For decades, the red carpet of the Venice Film Festival was one of Giorgio Armani‘s most high-profile catwalks, with the stars of cinema donning his elegant creations for the world to see.

With the death on Thursday, at the age of 91, of Italy’s most famous fashion designer, the prestigious festival on the sandy Lido closes a long chapter, marked by Armani’s fascination with cinema and Hollywood’s reverence for the talents of the sartorial master.

Festival organizers called Armani — who is often referred to as “King Giorgio” by the Italian media — an “Italian genius of fashion and style” with a long history with the annual cinema event.

“Cinema was Giorgio Armani’s first love, a passion that began in childhood and never left him,” the festival said in a statement on Thursday.

“This is one of the reasons why Giorgio Armani became a great friend and frequent visitor to the Venice International Film Festival over the years, as well as an important supporter in recent years.”

For the eighth consecutive year, Armani Beauty is the main sponsor of the 11-day festival, which concludes on Saturday with the Golden Lion being awarded to one of 21 international films.

With his keen businessman’s eye, the man who built a multibillion-dollar fashion empire was the first designer to recognize the potential of cinema to promote his fashions.

It began with Richard Gere in 1980, when Armani designed the relaxed linen wardrobe of the sexy playboy in American Gigolo. This cinematic collaboration catapulted both the actor and designer to the top of their respective industries.

Many of the films whose stars were dressed by Armani — both onscreen and off — came to Venice, including Brian De Palma’s The Untouchables (1987) and Martin Scorsese’s Goodfellas (1990).

Countless film and television hits over the years cemented Armani’s status as the perfect designer for the visual medium, from Don Johnson’s pastel jackets with a T-shirt peeking beneath in the 1980s TV series Miami Vice to Leonardo DiCaprio’s power suits in Scorsese’s The Wolf of Wall Street from 2013.

Decades of archives

A decades-long friendship between Armani and Scorsese stemmed from “Made in Milan,” a short film about the designer as he prepared for a fashion show.

“Like all great designers, Giorgio isn’t thinking of just outward appearance on a red carpet but also comfort in everyday life,” Scorsese wrote in a 2015 tribute published in Vanity Fair for the 40th anniversary of the fashion house.

Citing the “timeless elegance” of his friend’s work, Scorsese said Armani’s pieces were “quietly detached from the fads and trivia of the moment.”

Just three days before the designer’s death, the Armani Group hosted a star-studded event in Venice, featuring guests such as Cate Blanchett.

The event celebrated 50 years of the company and introduced Armani/Archivio, a digital archive featuring some of his best looks, which will be made accessible to the public.

At the festival’s opening ceremony last week, Venice regular Blanchett, the face of Giorgio Armani Beauty, wore an Armani Privé black gown with a dangerously low décolletage accented by chunky black jewels.

Armani “leaves a void that is impossible to fill,” Blanchett said.

“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.”

Venice, Sept. 5, 2025 (AFP)