Giorgio Armani dies at 91: The visionary who transformed fashion into a billion-dollar legacy

Italian fashion legend Giorgio Armani has died at the age of 91, “surrounded by his loved ones,” his company announced Thursday. “With infinite sorrow, the Armani Group announces the passing of its creator, founder, and tireless driving force: Giorgio Armani,” the group said in a statement.Known as “Re Giorgio” — King Giorgio — Armani was never a distant figurehead. From advertising campaigns to adjusting a model’s hair before she stepped on the runway, he was involved in every detail. His absence from recent fashion shows in June and July due to illness had already been felt across the industry.Armani is not just the last name of a fashion designer, it is an empire. His journey remains one of fashion’s most defining stories: a young man who once worked as a window dresser would go on to build a global brand which has become synonymous with timeless elegance.

Beginning of a vision

Born on July 11, 1934, in Piacenza, Italy, Armani was the son of an accountant. While initially he was forced to walk the conventional path of studying medicine, he soon dropped it knowing his passions lay somewhere else. “My goal in the beginning was to assert my vision and to dress people,” Armani once said. “In some ways it’s still the same idea today.”He began in 1957 as a buyer at Milan’s La Rinascente department store, where he developed a sharp eye for style.

Later, he designed menswear for Nino Cerruti before breaking out on his own. In 1975, with $10,000 in seed money and the support of his friend Sergio Galeotti, he launched his label in a small office that he would later joke was “smaller than my bathroom today.”

How to build an empire 101

Armani’s unconstructed suit jackets in his first menswear line redefined the modern suit. His use of lighter fabrics was once considered “feminine,” but the look reshaped menswear and earned him the title “King of Blazer.”

His label quickly expanded to womenswear, perfumes, jeans, Emporio Armani, Armani Exchange, and even couture with Armani Privé.

His reach went far beyond the runway. Armani designed Olympic uniforms, collaborated with Samsung on luxury electronics, and dressed some of Hollywood’s biggest names. He was also a pioneer — the first to livestream a fashion show and the first to ban underweight models, showing both innovation and responsibility in an industry not always known for either.“For me, there is just one life, and my work runs through it. I truly enjoy being involved in all aspects of the company,” Armani told Grazia Malaysia ahead of his 90th birthday.

How to be timeless?

Armani was a man of many firsts. He was the first designer to livestream a fashion show, the first to ban models with dangerously low BMI from his runway, and one of the first to see Hollywood’s red carpet as a global stage for his brand. In 2007, his Armani Privé spring/summer collection became the first haute couture fashion show broadcast live online, in partnership with Microsoft’s MSN.The tragedy comes at a time, when Armani is currently celebrating its 50th anniversary. From Venice to Milan, rare pieces will be exhibited, culminating in a planned show at the Pinacoteca di Brera during Milan Fashion Week, which will now serve not only as a tribute to the brand, but to Armani himself.

On being aasked how he wants his legacy to remembered, Armani was clear, "I would like people to think of me as someone who championed the idea of elegance above short-term fads.

I want to be known as one who contributed to defining timelessness in fashion, one who valued eternal style over fickle fashion.”For some, Armani was a rule-breaker. For others, he was the very embodiment of consistency and precision. To those who knew him, he remained a shy man with an unyielding passion for forward momentum. As he once put it: “The trick is to keep looking forward; that keeps me energised.”Few designers can claim to have shaped modern dressing so thoroughly, and fewer still can say they did it while retaining sole ownership of their brand. For half a century, Armani’s name was not just stitched on clothes; it was stitched into culture itself.