Italian Fashion Icon Giorgio Armani Dies at 91

Italian fashion designer Giorgio Armani, who rewrote the rules of fashion not once but twice in his lifetime has died. He was 91.

“In this company, we have always felt like part of a family. Today, with deep emotion, we feel the void left by the one who founded and nurtured this family with vision, passion, and dedication,” his family and employees said in a statement released Thursday. “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.”

The funeral chamber will be set up from September 6-7, and will be open from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m., in Milan, at Via Bergognone 59, inside the Armani/Teatro. 

In accordance with Armani’s explicit wishes, the funeral will be held privately.

For more than 50 years, Armani has been one of Hollywood’s most popular designers, dressing A-listers for red carpets and being sought out by costume designers for film and television.

On the red carpet, he dressed the likes of Julia Roberts, Cate Blanchett, Lady Gaga, Leonardo DiCaprio, Eric Clapton, Steven Yeun, Angela Bassett, Allison Williams, Amy Adams, Jessica Chastain, Jodie Foster, Margot Robbie, and Julianne Moore.

Armani designed several looks for Gaga, including a custom Prive black silk one-shoulder gown for the 64th annual Grammy Awards. 

He also designed one of the superstar’s most memorable outfits, the sheer lavender crystal-embellished hoop dress, which she wore to the 2010 Grammy awards.

Armani also designed one of her most memorable outfits, the sheer lavender crystal-embellished hoop dress, which she wore to the 2010 Grammy awards.

“The Dark Knight” costume designer Lindy Heming crafted outfits for Christopher Nolan’s film, but when it came to the sharp look of Batman’s alter-ego Bruce Wayne, Heming turned to Armani. He custom made the slick and sharply tailored grey suits Christian Bale wears in the film.

It wasn’t just Heming who turned to Armani when costume designers needed their actors to look sleek. His tailored suits were also used on Richard Gere in “American Gigolo,” Leonardo DiCaprio in “The Wolf of Wall Street” and when Anna B. Sheppard needed a white tuxedo for Brad Pitt’s Enzo Gorlomi, it was Armani who custom made an outfit that scene.

Armani was born in the northern Italian town of Piacenza on July 11, 1934.

After two decades in the fashion industry starting in 1957, he founded Giorgio Armani S.p.A. in Milan in 1975, launching both men’s and women’s lines the following year.

Fiercely private, Armani rarely discussed his personal life. He did tell Vanity Fair that he had romances with both men and women. The designer was in long-term relationship with his business partner Sergio Galeotti until his death in 1985.