Italian designer who was the emperor of impeccable style

A staunch disciplinarian, fitness advocate and workaholic, Giorgio Armani became a billionaire fashionista who dressed generations of women from the boardroom to the red carpet.

- LINDA WATSON

The meticulous, exacting perfectionist par excellence of the fashion industry, known to everyone in his Milan headquarters as Mr Armani – never Giorgio – reigned supreme in the world of impeccable dressing for half a century. A formidable presence, he steered his international business until shortly before his passing at the age of 91. The official company statement describing their founder as a “tireless driving force” was no public relations exaggeration.

Retirement was never an option or even acknowledged by Italy’s most consistent couturier. A staunch disciplinarian, fitness advocate and workaholic before the word was invented, he admitted recently in the Financial Times: “Everything you see has been done under my direction and carries my approval. My greatest weakness is that I am in control of everything.”

Armani, the sole shareholder in his company, the Armani Group, and owner of factories exclusively manufacturing his collections, was described by The Business of Fashion as “the richest in the world”.

Beyond the financial phenomenon, Armani achieved what every fashion designer aspires to but few can conceive: creating a style that not only had a timeless quality but resonated with many generations. The casual observer need only look around – at the media, on the street, in the stores – to see that the Armani brand, often Emporio, still struck a chord. His signature style – a subtle colour palette coupled with exquisitely engineered clothing – translated equally into sportswear and couture. A constant theme was an androgynous edge.