Yesterday, September 4, 2025, Giorgio Armani left us, leaving behind not only an extraordinary legacy in fashion but also an indelible mark on culture and style. Today, we choose to remember him with this article, first published in the August issue of L’Officiel Arabia, as a tribute to his timeless vision and enduring spirit.
I owe everything to Mr. Armani. I always say that Armani is the one who taught me the concept of coherence, even though we've never met in person. To me, thanks to him, coherence means being true to oneself, not betraying the deepest essence of who we are, and never breaking the core of our being. Yes, we indeed evolve, but our hearts and values remain the same.
Just as a constitution serves as the backbone of a state supporting the intricate web of human relationships that shape our daily reality, coherence, as I've come to understand through studying Armani and his persona, is the foundation upon which humankind rests. And Armani has much to teach us all about this.
Celebrating 25 years of a company is no small feat. Mr. Armani has much to say on the matter. This year, alongside the 25th anniversary of the Armani/Casa line and the 20th anniversary of the haute couture line Armani/Privé, Armani also celebrates 50 years of his fashion, and his consistent way of being that we all recognize as "Giorgio Armani." I don't consider myself the right (or most qualified) person to retrace Mr. Armani's biography. This isn't also the appropriate venue, and many have already done so, starting with Renata Molho's 2006 book Essere Armani, and his autobiography Per Amore (ed. Rizzoli) as well as countless articles and interviews by fellow journalists who have chronicled Giorgio Armani's adventurous and, at times, painful life.
The love for Sergio Galeotti and the challenge of losing him; experiencing the bombings in the early part of his life; enrolling in medical school (and realizing he wasn’t suited for it, potentially feeling the frustration of not fitting in among his peers); not to mention his experience with Nino Cerruti and the founding of Giorgio Armani. Living through all this isn't easy. Armani's life has been intense and deeply lived, expressing, in its human fragility, a unique trait that has always accompanied him: the desire to be Armani. Giorgio Armani is someone who has loved, suffered (greatly), reached the stars, and then returned to his simplicity in a long-term journey. This is what coherence leads to: a long-term victory over oneself, not a short-term one. He dreamed, because dreaming and bringing his ideas to life through clothing was his perspective, his form of expression. Like a scientific researcher, Armani constantly questioned himself: Who is Armani? How does Armani express himself? What and how does he want to communicate to the world?
Much has been said, and Mr. Armani still has much more to share. The energetic force of intellect, the resilience (in its physical science meaning of ‘the property of materials to resist shocks without breaking’), is precisely what embodies the Armani style from fashion to interior design, real estate, perfumery, and even chocolates. Yes, because of this ability to withstand and move forward, dreaming of magnificent places like Japan (consider the Armani/Privé Fall 2011 Hommage au Japon collection) or India (Armani/Privé Fall 2007), and various worlds, not least the penultimate Armani/Casa collection Echoes from the World (a multimedia journey between East and West with Armani's clear-and still coherent-gaze), and finally the latest Armani/Casa collection presented in Milan during this design week: Inchiostri d’Oriente, an interior design interpretation of the world's most powerful and ancient expressive science: writing. However, ink is multifaceted and lively: it can write about love, and science, but also spread and influence, branching out like an estuary into the sea. And so, Mr. Armani has branched out, with his "apparent" simplicity, into all our lives.
Have you ever reflected on the Armani/Casa logo? It's utterly simple: a stylized lamp inside a square. Well, this is a universal symbol that anyone can understand, and each of us can interpret it because we all feel or experience a sense of belonging in a home. And the home is nothing more than the place where the light (of the heart) can shine freely, without constraints or interruptions. “Home” is perhaps the only place where one can truly be coherent with oneself. Armani demonstrates this disarmingly because, although the result of coherence is singular, its components are multifaceted and diverse, sometimes contrasting: one can be simple, pure, and essential (think of the VISO armchair or the PLAY bookshelf recently presented), but at the same time, because the world and people are neither black nor white, one can also be opulent and lively like a Rigoletto (consider the magnificent AMEDO bed exquisitely embroidered or the VIVACE bar cabinet that hides an emotional and referential outburst with its katana-shaped handle).
The same applies to fashion. I grew up and was “aesthetically educated” with Armani's collections. I vividly remember my absolute favorite, the one that made me shiver for the first time Fall 2009 collection, exit 22; or the Touareg collection (Spring 2011), Nacré from Spring 2012; then Fall 2012 with Coco Rocha opening the show; or the very recent FW 2025, whose delicacy still caresses my thoughts and whose music allows my mind to soar into embroidered universes. Not to mention the Armani/Privé Spring 2010 line dedicated to the moon, Fall 2010 with Carmen Kass opening the show inspired by Old Hollywood, then Metamorphosis from Spring 2012, or the Privé Fall 2023 collection honoring the world of lacquer. The list could go on.
Yet, even in this case, coherence emerges after many explorations, as if Armani's essences were kaleidoscopic, whose result, however, is always the same: dressing the contemporary woman and creating a stylistic ecosystem for today's humanity.
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