Ever since announcing her engagement to Prince Harry, the world’s eyes have been fixed on Meghan Markle — and her style. We’ll be following the Meghan Markle Effect™ with our column, “Meghan Markle Wore a Thing.” Meghan Markle is on a fashion run. Days after she made her Paris Fashion Week …
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Say it ain’t so. This was the final time we would ever see newly designed clothes conceived by Giorgo Armani on the runway. Although in many ways, of course, they weren’t new at all. For as the 50th-anniversary exhibition installed upstairs in Milan’s Pinacoteca di Brera so beautifully demonstrated, Mr. Armani’s aesthetic might have been subject to constant seasonal variation, but it was also unwaveringly consistent and true. The Yves Saint Laurent coined-phrase “fashions fade, style is eternal” might have been invented for him. Tonight’s collection could be directly traced back to the first show he ever presented, in October 1975, about ten minutes walk away on Corso Venezia.
Mr. Armani died, aged 91, at the beginning of this month. That meant watching a collection which you could see had been conceived as both a seasonal commercial offer and a gently celebratory retrospective of many of his key fashion gestures suddenly felt like watching a poignantly posthumous montage. The cast included a sprinkling of models whose associations with Armani sometimes went back to the early 1980s, among them Olga Serova, Veronika Pospisilova, Veronica Ruck, Olga Sherer, Lavinia Birladeanu, Laura Reiff, Gina Di Bernardo, Anna Ry, Andrea Krakhecke, Mark Vanderloo, Daniela Peštová, and Nadège Dubospertus. Some of them, you could see, were tearful.
The woven leather blue sweater vest jacket hybrid in this gallery’s image 43 was reminiscent of that earliest Armani collection. The global influences, the greige, the navy, the deconstruction, the fluidity, the softened masculine proportion both for men and women, the imperial purple, the sparkle, the depth of pattern, the material richness… Armani, Armani, Armani. Look 34 was to me close to the platonic ideal of a single menswear look. The greatest shock tonight was that for perhaps the first time I can ever recall, there was not a single hat in the show.
These had been doffed by Silvana Armani and Leo dell’Orco, Mr. Armani’s design successors, who came out to warm applause after the last look—a blue skirt and top, both crystal spun. The top bore the famous portrait of Giorgo in his pomp, chin cradled in one hand, looking intently into the lens and onwards into the future. As Lauren Hutton observed after this show: “He will live pretty much forever, or as long as we’re going to be here.” Because how could we ever forget?
Imagine a chessboard of couture and gloss, with the two grandmasters of fashion making their final moves.
Anna Wintour
One’s gone; the other has passed the baton.
Giorgio Armani died at 91, and Anna Wintour has stepped down as editor-in-chief of Vogue.
One thing is clear – the industry’s equilibrium has shifted.
Now, the game is changing, and no one will forget in a hurry where the pieces landed.
Giorgio Armani, the legendary Italian designer, affectionately known as “Re Giorgio,” passed away on September 4, 2025.
Surrounded by all who loved him, especially his family and friends, Armani died of age-related illness at his Milan home.
His trademark minimalism, from relaxed tailoring to power suits, was revolutionary and transformed the fashion landscape.
It redefined how elegance is now worn by both men and women.
Giorgio’s empire spanned not just clothing.
From fragrance to home décor, hotels, and beyond, Armani yielded an empire worth over $12 billion and a career that never lost momentum even as he prepared a 50-year retrospective for Milan Fashion Week.
After his passing, Milan paid him a respectful homage.
The public viewings drew thousands, stores were all closed, and owners couldn’t hide their tears. A private funeral was conducted in Rivalt.
As The Wall Street Journal aptly put it: Giorgio Armani was “The fashion titan who balanced softness with power,” a force whose shadow will linger in every tailored silhouette.
In June 2025, after an unparalleled 37-year tenure as editor-in-chief of American Vogue, Anna Wintour stepped down but not out.
She was elevated to global leadership roles, including Global Chief Content Officer of Condé Nast, and became Global Editorial Director at Vogue, continuing to shape its creative landscape.
In early September, Vogue announced her successor: Chloé Malle, former editor of Vogue.com.
Malle assumed the editor-in-chief role of American Vogue, officially continuing Wintour’s legacy into the next era.
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Armani’s death and Wintour’s resignation are sending ripples through runways and boardrooms alike.
Côte d’Azur and Milan are reeling from Armani’s absence, while new creatives at Chanel, Dior, and Gucci face immense pressure to honour legacy while pushing boundaries.
Wintour’s departure from the Vogue helm signals a shift from the old guard to a new, digitally savvy era.
Malle’s ascension may define how Vogue evolves in a post-Wintour, post-Armani world.
With Armani’s departure, fashion loses its measured elegance.
With Wintour’s pivot, it steps away from its iron-willed editorial nucleus.
The industry’s pulse is quickening.
Who will own the next chapter? We do not know.
One thing’s for certain, however, —it’s not a moment the fashion world will forget anytime soon.
It’s that moment when Armani’s legacy, his contribution and his statements through fashion will continue to scream through the annals of history.
And the next generation, who didn’t come close to seeing what he did, will certainly know his work and name.
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Giorgio Armani, a stalwart of Milan ready-to-wear who revolutionized fashion with unstructured looks, died Thursday at the age of 91, his fashion house confirmed.
Armani died at home, the fashion house said. The fashion designer failed to appear at his runway shows in June as he was recovering from an undisclosed illness. He was planning a major event to celebrate 50 years of his signature Giorgio Armani fashion house during Milan Fashion Week this month.
Starting with an unlined jacket, a simple pair of pants and an urban palette, Armani put Italian ready-to-wear style on the international fashion map in the late 1970s, creating an instantly recognizable relaxed silhouette that has propelled the fashion house for half a century.
From the executive office to the Hollywood screen, Armani dressed the rich and famous in classic tailored styles, fashioned in super-soft fabrics and muted tones. His handsome black tie outfits and glittering evening gowns often stole the show on award season red carpets.
At the time of his death, Armani had put together an empire worth over $10 billion, which along with clothing included accessories, home furnishings, perfumes, cosmetics, books, flowers and even chocolates, ranking him in the world’s top 200 billionaires, according to Forbes.
The designer also owned several bars, clubs, restaurants and his own basketball team EA7 Emporio Armani Milan, better known as Olympia Milano. Armani opened more than than 20 restaurants from Milan to Tokyo since 1998, and two hotels, one in Dubai in 2009 and another in Milan, in 2010.
Armani style began with Giorgio Armani himself, from the penetrating blue eyes framed in a permanent tan and early-age shock of silver hair, to the trademark jeans and t-shirt work clothes and the minimalist decoration of his private homes.
Armani’s fashion vision was that of easygoing elegance where attention to detail made the difference.
“I design for real people. There is no virtue whatsoever in creating clothes and accessories that are not practical,” he liked to say when asked to identify his clientele.
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In conversation, the designer’s disarming smile and exquisitely mild manners belied the tough businessman underneath, who was able to turn creative talent into a fashion empire worth over $10 billion. Never a merger nor a sale, Re Giorgio (King George) as the Italians call him, was always his own boss.
Born July 11, 1934, in Piacenza, a small town south of Milan, Armani dreamed of becoming a doctor before a part-time job as a window decorator in a Milan department store opened his eyes to the world of fashion.
In 1975, Armani and his partner Sergio Galeotti sold their Volkswagen for $10,000 to start up their own menswear ready-to-wear label. Womenswear followed a year later.
The symbol of his new style was the liningless sports jacket, which was launched in the late 1970s and became an instant success from Hollywood to Wall Street. The designer paired the jacket with a simple t-shirt, an item of clothing he termed “the alpha and omega of the fashion alphabet.”
The Armani suit soon became a must in the closet of the well-heeled man. And for women, the introduction of the pantsuit in the executive workroom was all but revolutionary. Dubbed the “power suit” with its shoulder-padded jacket and man-tailored trousers, it became the trademark of the rising class of businesswomen in the 1980s.
Over the years Armani would soften the look with delicate detailing, luxurious fabrics and brighter shades for his basic beige and gray palette. His insistence on pants and jackets led some critics to label his fashion “androgynous.”
The 1980 film classic American Gigolo launched both Armani and actor Richard Gere on their Hollywood careers. Dressed in Armani, Gere became America’s new favourite heart throb, and “Geeorgeeo” as they called him, the glam set’s most popular designer.
The Hollywood connection earned him wardrobe film credits in over 200 films, and in 2003 a place on Rodeo Drive’s “Walk of Fame.”
Oscar night always sparkled, with smart suiting for the men, and glittering gowns for the ladies. The 2009 best actor winner Sean Penn picked up his statue in a black-on-black Armani outfit, while best actress nominee Anne Hathaway walked the red carpet in a shimmering white strapless evening gown from Armani’s latest Prive couture collection.
Other longtime devotees included Jodie Foster, George Clooney, Sofia Loren and Brad Pitt. David and Victoria Beckham were the “face” of his 2009 underwear ad campaign.
So significant was the impact of Armani style, not only on how people dressed but how they approached fashion, that in 2000 New York’s Guggenheim museum presented a retrospective of Armani’s first 25 years in fashion.
“I love things that age well, things that don’t date and become living examples of the absolute best,” Armani said of his efforts.
Today, the Armani empire has an army of more than 9,000 employees, with women comprising half of the executive suite, along with seven industrial hubs and over 600 stores worldwide, according to figures released in 2023. Along with clothes and accessories, the company produces perfumes, cosmetics and home furnishings, as well as selling its own candy, flowers and even books. The designer opened his fifth multi-brand store on New York’s fashionable Fifth Avenue in February 2009.
In the realm of fashion hobbies, Armani owned several bars, restaurants and clubs, as well as the basketball team. Recreation time was spent in getaways in Broni in the countryside near Milan, the isle of Pantelleria off Sicily and St. Tropez on the French Riviera. Each home bore the trademark of Armani design: bare walls, important pieces, few knickknacks.
Like many of his colleagues, Armani tried to give back some of the fame and fortune he amassed during the heyday of the “moda Milanese” which put Italian ready-to-wear at the center of the world’s fashion map at the turn of the millennium. Personally involved in several charity organizations devoted to children and a staunch supporter of the battle against AIDS, in 2002 Armani was named a U.N. goodwill ambassador for refugees.
Galeotti died in 1985. Armani had no children but was very close to his niece Roberta, daughter of his late brother Sergio. She abandoned a budding film career to become his director of public relations, and often represented her uncle, who wasn’t much of a party-goer, at social events. In later years she was a key go-between with the celebrity world.
In 2006, she orchestrated the top-billed wedding of actors Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes in a medieval castle outside Rome, while Uncle Giorgio designed the attire for both bride and groom.
Armani had indicated that as he considered succession he was looking toward his longtime head of menswear Leo Dell’Orco and his niece Silvana Armani, who fills the same role for womenswear.
These are the stories making headlines in fashion on Friday. Giorgio Armani, who died on Thursday at 91, is the father of quiet luxury, thanks to his affection for beige and neutral tones as well as his iconic suits. Celebrity styling was also Armani’s invention, and stars from Cate Blanchett to …
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Leonardo DiCaprio has hailed Giorgio Armani as a “genius”.
Giorgio Armani has died aged 91
The legendary fashion designer passed away on Thursday (04.09.25), aged 91, and DiCaprio has taken to social media to pay a glowing tribute to Armani, describing the designer as a “visionary”.
The Hollywood star wrote on Instagram: “Giorgio Armani was a visionary whose influence reached far beyond design. I first met him many years ago in Milan and I remember being blown away by his creativity and genius. He was a legendary force who inspired generations, and his legacy will continue to shape and uplift the world for years to come.”
Elsewhere, Michelle Pfeiffer has admitted to feeling “heartbroken” by the news of Armani’s passing.
Alongside several throwback photographs, the actress – who starred in several Armani adverts – wrote on Instagram: “I am heartbroken to hear of Mr Armani’s passing. Kind, generous and loyal. A true pioneer of elegance. A global inspiration. And today, a massive loss for all. Thank you for everything Mr. Armani, it was an honor and privilege to work with you on so many momentous occasions in my life and to witness your craft firsthand. (sic)”
Meanwhile, David Beckham has hailed Armani as a “true gentleman”.
The former soccer star wrote on Instagram: “A very sad day as we say goodbye to a very special man… Kind , generous , humble and a true gentleman… Giorgio Armani One of a kind. (sic)”
Armani’s death was announced by his fashion house.
The company said in a statement that he built the Armani brand with “vision, passion, and dedication”.
The statement read: “With infinite sorrow, the Armani Group announces the passing of its creator, founder, and tireless driving force: Giorgio Armani.
“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. 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 fashion world has bid farewell to one of its brightest luminaries, Giorgio Armani, the legendary Italian designer whose name became synonymous with modern elegance and who built an empire rooted in his vision, has passed away at the age of 91 in Milan. Born in Piacenza on July 11, 1934, Armani’s legacy endures through the Armani Group, which announced that its founder departed peacefully, leaving an indelible mark on design and entrepreneurship.
More than just a designer, Armani was a philosopher-king of fashion. In 1975, he sold his Volkswagen Beetle to fund his dreams — and within seven years, he graced the cover of Time magazine. His empire grew from tailored suits and red-carpet gowns to hotels, homewares, and chocolates, cementing his status as Italy’s most successful designer and one of its most astute businessmen. By 2019, his company was generating 2.1 billion euros, and his personal wealth was estimated at a staggering $11 billion.
India held a special place in Armani’s creative soul. During a visit in 1994, he fell in love with the country’s rich culture, heritage, and vibrancy. Inspired by this journey, he crafted collections that captured India’s spirit, showcasing them with his signature elegance on Milan’s runways. Armani once reflected on his drive: “Perfectionism, and the need to always have new goals and achieve them, is a state of mind that brings profound meaning to life.”
Armani’s farewell was as iconic as his career — during Milan Fashion Week’s F/W 2025-26 womenswear show titled Roots, he was escorted by two shimmering models. At 90, he was still meticulously overseeing every detail backstage, a testament to his unwavering perfectionism. The runway, designed by Japanese architect Tadao Ando, became the stage for his poignant last bow.
Funeral arrangements are scheduled at Teatro Armani in Milan from September 6 to 7, open to the public from 9 am to 6 pm.
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Italian fashion designer Giorgio Armani, popularly known as King Giorgio has died at 91. His demise has left a void in fashion and he was single-handedly responsible for rewriting the rules of fashion. The designer was the archetype of Italian style and built a multibillion-dollar fashion empire. His fashion house released a statement soon after his death. “Indefatigable to the end, he worked until his final days, dedicating himself to the company, the collections and the many ongoing and future projects,” the statement said.
The iconic designer died at his house surrounded by his loved ones. He gave a miss to the June 2025 Milan Fashion Week for the first time, and was planning a major event to celebrate his brand’s 50 years during Milan Fashion Week this month.
Indian fashion designers and personalities poured in their condolences for the icon.
This is such a big loss for all of us. His name has been synonymous with fashion. I had the fortune of working with him for two years for the launch of Armani Casa. I was his guest at the opening of Armani Casa in Milan, where I met him personally. I was in awe of his personality. Meeting him was the biggest highlight of my life. My first meeting with him was in the year 1994 at Oberoi Hotel and had a brief interaction in the hotel’s elevator.
Giorgio Armani’s passing marks the end of an era. He wasn’t only a master of elegance and restraint—he was the architect of how a designer could build a global brand. Armani created a business model that became a case study for generations: from Armani cafe, Armani Casa to multiple divisions under his name, he showed that creativity and structure can coexist at the highest level. For independent designers like myself, and even for conglomerates, his legacy is both wisdom and roadmap. Personally, for my study having lived in Milan and witnessed his vision up close, I can say his influence shaped my own path. His ideas, his craftsmanship, and his relentless vision will remain safe in history—and he will be deeply missed by us all…
The world has lost a true icon with the passing of Giorgio Armani. His vision redefined elegance and simplicity, leaving an indelible mark on global fashion. For me, Armani was the epitome of timeless style and creative genius, an inspiration whose legacy will live on forever.
Giorgio Armani, the maestro of timeless elegance, redefined modern fashion with his quiet confidence and pure lines. He gave the world a new order of style—where tailoring was softened, glamour became effortless, and jeans stood as a symbol of democracy in dress. Armani dressed presidents, film stars, and dreamers alike, yet his true genius was in making sophistication accessible. With his passing, we lose not just a designer, but a visionary who shaped how the world dresses forever.
Giorgio Armani is an absolute legend whose contribution to fashion is eternal. Bringing ease and fluidity to menswear, sophisticated androgyny to women’s fashion and being one of the first designers to build and nurture an independent fashion empire, his legacy is large and inspiring to generations of designers. I continue to be inspired by his focus and timeless elegance as he built his signature over decades.
As a young designer my only first big dream was to wear Armani head-to -toe. He exemplified quiet class in clothing, no logos sreaming what you are wearing. With time ofcourse newer brands came, but Monsieur Armani at 91 could still be seen at the end of the show walking tall though frail with age. Students in India in fashion in 2025 must read of his legacy his craft to understand my perspective.
The brand said Armani left this world peacefully at home, surrounded by his loved ones. In a statement on Instagram, it said: “Mr Armani, as he was always called with respect and admiration by employees and collaborators, passed away peacefully, surrounded by his loved ones. Tireless, he has worked until the last days, dedicating himself to the company, to the collections, to the different and always new projects in being and to becoming.” A public funeral chamber will open in Milan this weekend, followed by a private ceremony for family and close friends.
Known as “Re Giorgio” or King Giorgio, Armani was celebrated for reshaping the fashion landscape with his relaxed yet refined tailoring. He was known for personally overseeing every aspect of his work, from advertising campaigns to last-minute touches before models walked the runway. His absence from Milan Men’s Fashion Week in June, the first in his career, came as he recovered from an illness. Even during this period, Armani remained committed to his projects, continuing to steer a company that generated more than €2.3 billion annually.
Although he never married, Armani was devoted to his family, especially his niece Roberta, the daughter of his late brother Sergio. She gave up a film career to join the fashion house, eventually becoming its director of public relations. Roberta became a vital link between the brand and the celebrity world, famously organizing the 2006 wedding of Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes, for which her uncle designed the couple’s wedding attire. Her presence highlighted the close family ties that ran alongside the vast global legacy Armani leaves behind.
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