Giorgio Armani – The Life and Legacy of the Italian Designer
Remembering a Fashion Legend: The Enduring Elegance and Legacy of Giorgio Armani
Legendary Fashion designer Giorgio Armani passed away at the age of 91 on September 4th, 2025. Armani, who founded the luxury fashion house, was widely regarded as one of the most influential and prestigious fashion designers in contemporary fashion. His death has been met with tributes from the fashion world, with Donatella Versace paying tribute on her Instagram saying: “The world lost a giant today. He made history and will be remembered forever”.
Armani’s career drifted, in 1956 he began a degree in Medicine at the University of Milan but left after three years to join the army. Tiring of military life, Armani found a job as a window dresser in department store La Rinascente. He then worked for Nino Cerutti, founder of Cerutti 1881, before launching his own company in 1975.
Armani’s style and designs brought radical changes to the fashion industry and the way people dressed. Armani reinvented the style of suit tailoring, making it diverse for women and sophisticated for men. Armani took away the constrictions of the suit and modernised it to empower women within the workplace, redefining masculine and female elegance in contemporary fashion. Armani suits became a symbol, giving a sense of class and sophistication, characters such as Mr. Big in Sex and the City wore Armani suits often symbolic of the cultural impact of the iconic Armani suit style.
Over the years, Armani designed countless outfits for celebrities including Lady Gaga and Zendaya. He also designed many costumes for films such as The Wolf of Wall Street and American Gigolo. Within a decade, Armani has established himself as one of the biggest European designers, expanding his brand to Armani Jeans and Emporio Armani. He eventually introduced sportswear, cosmetics, glasses and accessories, further expanding his esteemed empire for all fashion moguls.
Having done countless fashion weeks with ready-to-wear and haute couture collections, Armani displayed its final Giorgio Armani Spring/Summer 2026 collection, a collection the Italian designer worked on before his death. Originally celebrating 50 years of the fashion house, the collection became a tribute to the designer.
The collection featured classic Armani dresses adorned with glitter and sculpting silhouettes, use of neutrals, with blue and purples paying homage to the late designers’ hometown. The show was followed by a visit to the Giorgio Armani: Milano, per amore exhibition, which showcased iconic outfits, including Gere’s suit from American Gigolo. The collection closed with a blue long-sleeve, glittering gown worn by model Agnes Zogla, featuring an image of Armani’s face. Effectively bringing Milan Fashion Week to a close.
Armani’s legacy is cemented within fashion as timeless and elegant, redefining minimalism and conquering the red carpet with his iconic shape and silhouettes.
Words by Cerys Blunt