Giorgio Armani Perfumes & Colognes

Twenty-seven bottles — but ten of them are the same fragrance. If you have come here for Acqua di Gio and found a wall of near-identical bottles, this page is mostly about sorting that out.

Milan, not Paris

Giorgio Armani opened his house in Milan in 1975, and the difference from the French houses is not just geography. Armani made his name by taking the structure out of tailoring — softer shoulders, lighter cloth, clothes that moved. The fragrances have generally followed the same instinct: clean, restrained, and rarely loud.

As with most designer names, the bottles are not made by the fashion company. L’Oréal has held the Armani beauty and fragrance licence since 1988 and has produced every bottle since.

Ten versions of Acqua di Gio

Acqua di Gio launched in 1996, inspired by the island of Pantelleria, and became one of the best-selling men’s fragrances ever made. Everything else on this page lives in its shadow. What we stock, roughly cheapest first:

• Acqua di Gio Eau de Toilette — the 1996 original, and still the cheapest bottle here. If you have never smelled it, start here and nowhere else.
• Eau de Parfum and Parfum — the same idea at higher concentration: heavier, longer, less bright.
• Profumo — darker and smokier, an incense reading of the original rather than a stronger one.
• Profondo — three versions. Deeper and more marine; the closest thing to a genuinely different fragrance in the family.
• Absolu, Elixir and Intense — the top of the ladder.

One honest warning: do not read price as strength. The prices here reflect bottle size as much as concentration — the Profondo Eau de Toilette can cost more than the Profondo Eau de Parfum simply because of the size it comes in, not because it is more potent. Check the size on the product page before deciding one is an upgrade on another.

The other two families

Stronger With You, from the Emporio Armani line, runs to six: the Eau de Toilette, Only, Absolutely, Amber, Intensely and the Parfum. Sweeter and warmer than anything in the Acqua di Gio family, and the one younger buyers tend to arrive for.

Armani Code is the third: an Eau de Toilette and two Parfum versions. Older, drier, and the most formal thing here. Armani Eau Pour Homme sits on its own, and it is the oldest style on the page.

The women’s five

Si is the anchor, with Si Passione beside it. Acqua di Gioia is the women’s answer to Acqua di Gio and shares its clean, watery character. Armani Code for women and Emporio Armani Diamonds complete the set. All five are also under .

For the same kind of designer fragrance at similar money, Yves Saint Laurent and Paco Rabanne are the nearest neighbours we stock. Everything above is also listed under men’s cologne.