Giorgio Armani, the Italian Designer
The Venice Film Festival has always been more than just a place to show films; it’s also been a place for fashion. For decades, Giorgio Armani was the biggest name on that stage.
The festival on the Lido suddenly feels like it has closed a glittering chapter now that Armani has died at the age of 91. The red carpet was as much his catwalk as it was for the stars who wore his gowns and suits and the fans who watched them.
Festival organisers honoured the man Italian media long ago called “King Giorgio” by calling him an “Italian genius of fashion and style” and saying that his love of films began when he was a child and never faded. For the past eight years, Armani Beauty has been Venice’s main sponsor, and his presence, both in spirit and in fabric, has never been far away.
Richard Gere wore Armani’s linen suits in American Gigolo in 1980, and that’s when Hollywood fell in love with him. From then on, Armani’s clean lines and quiet elegance were like the language of films. His designs made The Untouchables in 1987, Goodfellas in 1990, and The Wolf of Wall Street decades later. The Armani look, which included Don Johnson’s pastel blazers in Miami Vice and Leonardo DiCaprio’s power suits, set the standard for style on and off screen.
Martin Scorsese, a friend of Armani’s for a long time, once said that Armani’s clothes had a “timeless elegance, detached from fads and trivia.” Armani knew something that many people didn’t: clothes weren’t just for show; they were also for living.
Armani threw a big party in Venice to celebrate 50 years of his house just days before he died. Cate Blanchett, who has worn his designs on the Lido red carpet many times, was there. She wore Armani Prive again this year at the opening ceremony, and she looked stunning in black.
After his death, Blanchett said, “Armani leaves a void that is impossible to fill, not just in fashion, art, and cinema, but in the hearts of millions whose lives he touched.”
This year, the spotlight feels softer and more like a goodbye as the Golden Lion will be given out on Saturday. Giorgio Armani’s legacy lives on in every gown and memory on Venice’s red carpets.