The legendary Italian fashion designer Giorgio Armani has died, the company he founded said Thursday. He was 91.
"With infinite sorrow, the Armani Group announces the passing of its creator, founder, and tireless driving force: Giorgio Armani," it said.
Armani "passed away peacefully, surrounded by his loved ones," it added. "Tireless, he worked until his final days, dedicating himself to the company, its collections, and the diverse and ever-evolving projects both existing and in progress."
Armani had been unwell for some time, and his canceled appearance at Milan's Men's Fashion Week in June was the first time in his career that he had missed one of his catwalk events. His last public appearance was on May 21.
Donatella Versace, a fellow Italian designer, posted a photo of Armani on Instagram and wrote that he made history.
“The world lost a giant today,” she wrote.
Known as "Re Giorgio" — or King Giorgio — he founded his eponymous company in 1975, and it soon became a byword for sleek, understated style that "extended from fashion to every aspect of life," as the statement put it.
Its breakout moment came in 1980 when it designed the suits worn by Richard Gere in the movie "American Gigolo." From there, it expanded into a global empire that covered everything from haute couture to high-street fashion, from eyeglasses to shoes, and even homeware.
Diane Keaton wore Armani's first red-carpet design when she attended the Academy Awards in 1978. She won an Oscar for best actress for her role in “Annie Hall” that night.
Unlike many stars who wore gowns, Keaton wore a skirt and blazer designed by Armani. She wanted to appear as relatable first and a star second, Armani recalled in a 2020 interview with Grazia.
"It’s interesting to look back at this because, in 1978, all of us were adjusting how we thought of ourselves, socially and professionally," he said. "In particular, women were discovering a new voice as professionals."
Armani added that he found himself being credited with giving those women the wardrobe to compete with their male counterparts. And as the women's power suit dominated pop culture in the 1970s and 1980s, Armani was the designer to wear or, for his competitors, emulate.
Armani's pants and unlined jacket created a discernible silhouette that put Italian ready-to-wear on the map. While the suit made Armani's fashion house famous, his dresses were also revered, as he kept the same elegance and emphasis on silhouette that made his designs so popular.
His business expanded beyond clothing to include cosmetics, perfume, home furnishings, accessories and more. Forbes estimated his net worth at $12.1 billion and ranked him No. 235 among the world's billionaires.
Armani's Forbes profile quoted him as saying he was "never satisfied."
"In fact, as someone who is forever dissatisfied and obsessive in his search for perfection, I never give up until I've achieved the results I want," he said.
Though the funeral service will be private, in accordance with Armani’s wishes, the wake at the fashion house’s dramatic Milan headquarters and showspace, the Teatro Armani, will be open to the public Saturday and Sunday.
Italy's prime minister, Giorgia Meloni, paid tribute to Armani's "elegance, sobriety, and creativity," through which "he was able to bring luster to Italian fashion and inspire the entire world."
She said on Instagram that he was "an icon, a tireless worker, a symbol of the best of Italy. Thank you for everything."
Matteo Salvini, the deputy prime minister, who is from Armani's hometown, Milan, called him "a figure of Italian excellence recognized and admired throughout the world" and "an unsurpassed master of style and creativity."
Anna Wintour, former editor-in-chief of Vogue, described Armani as having a "clear force of personality" and a vision that made his work instantly distinguishable.
"He understood power and attitude and elegance as well as anyone ever has in fashion, and he understood women too: how they wanted to dress and what message they wanted to send as they asserted themselves through his rise in the ’70s, ’80s, and beyond," Wintour said in a statement Thursday.
She also credited him for refusing to confine himself to any one field or medium.
“For him fashion wasn’t one thing: It was also film, music, sport, art, design, and architecture, and he left his mark in all these worlds—and everywhere he went,” she added.
Actor Russell Crowe said he had planned to see Armani at the end of the month in Milan, memorializing him in a series of posts on X.
He recalled that his "love affair with Armani suits" began when his luggage was lost in transit on the way to the 1997 Cannes Film Festival, and he went to an Armani store in a pinch before a premiere. Since then, Crowe said, so many of the significant moments in his life, including his wedding, were done in Armani.
"Mr. Armani has made a deep contribution, to fashion, to design, to popular culture," Crowe wrote. "His energy, vision and finesse has made a mark acknowledged around the globe. I adored him. He was so kind."
