Money, Class, and the Armani Legacy

I work in finance. I've seen lots of money. I've seen people with it and I've seen people who want it and will not stop until they figure out how to get it.

With the good and the bad stuff along the way (fortunately, in my line of work, it's almost all been good along the way, fwiw).

But money - money is funny.

Money can buy a lot of things, but it can't insert you into the world in a way that the world will love you back.

You can pay a certain amount of people to fake it, sure, but money is a minor detail in winning people over to you.

If you want to win people over, you need class. If you want to win people over, you need taste.

We lost Giorgio Armani this week.

A lot of people will remember him for the fancy clothes. They'll think of the price tags. They'll think of the glamor.

But the better thing to remember him for is this philosophy and lesson he shared:

"The difference between style and fashion is quality."

And perhaps even more powerfully:

"Elegance is not about being noticed, it's about being remembered."

I couldn’t validate this quote I saw attributed to him online (h/t Roger Mitchell), but it inspired this note and it’s in the spirit of those above (it kind of ties the whole thing together),

"Money can’t ever buy you class and taste.”

You can chase money all you want. But don't overlook the other stuff. The things people will love, admire, and respect you for, in a way that money will never be able to buy.

Armani understood this. He built his empire not just on expensive clothes, but on timeless quality, understated elegance, and authentic style that transcended trends. He chose substance over flash, quality over quantity, being remembered over being noticed.

It's a package deal. Always has been, always will be. Respect those who figured it out.

ps. the bassline on this one - money may have cleared the sample, but it can’t buy that class and taste