Giorgio Armani, a fashionable world, known as the “king” of Italian fashion, died on Thursday (3) at the age of 91 in Milan, where he was accompanied by his family and Lell’orco, his companion in the last 20 years, according to his business group.
“With infinite regret, the Armani group announces the death of its creator, founder and tireless engine: Giorgio Armani. Mr. Armani, as always called with respect and admiration for his employees and collaborators, died quietly, surrounded by his loved ones,” the fashion company announced.
Relentless, he has worked until his last days, devoting himself to the company, collections and many and always new projects in progress and under development, “added the group’s statement.
A few weeks ago, shortly before turning 91, a pulmonary infection forced Armani to be hospitalized and recover at his home in Via Borgoenovo in Milan, which made him lose the male sewing male parade in June, something very rare for this tireless worker who never abandoned the studios.
Armani was an absolute legend of fashion, a universal contemporary -style icon that put the woman and her freedom at the center of her work, with a style always characterized by timeless elegance.
According to the family, the funeral will take place from Saturday, the 6th, until Sunday, the 7th, at Armani Theater of Milan. A private funeral will be held, as he left established as last will.
In July, the brand completed half a century of existence and crowned as one of the few and successful fashion companies that knew how to maintain the balance between creative vision and business leadership, while most historical houses were absorbed by large international conglomerates.
However, Armani struggled to remain faithful to himself and the philosophy he began in his studio in Milan in 1975, alongside his partner Sergio Galeotti, who died four decades ago.
Armani’s elegance and education did not prevent him from being straightforward, as in 2020, when he criticized designers who, by forcing women to dress according to trends without considering what suits them, “violates” their clients.
EMRANI EMPIRE, from fashion to hotels, will move to the foundation of the stylist
The Armani Empire, which includes from fashion brands to hotels and restaurants, with annual revenue of 2.3 billion euros, will now go to the control of its foundation, with some details in the action division.
In October 2023, the newspaper Corriere della Sera He published the statutes of the future Giorgio Armani Foundation, approved at an extraordinary assembly in 2016, but without detailing the division of different types of actions, something that, according to the newspaper, would be specified in will.
The newspaper The Republic He reported that the heirs are already part of the Foundation’s Board of Directors, which will be directed by Pantaleo Dell’orco, the right -hand man and life of the designer, nephew Luca Camerana, and the executive director of Rothschild Italy, Irving Bellotti.
The Foundation will manage a global brand with 8,700 employees, 650 stores, as well as hotels, restaurants and clubs, including the historic Capannina, one of Italy’s most famous beach establishments in the city of Forte Dei Marmi in Tuscany in August.
Cappanine was the last gift Armani wanted to give employees and Dell’orco, his partner in the last 20 years, and whom he met in that famous site.
The company closed 2024 with revenue of 2.3 billion euros and has never stopped investing: 332 million euros last year, twice the 168.5 million euros of 2023.
However, Armani has always been a prudent entrepreneur, averse to indebtedness, and leaves a company sanitized for the foundation. At the end of 2024, the brand had just under 600 million euros in liquidity to boost future growth.
“It is also stipulated that the Foundation will not distribute profits, active or operational surpluses, transactions that are expressly prohibited, even indirectly: any profit or surplus will be intended for institutional activities,” he explained The Republic.
Analysts estimate that the company can have a current value between 6 billion and 7 billion euros. The assessment considers not only revenue and profitability, but also the prestige of the brand and its real estate portfolio: buildings in the Milan Fashion District, famous locations in New York, Paris, London and Hong Kong, boutiques, hotels, restaurants and multifunctional spaces.
Armani remained the sole owner of holding to the end, without selling stocks to funds or external groups, either in exchange for liquidity or visibility.
In the late 60’s, he met Sergio Galeotti, who became his partner in life and at work. It was Galeotti who convinced him to create his own company and work as a consultant for fashion brands, then opening his own studio in Milan in 1973.
In 1975, Armani and Galeotti founded Giorgio Armani Spa together, and that year, the first men’s collection was presented for the 1976 Spring/Summer, which immediately attracted the attention of industry experts.
Over time, the brand expanded its universe to include other sectors that became an integral part of its identity: Armani Casa, Armani Beauty, Armani Ristorante and Armani Hotels.
They are different sectors, but joined by coherent stylistic direction, based on formal rigor, minimalist elegance and discreet quality.
