Surfers far and wide mourn the passing of Giorgio Armani

I design for real people. There is no virtue whatsoever in creating clothes and accessories that are not practical.”

Surfers from America’s Southern California to Australia’s Northern Beaches are gathering in lineups and parking lots, this morning, speaking with low, somber voices, sharing their memories of the Italian fashion designer Giorgio Armani, who died, yesterday, at home surrounded by loved ones.

He was 91.

Armani, his eponymous label, released a statement reading, in part, that the man was “Indefatigable to the end, he worked until his final days, dedicating himself to the company, the collections and the many ongoing and future projects.”

“The world lost a giant today. He made history and will be remembered forever,” Donatella Versace declared.

“A true friend. A Legend,” Julia Roberts added.

Armani, of course, turned a sort of understated elegant aesthetic into a $10bn empire. “I design for real people. There is no virtue whatsoever in creating clothes and accessories that are not practical,” he would often say and surfers, far and wide, took time from waxing boards or manifesting championships to recall some of their favorite collections over the past 50 years.

The moment I will carry with me is nearly 20 years old, now, and centers around the Los Angeles Times’ Suave Surfer Stokes New Style: Shane Dorian’s Dressy Look is Making Waves in Sport and Design Circles.

The piece delivered on its promise, detailing how Dorian had embraced high fashion, volunteering to work New York Fashion Week just to catch a glimpse of the latest silhouettes, describing his look of l”ong overcoats, boots, and vintage gloves, hats and scarves stay behind in a friend’s closet in New York, where they suit Dorian better than in Hawaii or on tour. He can use the extra wardrobe space anyway, because the three walk-in closets in his apartment are already chockablock full of clothes, hats and shoes. Among the boots are four pairs of Kenneth Coles. Soon to arrive: a gray day suit and a black evening suit, both from Armani through a deal from a friend of a friend who works for the company.”

“Shane’s the leader, and his style speaks for his generation. He’s a big influence right now,” Lian Murray, Billabong’s then- merchandising director, shared. “Kids today are not into the old surf look–where it used to look cool to look like you didn’t try. What’s in right now is to look good. They like pretty dressy clothes. It’s really great for us girls. Shane just looks so babe.”

I had just graduated college, then, and it blew my Oregonian mind to bits, imagining Shane Dorian in gray day suits and black evening suits from Armani, propelling me on a journey of discovery that I am still on.

Rest in peace, dear Giorgio. Also, rest in peace Shane Dorian’s fashion sense.