Editor’s Note: The fashion world mourns the passing of Giorgio Armani, the Italian designer who revolutionized menswear, conquered the red carpet, and retained his independence until the end. Known as Il Signor Armani to his staff, he worked indefatigably and never waived from his vision.
Giorgio Armani was a fashion giant who first made his mark in menswear. His signature soft approach to tailoring reshaped not only the masculine suit but also male stereotypes. See Richard Gere at his most drop-dead gorgeous in 1980’s American Gigolo for proof. When it comes to womenswear, Armani focused on sartorialism rather than flou, bringing some of the swagger traditionally associated with haberdashery into a new realm.
Having studied to be a doctor at one point, Armani understood the body and how it moves; he designed clothes that allow free and fluid movement. He also has a sense of occasion, and his genius was to bring a certain easy confidence to red-carpet dressing. His Italian sprezzatura translated effortlessly into Hollywood. Armani is black-tie for winners, as evidenced by stars from Jodie Foster to Cate Blanchett to Renée Zellweger, all of whom wore his designs to pick up their Oscar statuettes.
At 70 years of age and 30 years into his career, Armani got into the couture game, launching Armani Privé in 2005. Recently in Paris he showed his 40th Privé collection, marking the brand’s 20th year. “If I’ve come this far,” he said then, “it’s thanks to the iron focus and obsessive attention with which I manage everything.”
The designer with Richard Gere, 1988
Photo: WWD/Getty Images
With Cate Blanchett at the British Fashion Awards, 2019
Photo: Tim Whitby/BFC/Getty Images
Armani Privé, fall 2024 couture
Photo: Acielle/Style Du Monde
Giorgio Armani, spring 2007 ready-to-wear
Photo: Filippo Monteforte/Getty Images
Beyoncé attends the spring 2007 Giorgio Armani show
Photo: Tom Stoddart/Getty Images
Met Gala honorary chair Giorgio Armani with cochairs George Clooney and Julia Roberts, 2008
Photo: Stephen Lovekin/Getty Images
Linda Evangelista for Giorgio Armani, spring 1991 ready-to-wear
Photo: WWD/Getty Images
Grace Jones photographed by Jean-Michel Goude in Giorgio Armani, 1981
Photo: John Kisch Archive/Getty Images
Viola Davis, winner of the Oscar for best actress in a supporting role, in Armani, 2017
Photo: Frederic J. Brown/Getty Images
Giorgio Armani, fall 2023 menswear
Photo: Daniele Oberrauch/Gorunway.com
Giorgio Armani, spring 1955 ready-to-wear
Photo: Fairchild Archive/Getty Images
With Ashley Judd at Cinema Against AIDS in Aid of AmFAR, 2004
Photo: Evan Agostini/Getty Images
Emporio Armani, spring 1992 ready-to-wear
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Giorgio Armani with Sophia Loren backstage at his spring 1994 ready-to-wear show
Photo: Vittoriano Rastelli/Getty Images
Backstage at Giorgio Armani’s spring 2023 ready-to-wear show
Giorgio Armani, fall 2017 ready-to-wear
Photo: Corey Tenold
Giorgio Armani, fall 2018 ready-to-wear
Photo: Corey Tenold
Giorgio Armani with Silvana (left) and Roberta Armani at the opening of the designer’s exhibition at the Guggenheim Museum in New York, 2000
Photo: Kevin Mazur/Getty Images
Armani Privé, spring 2023 couture
Photo: Acielle/Style Du Monde
Anne Hathaway attending an Armani Privé show
Photo: Francois Durand/Getty Images
Giorgio Armani, resort 2018
Photo: Courtesy of Giorgio Armani
Giorgio Armani, spring 2008 menswear
Photo: FILIPPO MONTEFORTE/Getty Images
Cate Blanchett arriving at Giorgio Armani’s spring 2023 show
Photo: Andreas Rentz/Getty Images
Backstage at Armani Privé fall 2025 couture
Photo: Acielle/Style Du Monde
Armani Privé, fall 2025 couture
Photo: Alessandro Viero/Gorunway.com
Giorgio Armani, fall 2019 ready-to-wear
Photo: Corey Tenold
Armani Privé, spring 2017 couture
Photo: Sonny Vandevelde/Indigitalimages.com
Winona Ryder in Armani at the 2000 Academy Awards
Photo: Michael Crabtree - PA Images/Getty Images
Benicio del Toro, winner of the best-supporting-actor Oscar, in Armani, 2001
Photo: AMPAS/Getty Images
Armani dressed the Liverpool team for the 1996 FA Cup
Photo: Mirrorpix/Getty Images
Emporio Armani, spring 2005 ready-to-wear
Photo: Pierre Verdy/Getty Images
Giorgio Armani, spring 2015 ready-to-wear
Photo: Kevin Tachman
Armani at the Guggenheim Bilbao, 2001
Photo: Christophe Simon/Getty Images
Beyoncé performs in Armani Privé, 2008
Photo: Vince Bucci/Getty Images
Giorgio Armani, spring 2019 ready-to-wear
Photo: Corey Tenold
The designer with models, 1990
Photo: Mondadori Portfolio/Getty Images
The designer with Martin Scorsese at Cannes, 2002
Photo: Pool Benainous/Duclos/Getty Images
Giorgio Armani, spring 2015 ready-to-wear
Photo: Kevin Tachman
The Giorgio Armani retrospective exhibition in Rome, 2004
Photo: Eric Vandeville/Getty Images
Giorgio Armani, fall 2019 ready-to-wear
Photo: Corey Tenold
Lady Helen Windsor, Rosamund Pike, Cate Blanchett, Roberta Armani, and Katie Holmes in the front row at the spring 2007 Armani Privé couture show
Photo: Michel Dufour/WireImage
Giorgio Armani at the close of his spring 2024 menswear show
Photo: Daniele Oberrauch/Gorunway.com
Editor
Laid Borrelli-PerssonCredit
Lead image: Mondadori Portfolio/Getty Images
