Giorgio Armani, the famed Italian fashion designer, has died at age 91, his company announced on Thursday.
“With infinite sorrow, the Armani Group announces the passing of its creator, founder, and tireless driving force: Giorgio Armani,” the company said in a statement on social media. “Il Signor Armani, as he was always respectfully and admiringly called by his employees and collaborators, passed away peacefully, surrounded by his loved ones. 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 designer’s independence — “of thought and action” — was his hallmark, Armani Group added.
A funeral chamber will be open to the public from Saturday, Sept. 6, to Sunday, Sept. 7, at Milan’s Armani Teatro, the company said. A private funeral will then be held.
Although the company did not provide further details on Armani’s death, the designer was absent from three Armani fashion shows over the summer due to illness.
Armani founded the luxury fashion house that bore his name in 1975 in Milan, Italy, with his partner Sergio Galeotti. Later this month, 50th anniversary celebrations for his company are expected to take place during fashion week in Milan.
At the time of his death, Armani remained the CEO and sole shareholder of his company, according to the Financial Times, which published what would be the final interview with the designer on Aug. 29.
“My greatest weakness is that I am in control of everything,” Armani told the publication, adding that his greatest strength is his, “ability to believe in my ideas and the determination – sometimes the stubbornness – to carry them through.”
After working as a buyer and a menswear designer, Armani, who was born just outside of Milan, used $10,000 to start his own fashion house, according to the Financial Times.
In the following years, his designs not only graced runways but also Hollywood celebrities, who wore his clothes on red carpets and in movies including “American Gigolo,” “The Wolf of Wall Street” and “Goodfellas.”
“My initial goal was to dress people but from there I moved naturally into other areas, because I wanted to offer those entering the Armani world a unique experience,” he told the Financial Times. “I have in fact created a lifestyle that I would define as a world of natural sophistication, in which nothing is over the top but everything finds a balance that, while whispered, is rich in personality.”
Given his role leading the Armani Group until his death, who will succeed Armani is not immediately clear.
He told the Financial Times he wanted his succession to be a “gradual transition.”
“My plans for succession consist of a gradual transition of the responsibilities that I have always handled to those closest to me, such as Leo Dell’Orco [head of menswear for Armani], the members of my family and the entire working team,” he said. “I would like the succession to be organic and not a moment of rupture.”
Looking back on his life and all that he had achieved, Armani said he only wished he had spent more time enjoying life with the people he loved.
“I don’t know if I’d use the word workaholic, but hard work is certainly essential to success,” he told the Financial Times. “My only regret in life was spending too many hours working and not enough time with friends and family.”
Armani had a longstanding relationship with Galeotti, an architect and fashion designer. Galeotti died of complications from AIDS in 1985.