Giorgio Armani, who dressed the powerful and famous from boardroom to Hollywood, dies at 91

Fashion Journalist Jeanne Beker reflects on the career of the ‘world-class designer’ Giorgio Armani after his death.

MILAN — Giorgio Armani, the iconic Italian designer who turned the concept of understated elegance into a multibillion-dollar fashion empire, died Thursday, his fashion house confirmed. He was 91.

Armani died at home, “peacefully, surrounded by his loved ones,” the fashion house said. “Indefatigable to the end, he worked until his final days, dedicating himself to the company, the collections and the many ongoing and future projects,” the fashion house said in a statement.

• In Pictures: Giorgio Armani’s most iconic fashion designs on runways and red carpets

Armani, one of the most recognizable names and faces in the global fashion industry, missed Milan Fashion Week in June 2025 for the first time during the previews of Spring-Summer 2026 menswear to recover from an undisclosed condition.

He was planning a major event to celebrate 50 years of his signature Giorgio Armani fashion house during Milan Fashion Week this month.

A public viewing will be held in the Armani Theater where he unveiled his ready-to-wear collections on Saturday and Sunday. The funeral will be held privately, and no details were released.

Condolences and remembrances poured in from political leaders and other Milan fashion designers.

“The world lost a giant today. He made history and will be remembered forever,’’ said Donatella Versace, whose late brother Gianni Versace was a stylistic rival of Armani in the 1990s.

Julia Roberts, who memorably wore an oversized Armani suit to the 1990 Golden Globes, posted a photo of the pair together with the text: “A true friend. A Legend,” followed by a broken heart emoji.

Italian Premier Giorgia Meloni, who often dressed in Armani’s business attire, remembered the designer for his ”elegance, sobriety and creativity," and said he was “a symbol of the best Italy.”

Starting with an unlined jacket, a simple pair of pants and an urban palette, Armani put Italian ready-to-wear style on the international fashion map in the late 1970s, creating an instantly recognizable relaxed silhouette that has propelled the fashion house for half a century.

From the executive office to the Hollywood screen, Armani dressed the rich and famous in classic tailored styles, fashioned in super-soft fabrics and muted tones. His handsome black tie outfits and glittering evening gowns often stole the show on award season red carpets.

At the time of his death, Armani had put together an empire worth over $10 billion, which along with clothing included accessories, home furnishings, perfumes, cosmetics, books, flowers and even chocolates, ranking him in the world’s top 200 billionaires, according to Forbes.

The designer also owned several bars, clubs, restaurants and his own basketball team, EA7 Emporio Armani Milan, better known as Olympia Milano. Armani opened more than than 20 restaurants from Milan to Tokyo since 1998, and two hotels, one in Dubai in 2009 and another in Milan, in 2010.

Armani himself was the foundation of his style

Armani style began with Giorgio Armani himself, from the penetrating blue eyes framed in a permanent tan and early-age shock of silver hair, to the trademark dark trousers and T-shirt work clothes and the minimalist decoration of his private homes.

Armani’s fashion vision was that of easygoing elegance where attention to detail made the difference.

“I design for real people. There is no virtue whatsoever in creating clothes and accessories that are not practical,” he liked to say when asked to identify his clientele.

In conversation, the designer’s disarming smile and exquisitely mild manners belied the tough businessman underneath, who was able to turn creative talent into a fashion empire worth over $10 billion. Never a merger nor a sale, Re Giorgio (King George) as the Italians call him, was always his own boss.

Born July 11, 1934, in Piacenza, a small town south of Milan, Armani dreamed of becoming a doctor before a part-time job as a window decorator in a Milan department store opened his eyes to the world of fashion.

In 1975, Armani and his partner Sergio Galeotti sold their Volkswagen for $10,000 to start up their own menswear ready-to-wear label. Womenswear followed a year later.

The symbol of his new style was the liningless sports jacket, which was launched in the late 1970s and became an instant success from Hollywood to Wall Street. The designer paired the jacket with a simple t-shirt, an item of clothing he termed “the alpha and omega of the fashion alphabet.”

The Armani suit soon became a must in the closet of the well-heeled man. And for women, the introduction of the pantsuit in the executive workroom was all but revolutionary. Dubbed the “power suit” with its shoulder-padded jacket and man-tailored trousers, it became the trademark of the rising class of businesswomen in the 1980s.

Over the years Armani would soften the look with delicate detailing, luxurious fabrics and brighter shades for his basic beige and gray palette. His insistence on pants and jackets led some critics to label his fashion “androgynous.”

Armani hits Hollywood

The 1980 film classic “American Gigolo” launched both Armani and actor Richard Gere on their Hollywood careers. Dressed in Armani, Gere became America’s new favorite heartthrob, and “Geeorgeeo” as they called him, the glam set’s most popular designer.

The Hollywood connection earned him wardrobe film credits in over 200 films, and in 2003 a place on Rodeo Drive’s “Walk of Style.”

Oscar night always sparkled, with smart suiting for the men and glittering gowns for the ladies. The 2009 best actor winner Sean Penn picked up his statue in a black-on-black Armani outfit, while best actress nominee Anne Hathaway walked the red carpet in a shimmering white strapless evening gown from Armani’s latest Prive couture collection.

Other longtime devotees included Jodie Foster, George Clooney, Sophia Loren and Brad Pitt. David and Victoria Beckham were the “face” of his 2009 underwear ad campaign.

So significant was the impact of Armani style, not only on how people dressed but how they approached fashion, that in 2000 New York’s Guggenheim museum presented a retrospective of Armani’s first 25 years in fashion.

Marking the Giorgio Armani fashion house’s 40th anniversary, he opened his own museum in Milan, called Armani Silos, located opposite his Armani Theater. For its 50th, he launched Archivio Armani, a digital archive last month.

“I love things that age well, things that don’t date and become living examples of the absolute best,” Armani said of his efforts.

Armani has gone well beyond fashion

Armani, who maintained a firm grip on his empire and collections until the end, had been reluctant to discuss succession, but had announced a foundation as a succession tool to avoid his businesses being split up. A rarity in the Italian fashion world, he never sold even a part of his company to an outsider.

He also indicated the creative succession would go to long-time collaborator Leo Dell’Orco and his niece Silvana Armani, who have headed the menswear and womenswear collections, respectively, for all Armani collections: Giorgio Armani, Emporio Armani and Armani Exchange.

Today, the Armani empire has an army of more than 9,000 employees, who considered themselves part of a family, with women comprising half of the executive suite, along with seven industrial hubs and over 600 stores worldwide, according to figures released in 2023. Along with clothes and accessories, the company produces perfumes, cosmetics and home furnishings, as well as selling its own candy, flowers and even books.

The designer opened his fifth multi-brand store on New York’s fashionable Fifth Avenue in February 2009.

His most recent purchase was of the historic La Capannina restaurant on the Italian Riviera in Forte dei Marmi, where he used to spend holidays with Galeotti.

In the realm of fashion hobbies, Armani owned several bars, restaurants and clubs, as well as the basketball team. Recreation time was spent in getaways in Broni in the countryside near Milan, the isle of Pantelleria off Sicily and St. Tropez on the French Riviera. Each home bore the trademark of Armani design: bare walls, important pieces, few knickknacks.

Like many of his colleagues, Armani tried to give back some of the fame and fortune he amassed during the heyday of the “moda Milanese” which put Italian ready-to-wear at the center of the world’s fashion map at the turn of the millennium. Personally involved in several charity organizations devoted to children and a staunch supporter of the battle against AIDS, in 2002 Armani was named a U.N. goodwill ambassador for refugees.

Galeotti died in 1985. Armani had no children but was very close to his niece Roberta. She abandoned a budding film career to become his director of public relations, and often represented her uncle, who wasn’t much of a partygoer, at social events. More recently, she has been was a key go-between with the celebrity world as head of VIP relations.

In 2006, she orchestrated the top-billed wedding of actors Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes in a medieval castle outside Rome, while Uncle Giorgio designed the attire for both bride and groom.

Armani is survived by his sister Rosanna, a former fashion model, and her son Andrea Camerana; and nieces Silvana and Roberta, the daughters of his late brother Sergio.

Daniela Petroff, who covered Milan fashion for the Associated Press for more than three decades, retired in 2017.