The fashion world lost one of its great architects of elegance today. Giorgio Armani, the Italian designer whose name became a byword for effortless style, has died at the age of 91. His passing draws a line under a career that spanned half a century, during which he reshaped not only wardrobes but the very idea of modern refinement.
From Piacenza to the world
Armani was born in 1934 in Piacenza, a quiet city in northern Italy. He did not set out to be a designer. For a time he studied medicine, but left before graduating, drawn instead to the visual world of display and clothing. A job at Milan’s department store La Rinascente brought him into fashion, first as a window dresser and later as a buyer.
By the late 1960s he was working under Nino Cerruti, learning the technical discipline of tailoring. It was here that Armani’s own vision began to take shape: clothes that were precise but never stiff, elegant but never fussy. In 1975, selling his Volkswagen Beetle to raise the funds, he launched his own label with his partner Sergio Galeotti.
A revolution in tailoring
What set Armani apart was his instinct for softness. In an era of sharp suits and rigid structures, he introduced jackets with natural shoulders and fluid lines. His tailoring seemed to move with the body rather than confine it. For men, it was liberation; for women, it was power. His suits for women became emblems of a new working identity, carrying confidence without sacrificing grace.
Hollywood helped spread his vision worldwide. When Richard Gere wore Armani in American Gigolo (1980), the sleek lines and muted colours defined an era. Later, the wardrobes of Miami Vice gave Armani’s casual-meets-formal aesthetic an international stage. He had, in effect, redrawn the map of fashion.
Building an empire
From those first collections in Milan, Armani’s universe expanded in every direction. His name moved beyond clothing to perfumes, eyewear, interiors and even hotels. Unlike many designers who traded independence for corporate backing, Armani kept control of his company, carefully shaping its growth into one of the most successful fashion empires in the world.
By the early 2000s, Armani was more than a brand. It was a lifestyle: understated, elegant, and recognisable everywhere from red carpets to the lobbies of luxury hotels.
A life of quiet discipline
Though he transformed the global image of Italian fashion, Armani remained a private man. He avoided the flamboyance of many contemporaries, preferring a disciplined routine and a quiet dedication to his work. Well into his nineties he continued to sketch, design and direct shows, rarely missing a season until this year, when health concerns kept him from Milan Fashion Week for the first time.
An enduring legacy
Giorgio Armani will be remembered not just as a designer of clothes, but as a designer of a way of life. He taught the world that elegance could be quiet, that confidence could be worn lightly, and that simplicity, when executed with precision, can be the ultimate luxury.
His funeral will be held privately in Milan this weekend.
Based on reporting by Vogue and The New York Times