Died Giorgio ArmaniThe group announced this in a statement. The designer, born in Piacenza, had turned 91 years July 11th. The chapel of rest will be set up starting from Saturday, September 6th and will be open to visitors until Sunday, September 7th, from 9 am to 18 pm, in Milan, at Via Bergognone 59, at the Armani/Teatro. By express wish of Armani, the funeral will take place in private form.
Giorgio Armani dies: "With him, the company will always be independent."
With deepest sorrow, the Armani Group announces the passing of its creator, founder, and tireless driving force: Giorgio Armani. Mr. Armani, as he was always called with respect and admiration by his employees and collaborators, passed away peacefully, surrounded by his loved ones. Tireless, he worked until his final days, dedicating himself to the company, to the collections, to the diverse and ever-new projects underway and in progress. Over the years, Giorgio Armani has created a vision that has extended from fashion to every aspect of life, anticipating the times with extraordinary clarity and concreteness. He has been guided by an inexhaustible curiosity, a focus on the present and on people. In this journey, he has created a open dialogue with the public, becoming a loved and respected figure for his ability to communicate with everyone."
“Always attentive to the needs of the community, he was committed on many fronts, especially towards his beloved MilanGiorgio Armani is a company with fifty years of history, grown with emotion and patience. Giorgio Armani has always made independence, of thought and action, his hallmark. The company is the reflection, today and always, of this feeling. The family and employees will carry the Group forward with respect and continuity of these values. “In this company we have always felt part of a family. Today, with deep emotion, we feel the void left by those who founded this family and made it grow with vision, passion, and dedication. But it is precisely in his spirit that together, we employees and the family members who always worked alongside Mr. Armani, are committed to protecting what he built and to carrying his company forward in his memory, with respect, responsibility, and love,” concludes the statement signed by the employees and family.
“Giorgio Armani – concludes the note – is a company with fifty years of history, grown with emotion and patience. Giorgio Armani has always doneindependence, of thought and action, its distinctive mark. The company is the reflection, today and always, of this feeling. The family and employees will carry the Group forward with respect and continuity of these values."
Giorgio Armani: a symbol of timeless style and elegance
In 50 years of work, consecrated by covers on Time, from success in Hollywood, from One Night Only around the world, from the honor of Knight Grand Cross of the Order of Merit of the Italian Republic awarded to him by the president Sergio Mattarella, never a contradiction, never a breach of an ethic based on dedication and passion. That Giorgio Armani was a perfectionist, capable of inspecting every window display and every fashion show one by one, closely monitoring every detail, is well known. "I am pragmatic and rational, but my actions all come from the heart," he emphasized, years ago presenting the book entitled 'Per amore'. "I am a rational creative, but the drive—the sincere words spoken in his Piacenza hometown in honor of his graduation— Honorary awarded to him by the Catholic University – always comes from passion, from an intuition and from the burning desire to realize it. Every idea, ultimately, is the fruit of falling in love, and this work, which for me is life, is a continuous act of love.”
Giorgio Armani: the muses and stars he dressed
Cate Blanchett, Richard Gere, Anne Hathaway, Nicole Kidman, Penelope CruzOn the red carpet, between cameras and flashes, the signature that has stood out for decades is that of Giorgio Armani. Since the times of American Gigolo, the Piacenza designer has transformed the red carpet into a catwalk of minimal elegance e magnetic presence. Starting in 1980, when Richard Gere wears what will become the legendary grey suit that launches Armani as the king of Tailor-made male. Even today, the actor remains one of the brand's most loyal faces.
Armani and his speech to the students of the Catholic University
In his speech before the students of the Catholic UniversityGiorgio Armani also recalled one of the hardest moments of his life, the death of his partner and companion Sergio Galeotti, who passed away in 1985, ten years after founding Giorgio Armani with him. "Fate put me to the test, and following the passing of my partner, to ensure Giorgio Armani's survival, I had to personally take charge of the company. Many thought I wouldn't make it, but," he said with great sincerity, "thanks to my tenacity and the support of those close to me, I managed to keep going."
I difficult times – the lesson given to the young people – “I overcame them with thecommitment , dedication and strictness, the values I learned from my family and which I always recommend following to shape what you believe in, even more so today when fleeting successes are on the rise because what requires effort lasts.” A lesson that has remained engraved in the minds and hearts of those present, to be remembered by those who will come after.
Tireless to the end, after being hospitalized in a Milanese clinic, he had to give up going on the catwalk at the end of the show, at the last men's fashion shows, but he assured that he would always have the final say on everything, as in the splendid exhibition set up at the Silos for the 20th anniversary of the line Private, personally curated by him, like everything else at Armani. With absolute dedication to his work, seen as a passion and a magnificent vocation, and lived with commitment and rigor until the very end.
The last dream realized was to buy The Capannina di Forte dei Marmi -with the aim of reviving it—where she met Galeotti himself in the 1960s. A gesture of immense affection and powerful symbolism for a man who, in Italy and around the world, was a symbol of excellence.
