Italian fashion designer Giorgio Armani dies aged 91

The designer is credited over his decades of practice with curating a quintessentially Italian aesthetic in his clothes, as well as taking Hollywood’s red carpets to new heights.

“Il Signor Armani, as he was always respectfully and admiringly called by employees and collaborators, passed away peacefully, surrounded by his loved ones,” the Armani Group said in a statement, describing the founder as “a tireless driving force.”In this company, we have always felt like part of a family,” read a statement provided by the brand on behalf of his family and employees. “Today, with deep emotion, we feel the void left by the one who founded and nurtured this family with vision, passion, and dedication. But it is precisely in his spirit that we, the employees and the family members who have always worked alongside Mr. Armani, commit to protecting what he built and to carrying his company forward in his memory, with respect, responsibility, and love.”

In June 2025, Armani was not present to take his usual bow at the brand’s show during Milan’s Men’s Fashion Week, marking the first time in his career he had missed his own runway event. At the time, the company released a statement that he was “currently recovering at home” without specifying his health condition.

In the current luxury landscape, which is dominated by conglomerates such as Louis Vuitton owner LVMH and Gucci parent company Kering, Armani was one of the few designers to remain the sole shareholder of his company. As of yet, there is no obvious heir to the Armani business, which in 2024 was valued by analysts at Bloomberg Intelligence between 8 to 10 billion euros ($9.3 billion to $11.7 billion).A string of celebrations for Armani’s 50th year in business have been planned to take place during Milan Fashion Week this month, including the unveiling of an exhibition at the Pinacoteca di Brera — the first at the museum to be dedicated to fashion — and a runway show at Palazzo Brera.In August, Armani was featured in a cover story by the Financial Times’ supplement HTSI, where he discussed his continued dedication to the fashion industry, and his company, where he still oversees all creative direction. “I don’t know if I’d use the word workaholic, but hard work is certainly essential to success,” he said. “My only regret in life was spending too many hours working and not enough time with friends and family.”Born in 1934, in the northern Italian town of Piacenza, Armani didn’t show a professional interest in fashion until 1957, after studying medicine and then a stint in the military, he got a job as a window dresser at the historic La Rinascente department store in Milan — a move that would begin his lifelong association with Italy’s fashion capital.

In 1964, designer Nino Cerruti took a chance on Armani, who was by then a buyer at La Rinascente, by giving him a job designing menswear. It was here that he first learned about unstructured jackets — suit jackets with the traditional lining and stiff padding removed to accentuate the wearer’s body — which he would later perfect and become famous for.While working for Cerruti, Armani met Sergio Galeotti, an architect who would become his life and business partner. Galeotti persuaded Armani to set up his own business, and the two later founded the brand Giorgio Armani in 1975.

Their first menswear collection found success in the US: It was stocked at Barney’s New York in 1976, and the department store even produced a TV commercial introducing Armani to American shoppers (Barneys shut down in February 2020 after filing for bankruptcy).

 It was soon followed by a womenswear collection, which saw the brand debuting an androgynous look. (“I was the first to soften the image of men, and harden the image of women,” Armani later said.)