Giorgio Armani’s funeral: Italy says goodbye to a legendary designer

Giorgio Armani, the visionary Italian designer who redefined trendy magnificence and tailoring on the world’s stage, turned a mainstay at pink carpets and award exhibits after launching his eponymous model in 1975. But regardless of his world dominance, Armani — who died at age 91 on September 4 — shall be honored for the final time in a personal funeral ceremony away from the highlight and close to his birthplace.

Armani was born in 1934, within the city of Piacenza, northern Italy. His intimate funeral will happen in Rivalta, a small village close by. Business house owners within the space remembered the designer’s patronage fondly. “Our tortelli reminded him so much of the ones his mother always made,” one restaurateur instructed the Italian information website IlPiacenza.

In preparation for the occasion, Rivalta shall be closed off to vacationers and guests. Armani shops can even be closed within the afternoon as a mark of respect.

With round 20 visitors anticipated to attend, the occasion stands in stark distinction to the weekend’s proceedings. Across Saturday and Sunday, roughly 16,000 folks lined up in Milan to go to the designer’s funeral chamber at his headquarters, Armani Teatro, and pay their respects. There, his physique lay in state surrounded by 300 lanterns.

“I decided to come today to pay tribute to a great man who made Italy great in the world,” Giulia Ponzi, a member of the general public, instructed CNN. Donatella Versace, Milan’s mayor Giuseppe Sala and movie administrators Gabriele Salvatores and Giuseppe Tornatore have been additionally among the many crowds of individuals mourning.

In June 2025, Armani was absent from his runway present at Milan’s Men’s Fashion Week — the primary time in his profession. The firm launched a press release on the time that he was “currently recovering at home” with out specifying his well being situation. Up till his passing, Armani was engaged on a retrospective exhibition and a runway present to rejoice 50 years of being in enterprise. Both occasions are nonetheless anticipated to go forward.

The ceremony right now shall be held on the San Martino church. Officials have declared a day of mourning in each Piacenza and Milan.

“We are grateful for having chosen this place; we feel loved and esteemed,” Giuseppe Busani, a parish priest of Rivalta, who’s officiating Armani’s personal funeral, instructed the Italian newspaper Corriere della Sera. “Many Armani family events have been celebrated here.” While the Armani Group has saved particulars of the funeral underneath wraps, native papers report the designer shall be laid to relaxation within the household chapel subsequent to his mother and father and older brother Sergio, who died in 1985.

CNN’s Barbie Latza Nadeau, Sharon Braithwaite and Marianna Cerini contributed to this report.