Giorgio Armani  (11 July 1934 – 4 September 2025) was an Italian fashion designer and billionaire.

He first gained recognition working for Cerruti 1881. He formed his company, Armani, in 1975, which eventually expanded into music, sport, and luxury hotels. By 2001, Armani was acclaimed as the most successful designer of Italian origin, and is credited with pioneering red-carpet fashion. At the time of his death, his empire was valued at more than $12.1 billion.

Early years

Giorgio Armani was born on 11 July 1934 in the northern Italian town of Piacenza to Ugo Armani, an accountant for a transport company, and Maria Raimondi. Armani was raised with his older brother Sergio and younger sister Rosanna. Armani experienced poverty during World War II and was severely burned when an unexploded artillery shell he had been playing with detonated.

While at secondary school at the Liceo Scientifico Leonardo da Vinci in Milan, Armani aspired to follow a career in medicine, particularly after reading A. J. Cronin's The Citadel. He enrolled in the department of medicine at the University of Milan. In 1953, after attending for three years, he left and joined the army. Due to his medical educational background, he was assigned to the Military Hospital in Verona, where he attended shows at the Arena. He eventually decided to look for a different career path.

Design career

In 1957, after serving in the military for two years, Armani became a window dresser and sales clerk at La Rinascente, a department store in Milan. In that same year at the store, he was responsible for showcasing the earliest garments of the innovative Finnish textiles, clothing, and home furnishings company, Marimekko. He became a seller for the menswear department. In that capacity, he gained valuable experience in the marketing aspect of the fashion industry. In the mid-1960s, Armani moved to the Nino Cerruti company, where he designed menswear. His skills were in demand, and for the next decade, while working for Cerruti, Armani also freelanced, contributing designs to as many as ten manufacturers at a time.

In the late 1960s, Armani met Sergio Galeotti, an architectural draftsman, which marked the beginning of a personal and professional relationship which lasted for many years. In 1973, Galeotti persuaded him to open a design office in Milan, at 37 Corso Venezia. This led to a period of extensive collaboration, during which Armani worked as a freelance designer for several fashion houses, including Allegri, Bagutta, Hilton, Sicons, Gibò, Montedoro, and Tendresse. The international press was quick to acknowledge Armani's importance following the runway shows at the Sala Bianca in the Pitti Palace in Florence. The experience allowed Armani to develop his style in new ways.

He was now ready to devote his energy to his own label. On 24 July 1975, he founded Giorgio Armani S.p.A. in Milan, with his friend Galeotti. In October 1975, he presented his first collection of men's ready-to-wear for Spring and Summer of 1976 under his own name. He produced a women's line for the same season.

In 1990, Giorgio Armani supported the MoMA exhibition Pier Paolo Pasolini: The Eyes of a Poet, which showcased a retrospective of Pasolini’s cinematic work. Armani’s contribution included the donation of Accattone (1961), reflecting his engagement with cultural initiatives beyond fashion.

Armani established an innovative relationship with the fashion industry, characterized by the 1978 agreement with Gruppo Finanzario Tessile (GFT), which made it possible to produce luxury ready-to-wear in a manufacturing environment under the attentive supervision of the company's designer. In 1979, after founding the Giorgio Armani Corporation, Armani began producing for the United States and introduced the Main line for men and women. The label became one of the leading names in international fashion with the introduction of several new product lines, including G. A. Le Collezioni, Giorgio Armani Underwear and Swimwear, and Giorgio Armani Accessories.

In the early 1980s, the company signed an important agreement with L'Oréal to create perfumes and cosmetics Armani Beauty and introduced the Armani Junior, Armani Jeans, and Emporio Armani lines, followed in 1982 by the introduction of Emporio Underwear, Swimwear, and Accessories. A new store was opened in Milan for the Emporio line, followed by the first Giorgio Armani boutique. Armani's concern for the end user culminated in the development of a more youthful product with the same level of stylistic quality as his high-end line, but at a more accessible price. Because of the nature of the Emporio line, Armani felt that he had to make use of new and unconventional advertising methods. These included television spots and enormous street ads, together with a house magazine that was sent out by mail to consumers, and faithful Armani Eagle wearers.

Armani felt that a relationship with the cinema was essential, both for promotional reasons and for creative stimulus. In 1980, he was involved in the costume-making of the film American Gigolo, specifically for actor Richard Gere who played the main character Julian Kaye. The production of his work through film helped to publicize Armani's name, with a scene involving Gere yanking open a drawer of Armani shirts, perfectly folded with the labels exposed, before creating four entirely Armani outfits in the film. This connection to the film industry projected his name and brand to a much broader audience. Armani designed costumes for more than one hundred films, one of the most important of which was The Untouchables (1987).

In 1983, the designer modified his agreement with GFT. They began to produce both the Mani line for the United States and his high-end ready-to-wear line, rechristened Borgonuovo 21, after the address of the company headquarters. During the late 1980s, despite Galeotti's death in 1985, Armani continued to expand commercial horizons and licensing agreements. He opened Armani Japan and introduced a line of eyeglasses (1988), socks (1987), a gift collection (1989), and a new "basic" men's and women's line for America known as A/X Armani Exchange (1991). After the frenetic expansion of the 1990s (sportswear, watches, eyeglasses, cosmetics, home, and new accessories collections), 2000, the twenty-fifth anniversary of the brand, saw a flurry of investment activity, including stock sales and the acquisition of new manufacturing capacity intended to increase Armani's control over the quality and distribution of his products.

In 1991, Armani introduced AX Armani Exchange, a line focused on casual, everyday clothing such as T-shirts, designed for younger consumers and the American mass market. In 1996, his long-time friend, the singer Eric Clapton composed songs for Armani's fashion shows and has since dressed in Armani. Later that year Clapton opened two Emporio Armani stores in New York City. In 1998 Armani hosted a party for Clapton's Crossroads guitar auction.

The Oxford Art Journal made note in their article, "Hermes in Asia: Haute Couture, High Art and The Marketplace", that the designer took influences from other cultures as inspiration for some of his works and cited his Japanese designs as examples. Armani also prepared to break into the Chinese market by opening up his first store in that country in 1998. A small shop in Beijing was followed by a flagship store in Shanghai in 2004 and plans for 40 by 2011. In 2000, Armani SpA was introducing new lines of cosmetics and home furnishings, and expanding its line of accessories.

Armani had a broad level of influence internationally because his work had reached far beyond just clothes and accessories of haute couture. His work can be referenced with many famous artists of the past who created other types of art. Because of how valuable and detailed his job was, it often formed a bridge from fashion to art. An example is the Guggenheim Museum in New York hosted an exhibition of Armani's work – a first for a living designer – with an average attendance of 29,000 a week. This is referenced in the periodical The Aesthetics of Smelly Art, inside the Journal of Aesthetics and Art Criticism. In 2008, Armani designed a bullfighting costume entitled the "Goyesco" that was worn by Spanish bullfighter Cayetano Rivera Ordóñez at the "Corrida Goyesca" in Ronda, Spain. They have also collaborated on several fashion shows and other events.

In 2011, Armani became the first luxury designer to accept Livia Giuggioli Firth's Green Carpet Challenge to highlight sustainable fashion created out of recycled plastics and fabrics. His designs for the challenge were a dress for her and a tuxedo for her then-husband, actor Colin Firth.

As of 2009, Armani had a retail network of 60 Giorgio Armani boutiques, 11 Collezioni, 122 Emporio Armani, 94 A/X Armani Exchange, 1 Giorgio Armani Accessori, and 13 Armani Junior stores spread over 37 countries. As of 2017, he had an annual turnover of $1.6 billion and a personal fortune of $8.1 billion. In 2015, Armani was an artist who was a part of the Paris Photography Public Programme. This event helped showcase a variety of special exhibitions. As an official partner, Armani's ACQUA #6, represented works that focus on the theme of water in photography.

In 2001, Armani was acclaimed as the most successful designer of Italian origin. In 2019, he introduced his first fine jewelry collection during Haute Couture Week in Paris. The 2022 "Josephine" collection, inspired by Joséphine de Beauharnais, incorporated paisley motifs with chalcedony and grey diamonds. His fine jewelry has since been worn by celebrities, including Sophia Loren, Brie Larson, and Brooke Shields, at high-profile events.

Innovations

Giorgio Armani revolutionized fashion in the 1970s with his minimalist, deconstructed silhouettes, embodied in the famous soft jackets and unstructured suits. Inspired by Italian cinema from the 60s and 70s, notably Alain Delon in The Samurai or Marcello Mastroianni in La Dolce Vita, he has transformed masculine and feminine elegance into a contemporary, sober and sophisticated form.

Armani was credited with pioneering red-carpet fashion He was the first designer to ban models with a body mass index (BMI) under 18, after model Ana Carolina Reston starved herself to death due to anorexia nervosa. He broadcast his collection live on the Internet, the first in the world of haute couture, on 24 January 2007. The Armani Privé Spring/Summer 2007 fashion show was broadcast via MSN and Cingular cellular phones.

Armani has designed many stage outfits for pop superstar Lady Gaga, including those worn on her record-breaking Monster Ball Tour and Born This Way Ball Tour. He has also designed for many high-profile award shows, such as the 52nd Grammy Awards and the 2010 MTV Video Music Awards.

Armani Hotel Collection

In 2005, Giorgio Armani S.p.A. signed a long-term licensing agreement with Emaar Properties PJSC for the development of a global collection of luxury hotels and resorts under the Armani name. Emaar would oversee construction, management, and operations, while Armani retained creative control over interior design, furnishings, and overall style.

The Armani Hotel was opened in Burj Khalifa on 27 April 2010, comprising the bottom 39 floors of the supertall skyscraper in Dubai, United Arab Emirates; it has 160 guest rooms and suites, and 144 residences. Armani also designed the interiors of the Armani Residences, also within the skyscraper, and its specially designed line of products from the Armani/Casa home furnishings collection.

Music

Armani Musica presents Emporio Armani Caffè compilations, a series of special CD compilations curated by Giorgio Armani with DJ-sound designer Matteo Ceccarini, offering an eclectic mix of conceptual sounds and underground rhythms.

Sport

Armani had a keen interest in sports. He was the president of the Olimpia Milano basketball team and an Inter Milan fan. He designed suits for the England national football team twice. Since then he designed suits worn by players of the London club Chelsea since August 2007.

He designed the Italian flag bearers' outfits at the opening ceremony at the 2006 Winter Olympics in Turin, and also designed Italy's Olympic uniforms for the 2012 Summer Olympics in London. Armani also designed and introduced the EA7 range, a brand inspired by Ukrainian footballer Andriy Shevchenko, who at the time played for A.C. Milan and wore the number 7 jersey. As regards sports, Armani owned Italian basketball club Olimpia Milano and designed uniforms for the Italian Olympic and Paralympic teams.

Chelsea commissioned Armani to create a new look for its Directors' Suite at Stamford Bridge. Beginning in 2021, Armani entered into a multi-year sponsorship agreement as an official supplier to Scuderia Ferrari. Armani provided official and travel ensembles to members of the team in return for brand exposure and association with the world's number-one brand and most popular motorsport team.

Personal life and death

Armani was an intensely private man, but claimed in an interview with Vanity Fair that he had relationships with both men and women. He had a longstanding relationship with his business partner, the architect, fashion designer, and businessman Sergio Galeotti, who died of complications from AIDS in 1985. 

Armani credited Galeotti with empowering him to pursue the business. Reflecting in 2015, Armani said of Galeotti, "when I travel, I bring his photograph. There is something that remains. His spirit lingers. For sure. He lives on. I see Sergio everywhere, and I am sure he sees me. And I have hope that whatever I have done, he knows about it." Armani described his inability to prevent Galeotti's death as the greatest failure of his career.

According to Armani's family, he spent much of his time on his over 60-metre (200 ft) yacht and loved sailing. Armani died at his home in Milan on 4 September 2025, aged 91.

Honours and awards

• 1979 Neiman Marcus Award for Distinguished Service in the Field of Fashion
• 1983 Honored by the Council of Fashion Designers of America (CFDA) as best international designer
• 1987 Lifetime Achievement Award for menswear by CFDA (Council of Fashion Designers of America)
• 2014 Compasso d'Oro Career Award
• 2021  Italy: Knight Grand Cross of the Order of Merit of the Italian Republic (14 July 2021)