Giorgio Armani, el icónico diseñador italiano que transformó el concepto de elegancia discreta en un imperio de la moda multimillonario, falleció, confirmó su casa de moda. Tenía 91 años.

Armani falleció en su domicilio, según informó la casa de moda. Armani, uno de los nombres y rostros más reconocidos de la industria de la moda mundial, se perdió la Semana de la Moda de Milán en junio de 2025 por primera vez durante los adelantos de la colección masculina Primavera-Verano 2026 para recuperarse de una afección no revelada.

Estaba planeando un gran evento para celebrar los 50 años de su emblemática casa de moda Giorgio Armani durante la Semana de la Moda de Milán este mes.

Armani, que mantuvo un control firme sobre su imperio y sus colecciones hasta el final, se había mostrado reacio a hablar de sucesión, pero había anunciado una fundación como herramienta de sucesión para evitar que sus negocios se dividieran.

También indicó la sucesión creativa de Leo Dell’Orco y su sobrina Silvana Armani, quienes han dirigido las colecciones de ropa masculina y femenina, respectivamente, para todas las colecciones de Armani: Giorgio Armani, Emporio Armani y Armani Exchange.

A partir de una chaqueta sin forro, un par de pantalones sencillos y una paleta urbana, Armani puso el estilo italiano prêt-à-porter en el mapa de la moda internacional a fines de la década de 1970, creando una silueta relajada e inmediatamente reconocible que ha impulsado a la casa de moda durante medio siglo.

Desde la oficina ejecutiva hasta la gran pantalla de Hollywood, Armani vistió a los ricos y famosos con estilos clásicos de sastrería, confeccionados en telas ultrasuaves y tonos suaves. Sus elegantes trajes de etiqueta y sus brillantes vestidos de noche a menudo acaparaban la atención en las alfombras rojas de la temporada de premios.

El diseñador también era propietario de varios bares, clubes, restaurantes y de su propio equipo de baloncesto, el EA7 Emporio Armani Milán, más conocido como Olympia Milán. Armani abrió más de 20 restaurantes desde Milán hasta Tokio desde 1998, y dos hoteles: uno en Dubái en 2009 y otro en Milán en 2010.

Armani style began with Giorgio Armani himself, from the penetrating blue eyes framed in a permanent tan and early-age shock of silver hair, to the trademark jeans and t-shirt work clothes and the minimalist decoration of his private homes.

Armani’s fashion vision was that of easygoing elegance where attention to detail made the difference.

“I design for real people. There is no virtue whatsoever in creating clothes and accessories that are not practical,” he liked to say when asked to identify his clientele.

In conversation, the designer’s disarming smile and exquisitely mild manners belied the tough businessman underneath, who was able to turn creative talent into a fashion empire worth over $10 billion. Never a merger nor a sale, Re Giorgio (King George) as the Italians call him, was always his own boss.

Born July 11, 1934, in Piacenza, a small town south of Milan, Armani dreamed of becoming a doctor before a part-time job as a window decorator in a Milan department store opened his eyes to the world of fashion.

In 1975, Armani and his partner Sergio Galeotti sold their Volkswagen for $10,000 to start up their own menswear ready-to-wear label. Womenswear followed a year later.

The symbol of his new style was the liningless sports jacket, which was launched in the late 1970s and became an instant success from Hollywood to Wall Street. The designer paired the jacket with a simple t-shirt, an item of clothing he termed “the alpha and omega of the fashion alphabet.”

The Armani suit soon became a must in the closet of the well-heeled man. And for women, the introduction of the pantsuit in the executive workroom was all but revolutionary. Dubbed the “power suit” with its shoulder-padded jacket and man-tailored trousers, it became the trademark of the rising class of businesswomen in the 1980s.

Over the years Armani would soften the look with delicate detailing, luxurious fabrics and brighter shades for his basic beige and gray palette. His insistence on pants and jackets led some critics to label his fashion “androgynous.”

Armani hits Hollywood

The 1980 film classic “American Gigolo” launched both Armani and actor Richard Gere on their Hollywood careers. Dressed in Armani, Gere became America’s new favorite heart throb, and “Geeorgeeo” as they called him, the glam set’s most popular designer.

The Hollywood connection earned him wardrobe film credits in over 200 films, and in 2003 a place on Rodeo Drive’s “Walk of Fame.”

Oscar night always sparkled, with smart suiting for the men, and glittering gowns for the ladies. The 2009 best actor winner Sean Penn picked up his statue in a black-on-black Armani outfit, while best actress nominee Anne Hathaway walked the red carpet in a shimmering white strapless evening gown from Armani’s latest Prive couture collection.

Other longtime devotees included Jodie Foster, George Clooney, Sofia Loren and Brad Pitt. David and Victoria Beckham were the “face” of his 2009 underwear ad campaign.

So significant was the impact of Armani style, not only on how people dressed but how they approached fashion, that in 2000 New York’s Guggenheim museum presented a retrospective of Armani’s first 25 years in fashion.

“I love things that age well, things that don’t date and become living examples of the absolute best,” Armani said of his efforts.

Armani has gone well beyond fashion

Today, the Armani empire has an army of more than 9,000 employees, with women comprising half of the executive suite, along with seven industrial hubs and over 600 stores worldwide, according to figures released in 2023. Along with clothes and accessories, the company produces perfumes, cosmetics and home furnishings, as well as selling its own candy, flowers and even books. The designer opened his fifth multi-brand store on New York’s fashionable Fifth Avenue in February 2009.

In the realm of fashion hobbies, Armani owned several bars, restaurants and clubs, as well as the basketball team. Recreation time was spent in getaways in Broni in the countryside near Milan, the isle of Pantelleria off Sicily and St. Tropez on the French Riviera. Each home bore the trademark of Armani design: bare walls, important pieces, few knickknacks.

Like many of his colleagues, Armani tried to give back some of the fame and fortune he amassed during the heyday of the “moda Milanese” which put Italian ready-to-wear at the center of the world’s fashion map at the turn of the millennium. Personally involved in several charity organizations devoted to children and a staunch supporter of the battle against AIDS, in 2002 Armani was named a U.N. goodwill ambassador for refugees.

Galeotti died in 1985. Armani had no children but was very close to his niece Roberta, daughter of his late brother Sergio. She abandoned a budding film career to become his director of public relations, and often represented her uncle, who wasn’t much of a party-goer, at social events. In later years she was a key go-between with the celebrity world.

In 2006, she orchestrated the top-billed wedding of actors Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes in a medieval castle outside Rome, while Uncle Giorgio designed the attire for both bride and groom.