MILAN — Giorgio Armani was the king of Italian fashion, a designer loved by Hollywood stars. And yet, his final resting place was far from all the glitz and glamor — in his family tomb in the provincial town where he was born. His funeral Monday was a small ceremony in the presence of only his closest family and friends.
For those who knew him, the end of Armani's life illustrated the cipher that he was, private and true to his roots and his humble beginnings.
“He had a very hard start,” his biographer, Renata Molho, said outside Armani’s funeral chamber. “He turned all of this into a sort of humanity — to look at people trying to understand them.”
Born in Piacenza, in northern Italy, in 1934, Giorgio Armani lived through World War II, the Nazi occupation of Italy and the post-war years when much of the country was in rubble.
“His father was in prison for political reasons,” Molho said, referring to Ugo Armani’s work as a clerk for the local fascist party. While not poor, the family was not wealthy, and after Ugo was released from prison they moved to Milan.
“He had a big, awful accident while playing with a bomb when he was a child. And his brother, Sergio, died when he was young,” Molho added.
Armani became close to Sergio’s daughters, Silvana and Roberta, and brought his nieces into his company.
“He was warm, careful. When he was talking to you — even for a short moment — he was with you. When he was asking ‘How are you?’ he was listening to the answer” Molho said.
The Armani name, a byword for glamor and luxury, for the rich and powerful, still resonates with ordinary people in this part of Italy.
Local officials estimate that 16,000 people lined up over the weekend to pay their last respects. As per the designer’s instructions, his coffin was laid in the Armani Theater in Milan — the stage of his runway shows.
Many of those who stood in line for hours appeared to have a personal connection to Armani, having been employed by his empire, which over the years branched out from fashion to makeup and perfume, hotels and restaurants.
Some wept openly as they waited. The murmurs of the people in the line died down the moment they stepped into the dark auditorium, lit only by 300 candles on the floor and Armani’s picture projected on the wall. The music of Italian composer Luigi Einaudi played in the background.
Most walked over and touched the closed casket. One man genuflected. All the while Armani’s long-time partner, Leo Dell’Orco, and family sat or stood around wiping tears, talking and welcoming those who they knew.
A number of people walked over to embrace family members standing nearby.
“He was a second father. He was a second family,” said Fabio Mancini, the Italian supermodel who for 20 years was one of the most recognizable faces, and bodies, of the Armani brand.
Armani hired Mancini when the future model was just 18 after spotting him walking by a photoshoot near the Armani boutique in central Milan.
“It was life changing,” Mancini said.
He recalled how nervous he was before his first runway and how Armani took him under his wing.
“I was backstage, I was looking around and my question was ‘What am I doing here?’” he said.
Mancini said Armani looked at him and smiled a little as he said: “‘Remember, now you represent Italy.’’
He said that, by his example, Armani helped shape the person he’s become.
“Twenty years later, in my last fashion show, he did the same,” Mancini added. “He was looking at me, smiling, and he told me, ‘Do you remember the first time? Now you’re a man.’”
Armani leaves a legacy that goes beyond the circle of those who knew him or worked for him.
In the late 1970s and ‘80s, he revolutionised fashion by giving men light, more comfortable jackets and women the power suit.
“He had very good instincts for social change,” Molho said. “He understood that women were making very important careers, and they needed to be feminine, but to have authority.”
Armani started his company with a small investment in 1975 and was able to turn it into a multibillion-dollar business. Today it is one of the few major fashion houses that is still privately owned.
The designer was planning a big party at the end of September to celebrate the 50th anniversary of his brand. He reviewed and approved the collection to be showcased at that party just a few days before his death Thursday at 91.
His will is set to be unsealed after his funeral and will likely hold the answer as to what will happen to the Armani brand.
But Molho said Armani’s death is a turning point for the whole fashion world: “Fashion will miss a piece. It’s like a big puzzle, and we’ll miss the biggest part, the biggest piece.”
