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Giorgio Armani, the celebrated Italian fashion designer who built a global empire has died, his company said on Thursday. He was 91.
“With infinite sorrow, the Armani Group announces the passing of its creator, founder and tireless driving force: Giorgio Armani,” the fashion house said in a statement.
His vast portfolio included the Giorgio Armani and Emporio Armani apparel lines alongside the haute couture label Armani Privé and an Armani Casa design and interiors line.
He was absent from his last three shows, held in June and July, owing to illness. He had been expected to attend the brand’s 50th anniversary celebrations later this month including a landmark exhibition at the Pinacoteca di Brera in Milan.
The founder and sole shareholder of Giorgio Armani SpA, Armani reportedly refused numerous offers throughout his career to become part of one of the big four luxury fashion conglomerates. He described the independence of his brand as “an essential value”.
His inaugural 1975 presentation pioneered the idea of soft power dressing, earning him the title “King of the Blazer”. His proposition of fluid rather than structured suiting featuring longer-cut suit jackets, loosely pleated trousers and floor-sweeping belted coats formed an entirely new approach to dressing. He applied the same techniques to womenswear, freeing many from the fussy and figure-hugging silhouettes prescribed by other brands. His muted colour palette of greys and beige became synonymous with stealth wealth, long before the idea of quiet luxury entered the lexicon.
In 1980 the brand was catapulted to international fame when Richard Gere wore numerous pieces designed by Armani in the film American Gigolo.
This also pioneered a new way of working with Hollywood. While in the past couturiers had a relationship with one such specific star, such as Hubert de Givenchy and Audrey Hepburn, Armani had multiple.
In 1978, Diane Keaton became the first actor to wear Armani on the Oscars red carpet. Jodie Foster has worn it to every ceremony but one since 1989, while Julia Roberts’ 1990 look of a steel grey oversized Armani suit teamed with a white shirt and tie has become one of the most memorable Golden Globes looks of all time.
Born in Piacenza in northern Italy in 1934, Armani originally pursued a career in medicine. He left the University of Milan before completing his degree to join the army. Shortly afterwards he began looking for a different type of career.
“I got into fashion almost by accident and then it slowly grew in me until it completely absorbed me, stealing my life away,” he previously said.
After working as a window dresser and later a sales associate at La Rinascente, a notable department store in Milan, he took on a menswear design role at Nino Cerruti.
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Armani was 41 when he launched his own label. It was his partner Sergio Galeotti, an architect by training who convinced him to sell his Volkswagen Beetle to fund his own company. Galeotti ran the books while Armani focused on the creative side. When Galeotti died in 1995, Armani continued alone.
Armani-branded products generated £3.5bn in 2021. They included a collection of hotels, restaurants, nightclubs, cosmetics, chocolates and even floristry.
Armani liked to keep the business within the family.
After his spring/summer 2022 collection, Armani for the first time took his bow alongside Leo Dell’Orco, the head of the men’s style office, who originally joined the company in 1977.
When asked in a 2022 interview how he’d liked to be remembered, Armani replied: “As a sincere man. I say what I mean.”
