Giorgio Armani died at the age of 91.
“As long as I am there, I am the boss,” said the Italian designer in 2021 in an interview with the American magazine GQ. Since 1975 he has headed the Armani group, which belongs to the brands Giorgio Armani, Emporio Armani and A/X Armani Exchange. The name Armani is primarily known for having shaped the 1980s with elegant, flowing and comfortable silhouettes. He has continuously influenced fashion and future generations of designers.
The beginnings of Giorgio Armani
Giorgio Armani was 41 years old when he founded his company. In his youth, the designer studied medicine before turning to fashion. At the age of 18, he gained his first experience in the fashion industry in merchandising and purchasing the Milan department store La Rinascent.
At Nino Cerruti, on the side of the designer himself, the young Giorgio learned the craft of men’s fashion and the art of tailoring. He worked as a freelance designer for several years and cooperated with various fashion brands before getting to know Sergio Galeotti in the late 1960s. This became his business partner and encouraged him to found his own company. The two men sold ARMANIS Auto, an old VW Beetle, and founded the Giorgio Armani Spa in 1975.
The establishment of an empire
Devotion, discipline and precision are the words that Giorgio Armani’s vision of work best describes. The fashion designer worked tirelessly to build a group on the establishment of an empire.
After the introduction of his brand of the same name in 1975, he presented Emporio Armani in 1986, a younger, more modern and more accessible version of the Armani wardrobe. In 1991, A/X Armani Exchange and less than ten years later, in 2005, Armani Privé, followed Armani’s Haute-Couture collection. The designer wanted to quickly go beyond the narrow clothing sector and extend his offer to a more comprehensive lifestyle.
In 1982 he developed his first fragrances and a home collection in 2000. He opened upscale restaurants, cafes and bars worldwide. In 2010 he launched his first hotel in Dubai and a year later another in Milan. In 2001, in cooperation with the Japanese architect Tadao Ando, he created his own ‘Teatro’, which became the presentation location of his collections. In 2015 he again commissioned the artist to design his own museum, Armani/Silos.
At the end of August 2025, Giorgio Armani acquired one of the oldest still active beach clubs in the world: the legendary ‘Capannina di Franceschi’ in Forte dei Marmi, Italy.
A unique style
In an interview with the US magazine Numéro, the Italian designer trusted: “It was Cerruti himself-whom I owe a lot of long-term-who asked me for new solutions to make a suit less stiff, comfortable, less industrial and more sophisticated. By deconstructing the suit, I raised him to live on the body and used unconventional fabrics.”
The men’s fashion of the 1980s did not meet Giorgio Armanis. Since he did not find a product that met his expectations, he decided to create it himself. He freed himself from the heavy, stiff suits with the massive shoulders that pushed the silhouette. Instead, he designed a two -part suit that was fluid, comfortable and elegant and became his trademark.
The designer also developed a suit line for women who combined powerful and minimalist lines. At the same time, Giorgio Armani began working on film costumes-he designed over 200-for ‘American Gigolo’ in 1980, which marked his Hollywood debut. His creations were then worn by the greatest stars and film sizes.
A fashion designer with humanitarian commitment
As a person with great empathy, Giorgio Armani was often involved in the needy. The designer supported Afghan refugees during the crisis at the beginning of the 2000s. For his contribution, he was appointed goodwill ambassador by the High Refugee Commissioner of the United Nations (UNHCR).
Ten years earlier he had campaigned for AIDS victims and supported the Anniaids, an Italian organization to combat the disease. In 2022, the Armani group donated 500,000 euros to the UNHCR to support Ukrainian refugees who were forced to leave their country.
Giorgio Armani contributed to the prosperity of his country
Armani quickly established himself as one of the most popular Italian designers and came to the fore Italian fashion. The Italian government paid tribute to Arman’s contribution to fashion and the national economy and in 1986 gave him the title of the grand officer. As the proud Italian, the designer designed the outfit of the Italian Olympic team and the Paralympics team from 2012. Giorgio Armani also participated in the restoration of cultural sodies and large cultural projects to promote the reputation of Italy. In 1984 he took part in the restoration of the San Fruttuoso Abbey in Camogli, followed by many other projects.
Against the rapid fashion system
In an open letter to the US media, the designer explained: “The decline of the fashion system, as we know it, began when the luxury sector took over the way of working from fast fashion and imitated its endless delivery cycle, in the hope of selling more, but forgot that luxury took time.” Giorgio Armani opposed the rapid pace of fashion, the shifted seasons and overproduction. He advocated ‘less’, timeless pieces that resist the transparent trends.
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