Giorgio Armani dies at 91, designer who redefined modern elegance

New Delhi: Giorgio Armani, the visionary Italian designer who reshaped modern dressing and built one of the world’s most influential fashion empires, died on Thursday at the age of 91, the Armani Group announced. 

The company said he passed away peacefully, “indefatigable to the end,” and working on collections and future projects until his final days. A funeral chamber will be open to the public in Milan at Armani/Teatro on September 6 and 7; the funeral will be private in accordance with his wishes. 

Armani’s house confirmed that the founder was “Il Signor Armani” to generations of employees and collaborators, an honorific that captured both affection and respect, and pledged to carry the group forward in line with his values of independence and restraint. 

“We have always felt like part of a family,” the statement read, adding that his family and employees would protect and advance what he built “with respect, responsibility and love.” 

A designer who rewrote the silhouette

Born in Piacenza in 1934, Giorgio Armani began in menswear and made global waves with a new, relaxed idea of elegance: unstructured jackets, neutral palettes, and a cool, minimalist line that traveled easily from office to evening. 

His clean “power suit” became a 1980s cultural touchstone and his on-screen breakthrough, wardrobing Richard Gere in American Gigolo, helped cement the modern conversation between fashion and film, followed by credits on scores of movies and a sustained presence on the red carpet.

He co-founded Giorgio Armani S.p.A. in 1975, then broadened the brand into a complete universe of lines and experiences: Giorgio Armani, Emporio Armani, Armani Exchange, haute couture at Armani Privé, home and interiors through Armani/Casa, and hospitality ventures that brought the house’s aesthetic into hotels, restaurants and cultural spaces such as Armani/Silos in Milan. 

Independence as strategy

Armani was resolutely independent. He neither sold the company nor merged it into a luxury conglomerate, a rarity at his scale. To underpin that philosophy, he created the Giorgio Armani Foundation in 2016, designed to guide the group’s future management and safeguard the principles that defined the brand. The foundation is expected to play a key role in long-term governance alongside long-standing lieutenants and family members. 

The company’s statement underscores that continuity: “Giorgio Armani is a company with fifty years of history, built with emotion and patience… His family and employees will carry the Group forward in respect and continuity of these values.” 

Beyond fashion: philanthropy and Milan

Armani’s connection to Milan ran deep. He was a stalwart supporter of the city’s institutions and a visible patron during crises. During the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Armani Group donated funds to Italian hospitals and civil protection, and retooled production lines to make protective supplies—an extension of the designer’s belief that elegance and responsibility belong together. 

An empire with a human scale

Few designers bridged luxury and daily life the way Armani did. He was as present in the precision of a couture shoulder as in the practicality of a travel suit; as at ease shaping a perfume classic as crafting a serene hotel lobby. The signature remained constant: pared-back lines, disciplined colour, comfort without compromise. That coherence turned a Milan atelier into a global business and a discreet personal brand into a cultural shorthand.