Obituary: The prince of fashion – Giorgio Armani is dead

What will remain from Giorgio Armani? Will it be like with Karl Lagerfeld, with Yves Saint -Laurent, with Coco Chanel – names that still have meaning after years and decades?

According to many, the Italian was the last big fashion designer with unmistakable style: casual, noble and simple. Armani reinvented the jacket and made it possible for you to carry T-shirt suit. He did this himself until old age. Now he died at the age of 91.

In contrast to many other sizes in his industry, Armani was never at home in Paris, but always in Milan. In Via Borgonuovo, an extremely elegant street, several buildings belonged to him. The headquarters are a palace from 1662. He showed new collections in the basement of his house. Four times a year Milan, twice men’s, twice women’s fashion, plus twice a year Paris. Everyone came. Since Lagerfeld’s death in February 2019, he has been the most famous fashion designer in the world for many.

The “Principe della Moda” (“Prince of Mode”), as she called him in his homeland, was born not in Milan, but a car lesson, in the small town of Piacenza, as the second child of a housewife and a freight forwarder. The mother value clothing, even in the war years. But at a young age, the grandfather, who earned his money as a makeup artist and wig maker at the city theater, had greater influence in terms of fashion.

In any case, Armani was proud of his origin. One of the few times that you have not just seen in pants plus sweater or t-shirt and maybe a jacket in recent years was when the university of his hometown made him an honorary doctor in May 2023: he carried Talar and sash, as it was part of the doctoral hat.

In his acceptance speech, he said: “For me, this work is life, a constant act of love.” And he added with a smile, but business -conscious: “I always listen to the opinion of the others. But then I make the decisions.”

Armani almost even became a real doctor. After graduating from high school, he studied medicine for two years. During military service in a hospital, he noticed that it wasn’t his world. A girlfriend conveyed to him to the department store chain “La Rinascent”, where he started as a window decorator, then became a buyer. In 1964 he met the old master of Italian men’s fashion, Nino Cerruti. Without learning the profession, he made his first own designs. Then the paths separated.

In the mid -1970s, Armani founded his own company with his partner Sergio Galeotti: the Giorgio Armani Spa. That was the nucleus of a group that is worth many billions today: the money initially came in through fashion, then also through cosmetics, watches, jewelry and hotels. The Armani company has belonged alone since Galeotti’s early death in 1985. He lived as much as you know.

He never went to the stock exchange. He rejected all takeover offers. Around the globe, the group today includes 8,700 employees, more than 2,000 shops, often in the best, with an annual turnover of more than 2.3 billion euros. Armanis personal assets are estimated at seven billion.

He spent his last summer in Saint-Tropez

The luxury that he affected included houses in various places such as in St. Moritz or on the Caribbean island of Antigua. He was particularly popular in his villa on the Mediterranean island of Pantelleria, almost the southernmost point in Italy, almost Africa. However, he spent his last summer in his house in Saint-Tropez on the French Côte d’Azur.

There he possibly gave the “Financial Times” his last interview. “The only thing I regret in my life is that I spent too many hours at work and not enough time with friends and family.” This month, he had promised, should be his comeback. After not being part of the big fashion shows in Milan and Paris in June and July, he had announced by newspaper advertisement on his 91st birthday: “See you in September”.

From men’s fashion to women’s collection

His trademark: he reduced fashion to the essentials. From the often uniform -like jackets, he removed the upholstery and deposits. The shirts collar became less stiff, the buttons put down. In addition, he limited himself to timeless colors such as gray, beige and white. He was preferred to be deep blue himself. “80 percent of what I do is discipline,” he used to say. “The rest is creativity. Sometimes I am a craftsman, sometimes weighing, sometimes a master builder, sometimes architect.”

Never wanted to be described as a tailor. “I’m not a couturier either. I am someone who creates his own style,” he told the “Corriere della Sera”, the big newspaper from Milan in 1980. “So style.” The fact that he came out of men’s fashion was also noticed by his ladies’ collections. Pantsuits have never been so feminine. The fashion scientist Barbara Vink said: “Armani has brought hypothermic sexyness to fashion.”

Hollywood also adopted this. There he made his breakthrough in 1980 by dressing Richard Gere as “American Gigolo” (German title: “A man for certain hours”). Kevin Costner (“Die Unsimksliche”), Tom Cruise (“Mission Impossible”) and Leonardo DiCaprio (“Wolf of Wall Street”) followed on the screen.

With the TV series “Miami Vice”, the T-shirt became suitable for everyday jackets. Armani also wore the acting prominence privately and on the red carpet. Oscar appearances by Nicole Kidman or Cate Blanchett are remembered.

For his compatriots, the well -aged man – always slim, white hair, always browned – was the flagship Italian par excellence. He was forgave the bribery of tax investigators and even that he was equipped with the English national team for the 2006 World Cup. The magazine of the “Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung” emphasized him as “monoliths of fashion”, as “rocks in the terribly fast business, which knows no relatives, no duration, no tradition”.

The disadvantage of all uniqueness: How to proceed with the Armani brand is unclear. He did not like to talk about the topic. Throughout his life, the “Principe” failed to commit to a successor. He never had his own children. He leaves two nieces and a nephew. Most experts are sure that Armani will also exist without Giorgio Armani.

The luxury goods specialist Luca Sola just said the “Financial Times”: “I think the Armani brand is larger than her creator.” Other brands such as Chanel and Dior would have survived their founders. Either way: This month there will be a museum exhibition on Armanis Lifewerk for the first time in Milan, in the Pinacoteca di Brera, right next to his house. He could have watched out of the window.