Armani still in the spotlight at 70
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(CNN) -- It's been described as a dying art, but the biggest name in fashion has just given haute couture his vote of confidence at the Paris Fashion Show.
Last month legendary Italian designer Giorgio Armani presented his first-ever haute couture collection, parading more than 30 lavishly decorated cocktail gowns for an appreciative audience.
Armani's presence was enthusiastically welcomed in Paris as a boost to the city's reputation as the global capital of fashion amid concerns about the future of haute couture.
In the past two years Ungaro, Versace, Givenchy and Ralph Rucci have all stopped presenting collections.
Armani admits haute couture is an endangered tradition, but says he hopes to bring greater accessibility and affordability to the world of made-to-measure fashion.
And despite prices that start at £12,800 and rise to £46,500 his collection reflected the same simplicity and elegance that have come to characterize his ready-to-wear clothes.
"I don't agree with a lot of things that are done on a wave of euphoria, that take advantage of people's good faith," Armani told CNN.
"Like showing things in newspapers that don't have anything to do with real life, because a particular dress will never be sold in a store, or a particular image that does not correspond to anything in real life.
"In this business attention to detail is fundamental, especially as I have chosen a subtle evolution of style over the great extravagance and spectacular effects that often get used in the fashion world."
Armani also dismisses critics who say that, after 30 years in the fashion world, his classic style is no longer cutting edge.
"Today the promotion is more important than the product. The size of the store is more important than the real value of what is being sold," he says.
"Fashion has come to mean the latest model of cellphone or the latest shoes. Everything that is emphasized, everything that is commercial. I think people have started saying, "who gives a damn?" and that has worked to Armani's advantage.
"We've survived better than a lot of others precisely because my products have never had extravagant peaks that made people think that once they'd bought my products they'd have to throw them away because fashions change so much."
Armani still dominates the fashion house that bears his name, but at an age when many are already settled into retirement he admits to having thoughts about his legacy and keeping the label alive.
"This is a company closely linked to my personality and my way of doing things," he says. "To think about a Georgio Armani company that doesn't include my presence anymore is a daily thought.
"Everyday I have to deal with this problem. It's very painful to think about it. Especially when you're talking about a person who does a job that everyone looks upon as 'the message.' In the morning I arrive in the office and the various dressmaking workshops and everyone waits for me to say what has to be done."
Last year, Armani suggested he could retire after another five years in the business, but, 12 months on, he says he is no closer to quitting.
"We are not at four years now," Armani says. "We are still at five, so we have to move the deadline further away. This job you either do it fulltime or you don't do it."
-- CNN's Alessio Vinci and Meara Erdozain contributed to this report.
