Giorgio Armani died today at the age of 91. Tributes have poured in from the fashion world, with the fashion house announcing it would open a mourning room in Milan to the public and a private funeral. He had been struggling with health problems in recent months and in June skipped his label's Milan fashion shows for the first time in five decades.
As soon as the news broke, his eternal ambassadors spoke out. Julia Roberts shared a memory and heart on social media, and Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni called him an icon of Italian talent - proof that Giorgio Armani transcended fashion and became a cultural icon. The Armani Group announced a public mourning room in Milan over the weekend and a private funeral on Monday.
From Piacenza to the fashionable Renaissance of the suite
Giorgio Armani was born in Piacenza. He first tried medicine, but left university and got a job as a window dresser and later as a buyer at the famous Milanese department store La Rinascente. He then moved to Nino Cerruti, where he began designing menswear and established himself as a master of the soft suit. In 1975, he and his partner Sergio Galeotti founded their own label in Milan – starting with a menswear line, then quickly expanding the empire to include women’s collections, accessories, fragrances and interiors.
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His aesthetic was a manifesto of “quiet luxury”: soft shoulders, fluid lines, tones that do not compete with space but cultivate it. In the 1980s, his women's costumes offered a comfortable, elegant alternative to rigid “power” suits, while Richard Gere in the film American Gigolo wore a jacket that turned business attire into cinematic mythology. Armani inscribed all of this into the collective memory – not as a trend, but as a way of life.
The Giorgio Armani empire that remained unique
Armani was a rarity among big names: until the very end he remained the sole owner of his group, committed to independence and Milanese identity. The group generated approximately 2.3 billion euros in revenue in the recent financial year, placing it among the largest private fashion houses. But for Armani, numbers were always at the service of an idea: eternal minimalism, precision and loyalty to Italian craftsmanship.
Inheritance: carefully laid foundations
Having no children, he has been formulating a robust succession plan for years. At the heart of it are his sister Rosanna, nieces Silvana and Roberta, nephew Andrea Camerana, long-time collaborator Pantaleo (Leo) Dell'Orco, and the foundation – all six of whom are on the board of directors. The 2016 statutes detail the distribution of capital, the different shares and responsibilities, and even the process for appointing future heads of women's and men's design, ensuring that the creative direction does not stray from an "essential, modern, elegant and unpretentious style" with an obsessive attention to wearability.
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The plan also includes financial discipline: a possible stock market listing or major acquisitions are not discussed for at least five years after the designer's death - the interim period is intended to provide stability and continuity. The statutes foresee a cautious approach to mergers, and the foundation has a clear mission to protect the company's values and direct part of the future capital to charitable purposes.
Milan, “his” city
Giorgio Armani didn't just dress the world; he helped shape Milan as a global fashion hub. From boutiques to museums, from cafés to hotels, his signature was urban and cultural. It's only logical that the city would pay tribute to the creator with a "camera ardente" where his admirers could say goodbye before the family retreated to the privacy of the funeral.
What remains when the spotlight goes out?
What remains are lines that never age; a discipline that treated every stitch as a sentence; and a carefully conceived future in which the brand remains distinctive, elegant, and wearable. The new-old team – family and longtime collaborators – promises to safeguard its legacy without dramatic twists and unnecessary advertising hype. If fashion was its language, its dialect was minimalism that never apologizes.
