Fashion Royalty Giorgio Armani Dies Aged 91
Giorgio Armani died yesterday, 4 September 2025, in Milan at 91, his company confirmed in a statement that thanked the founder for working “until his final days.” He reshaped modern dressing with relaxed, unstructured suits and a calm palette that made minimalism feel confident rather than cold. Public tributes rolled in within hours. “The world lost a giant today,” wrote Donatella Versace. Italy’s prime minister, Giorgia Meloni, called him “a symbol of the best of Italy.”
Armani acknowledged relationships with men and women and shared his life with two long-term male partners. He co-founded his label with architect Sergio Galeotti, his partner in love and business until Galeotti’s death in 1985.
In later years, he described Leo (Pantaleo) Dell’Orco, head of menswear at the house, as the person closest to him; Italian daily Corriere della Sera reported Dell’Orco as his partner of the past two decades.
Remembering fashion designer Giorgio Armani.
— The Andy Warhol Museum (@TheWarholMuseum) September 4, 2025
Andy Warhol, “Giorgio Armani”, 1981, © The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts, Inc. pic.twitter.com/JgGs84Wex9
The suit that changed how we dress.
Armani launched his first menswear collection in 1975. His softened jackets, stripped out padding, and let the fabric move with the body. That quiet ease, often in muted tones, became a global shorthand for modern elegance and helped redefine power dressing without the armour. Richard Gere’s sleek looks in American Gigolo (1980) put Armani’s fluid suiting on the big screen.
“A notable feature of this relaxed look was that men started wearing their suit jacket sleeves rolled back to the elbow. Prime examples of this trend can be seen in Phil Collins’ video for You Can’t Hurry Love and in episodes of Miami Vice where Don Johnsons’ light pastel and white suits, always worn with a with a T shirt and designer stubble, epitomised the decadent flavour of 1980s dressing,” wrote Catherine Haywood and Bill Dunn in Man About Town: The Changing Image Of The Modern Male.
His clothes made sense on camera and even more sense on the red carpet, and a who’s who wore him to awards season ever after. Diane Keaton, Julia Roberts, Cate Blanchett, and more helped cement a new kind of evening polish that was modern, quiet, and expensive-looking.
Decades later, his red-carpet presence remained routine. Zendaya wore a custom Armani Privé at the 2024 Oscars.
Farewell to Giorgio Armani. His work styling Richard Gere for Paul Schrader's American Gigolo (1980) was a watershed moment for modern everyday tailoring; a real shift into the modern world, and that's before everything else he did to revolutionise dressing for men. pic.twitter.com/X2VA5PwQPK
— Adam Scovell (@AdamScovell) September 4, 2025
He dressed the stage, too.
Armani created performance looks for Lady Gaga, including pieces for tours and major appearances, extending his sharp eye from premieres to stadiums. The through-line was always clarity of line and movement.
Independence, by design.
He kept the company private and under his control, resisting luxury-group courtship for decades. The business expanded into Armani Privé couture, Emporio Armani, beauty, home, and hospitality, including Armani Hotel Dubai and a sister property in Milan. He also owned Olimpia Milano, the storied basketball team.
Giorgio Armani invented the Hollywood power player — from ‘American Gigolo’ to ‘Goodfellas’ to the Oscars red carpet https://t.co/varqCoYZx4 pic.twitter.com/5mpT93K1iF
— New York Post (@nypost) September 4, 2025
Health scares, then one last message on harmony.
Armani missed the June 2025 Milan shows on doctors’ advice, the first such absence in his long career. In July, he directed Armani Privé remotely from Milan. Earlier in the year he framed his autumn presentation around “imagining new harmony” amid global tension, showing that his eye for restraint came with a worldview.
A stance on model health, years before the industry shifted.
As runways debated size-zero casting in the mid-2000s, Armani publicly backed using healthy models and supported tighter guidelines in Milan. It matched his preference for clothes made to be lived in, not suffered through.
He was one of the Emperors of Italian fashion. Goodbye to Giorgio Armani, You will not be forgotten 🕊️#GiorgioArmani#AnneHathaway pic.twitter.com/soiIisGjiB
— Anne Hathaway (@AnneeJHathaway) September 4, 2025
Complications and criticisms.
He faced criticism in 2015 after saying in a Sunday Times Magazine interview that “a homosexual man is a man 100%,” and “does not need to dress homosexual.” The company also settled a tax dispute with Italian authorities in 2014 without admitting wrongdoing. Both moments sit alongside a long record of awards and philanthropy, including recognition by France’s Légion d’honneur and service as a UN refugee goodwill ambassador.
julia roberts in giorgio armani, winning her first golden globe for best actress in 1990 pic.twitter.com/zLvP7Bs3N1
— Julia Roberts Fans (@robertsposts) September 4, 2025
Armani taught generations that understatement can still be sexy. His team says they will carry the house forward in his spirit. The tributes from peers, politicians and film stars suggest that legacy is already secure.
Julia Roberts remembered “a true friend. A legend.” Russell Crowe called him a man who “made a mark acknowledged around the globe.” Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc, an Armani ambassador, wrote that it was “a great honour” to have worked with him.
