With the passing of Giorgio Armani, the world has lost one of the most influential designers of the 20th century. The Italian almost single-handedly redefined menswear in the 1980s with his unstructured suiting, which gave men a newfound freedom and comfort in ease. His new ideas would’ve found their audience regardless, but they exploded into the mainstream with the release of 1980’s American Gigolo, Paul Schrader’s neo-noir film starring Richard Gere and Lauren Hutton, which was released to huge success and has since gone on one of the most influential of the 20th century.
A decade later, as the red carpet began to play a more important role in celebrities’ promotional tours, Mr. Armani became the undisputed king of the red carpet—especially when it came to awards show, where wearing a dress by Mr. Armani could become a kind of good luck charm. The actress Cate Blanchett knew this well. She often wore the designer glamorous gowns and won her Best Actress Academy Award for Blue Jasmine in 2014 while wearing a jewel-embellished number by the designer. A few years later she would go on to become an Armani global ambassador, with her beauty and intellect becoming synonymous with the brand.
In an interview with The Guardian, Mr. Armani once stated, “For me, it is only meaningful to work on red carpet events if I can build a relationship with the people I dress. If Jodie, Michelle, Julia, Sharon, Sean, Robert, Claudia, Sophia, Cate, and Isabelle have remained faithful and regular customers to this day, it’s because our bond emerged spontaneously out of affinities of taste and character, and grew from there. I could never dress a man or a woman, famous or not, who I didn’t feel to be in tune with what I do.” Here, three icons—and friends—recall their friendship with the creative giant.
“Giorgio was certainly an original. An artist. A visionary of sorts. With the eyes and hand of a craftsman, and the soul of a painter.
His work had his essence all over it. And he cared right up to the end. Uncompromising. I know there were those who he terrified because of his exacting nature. To me he was a supremely talented pussycat.” —Richard Gere
“So here we are and there’s the great Giorgio. He wasn’t a star, he was a constellation. He was everything.
Giorgio made Milan fashion. We met for the first time after I had shot American Gigolo. He asked me to be in his show, and he asked me to carry my own purse—woven from rattan that I had gotten in Sumatra. I liked him right away. He spoke no English, I spoke no Italian, but we instantly saw each other’s souls and we made a match. We just stuck from then on. Little by little his English got better and my Italian got better. We spent time together in his house in Taormina.
Giorgio kept me growing. He had a great group of friends and he kept all of us growing. When I traveled the world, I could talk to him about everything I was seeing and everything I was feeling. The only letter I’ve ever written in my life I wrote to him, when I was in Africa. I could cry with Giorgio. Quite often in the fashion business, we get so caught up that we forget the real world, real life. He had extraordinary humanity.” —Lauren Hutton
“Mr. Armani, the private man leaves a void that is impossible to fill. Not just in the worlds of fashion, art, cinema, theatre, architecture, and design, but in the hearts of millions of people whose lives he influenced.
Ever a man of dualities, he was a Colossus, a King, a Titan—but simultaneously a thoughtful, hands-on craftsman; true, direct and sincere.
The Mr. Armani I had the pleasure to know was deep of heart, loyal, wise, and courageous. I count it as one of the greatest privileges of my life to have been in his orbit.
How will we all keep turning without him?
My heart is with his fashion family and of course with his beloved Roberta, Silvana, Andrea, and Rosanna Armani.” —Cate Blanchett
