’s Day
AFP/Getty
20/24 2018
Dozens of protesters against the confirmation of Republican Supreme court nominee Judge Brett Kavanaugh gather outside of Democratic Senator Chuck Schumer’s office on the afternoon that Professor Christine Blasey Ford testified against Kavanaugh in New York
Getty
21/24 2018
Activists and advocates for survivors of sexual abuse gather in the Federal Building Plaza in Chicago
Getty
22/24 2018
Dozens of women and men attend a rally and march in Washington Square Park
Getty
23/24 2017
People carry signs addressing the issue of sexual harassment at a #MeToo rally outside of Trump International Hotel
Getty
24/24 2018
Activists and advocates for survivors of sexual abuse gather in the Federal Building Plaza to protest the confirmation of Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh
Getty
1/24 2017
A picture shows the messages “#Me too” and #Balancetonporc (“expose your pig”) on the hand of a protester during a gathering against gender-based and sexual violence called by the Effronte-e-s Collective, on the Place de la Republique square in Paris
AFP
2/24 2018
Italian actress Asia Argento (C) and US singer and actress Rose McGowan, who both accuse Harvey Weinstein of sexual assault, take part in a march organised by ‘Non Una Di Meno’ (Me too) movement as part of the International Women’s Day in Rome
AFP/Getty
3/24 2017
Victims of sexual harassment, sexual assault, sexual abuse and their supporters protest during a #MeToo march in Hollywood, California
AFP/Getty
4/24 2018
South Korean women staging a monthly protest against secretly-filmed spycam pornography in Seoul. Since May 2018, the monthly demonstrations against secretly-filmed spycam pornography in Seoul has shattered records to become the biggest-ever women’s protest in South Korea where the global #MeToo movement has unleashed an unprecedented wave of female-led activism
AFP/Getty
5/24 2017
Swedish MEP Linnéa Engström sits behind a placard placed on her desk that reads “Me too” during a debate about combating sexual harassment and abuse in the EU at the European Parliament in Strasbourg
AFP/Getty
6/24 2018
Activists participate in front of the Brandenburg Gate in a demonstration for women’s rights in Berlin
Getty
7/24 2018
A McDonald’s employee holds a sign during a protest against sexual harassment in the workplace in Chicago
AFP/Getty
8/24 2018
An activist participates in the 2018 #MeToo March in Hollywood
Getty
9/24 2018
Women protest in New York
Getty
10/24 2018
Women hold a banner reading “still feminist” with the Eiffel tower in background
AFP/Getty
11/24 2017
French activist Jean-Baptiste Redde, aka Voltuan, holds a placard as protesters take part in a gathering against gender-based and sexual violence in Paris
AFP/Getty
12/24 2018
Activists and advocates for survivors of sexual abuse, including Democratic candidate for Illinois governor at the time JB Prtizker (left), gather in the Federal Building Plaza to protest the confirmation of Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh in Chicago, Illinois after the Senate Judiciary Committee voted out Supreme Court nominee Judge Brett Kavanaugh and agreed to an additional week of investigation into accusations of sexual assault against him before the full Senate votes on his confirmation. Christine Blasey Ford accused Kavanaugh of sexually assaulting her when they were both teens
Getty
13/24 2018
A group describing themselves as #MeToo/#YoTambien survivors, hold a candlelight vigil outside the Mexico Consulate to support the women taking part in the human caravan heading through Mexico to the US border
AFP/Getty
14/24 2017
Victims of sexual harassment, sexual assault, sexual abuse and their supporters protest during a #MeToo march in Hollywood
AFP/Getty
15/24 2018
South Korean demonstrators hold banners during a rally to mark International Women’s Day
AFP/Getty
16/24 2018
Dozens of women and men attend a rally and march in Washington Square Park for international Women’s Day in New York
Getty
17/24 2017
People carry signs addressing the issue of sexual harassment at a #MeToo rally outside of Trump International Hotel in New York
Getty
18/24 2017
Victims of sexual harassment, sexual assault, sexual abuse and their supporters protest during a #MeToo march in Hollywood
AFP/Getty
19/24 2018
South Korean demonstrators hold banners during a rally to mark International Women’s Day
AFP/Getty
20/24 2018
Dozens of protesters against the confirmation of Republican Supreme court nominee Judge Brett Kavanaugh gather outside of Democratic Senator Chuck Schumer’s office on the afternoon that Professor Christine Blasey Ford testified against Kavanaugh in New York
Getty
21/24 2018
Activists and advocates for survivors of sexual abuse gather in the Federal Building Plaza in Chicago
Getty
22/24 2018
Dozens of women and men attend a rally and march in Washington Square Park
Getty
23/24 2017
People carry signs addressing the issue of sexual harassment at a #MeToo rally outside of Trump International Hotel
Getty
24/24 2018
Activists and advocates for survivors of sexual abuse gather in the Federal Building Plaza to protest the confirmation of Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh
Getty
He explained he believes women must have the choice to “choose how to dress according to their mentality and character”, while also “taking into account their physique and their age, avoiding ridicule”.
“I believe that certain stylistic proposals, certain impositions, are not very respectful towards women,” he stated.
“I admit that sometimes I have been guilty of this as a designer, but it is a mistake that I do not intend to repeat.”