Formula One’s Charles Leclerc was a brand ambassador for Armani.

On Instagram, the Ferrari driver wrote: “A great honour to have had the chance to meet and work with such an amazing person. You will be missed Giorgio.”

“Giorgio. 1997 at the Cannes film festival, after my bag was lost in transit, LA Confidential producer Arnon Milchan sent me to the Armani store with a credit card to get a suit for the premiere,” the Gladiator star remembered on X. “That began a love affair with Armani suits that continues to this day.

“Mr Armani has made a deep contribution, to fashion, to design, to popular culture. His energy, vision and finesse has made a mark acknowledged around the globe. I adored him. He was so kind. So many significant moments in my life, awards, wedding, Wimbledon… all in Armani.

“I have been looking forward to seeing him, plans were in place for Milan at the end of this month. Alas… What a life he had, from his beginnings to his glory. Grazie Giorgio vivrai sempre nel mio cuore.”

After announcing the news of his death, Armani paid a lengthier tribute to its leader on social media.

“In this company, we have always felt like part of a family,” the company said in the statement.

“We, the employees and the family members, who have always worked alongside Mr. Armani, commit to protecting what he built and to carrying his company forward in his memory, with respect, responsibility, and love,” it added.

Armani was known for dressing celebrities, from Beyoncé to Richard Gere.

“Giorgio Armani leaves us at the age of 91,” the Italian PM shared on social media. “With his elegance, sobriety and creativity, he was able to bring luster to Italian fashion and inspire the entire world. An icon, a tireless worker, a symbol of the best of Italy. Thank you for everything.”

German actor Diane Kruger remembered Armani as “one of the nicest people and mentors I was lucky enough to meet and work with.”

“Incredibly saddened to hear about the passing of Giorgio Armani,” she wrote on Instagram. “Thinking about Roberta and his family and everyone who worked with him.”

Last year, Kruger paid tribute to the designer on his 90th birthday and thanked him for casting her as the face of Aqua di Gio when she was just 16.

“You have been a creative and life changing influence in my life,” she said at the time.

Donatella Versace, currently Versace’s chief brand ambassador, was among the first to pay tribute to Armani.

“The world lost a giant today. He made history and will be remembered forever,” she wrote on Instagram.

Armani and Versace were long seen as rivals, occasionally trading barbed comments about each other in interviews. However, tensions mellowed in later years, especially after Gianni Versace’s death in 1997.

In an interview with the Financial Times, Armani outlined his plans for the succession of the brand he founded in 1975, saying: “My plans for succession consist of a gradual transition of the responsibilities that I have always handled to those closest to me… such as Leo Dell’Orco, the members of my family and the entire working team,” to the FT’s How To Spend It supplement last Friday.

Before skipping Milan in June, Armani, who was both creative director and CEO of the company, had never missed one of his catwalk events.

“I would like the succession to be organic and not a moment of rupture,” Armani added.

Armani is sole shareholder of the company he set up with his late partner Sergio Galeotti, which generated revenue of €2.3 billion ($2.69 billion) in 2024.

The Italian-born billionaire, who revolutionised fashion with his off-the-rack menswear range, died at home on Thursday.

He is credited for giving working women in the Eighties a wardrobe of feminine, timeless and wearable suits for them to wear to the office. He would say later in his career that he designed elegant styles for the “public, not the fashion industry”.

After the launch of his eponymous label in 1975, the designer oversaw the expansion of his signature menswear line into an international luxury fashion empire, including Emporio Armani, Armani Exchange and a higher-end Giorgio Armani line, to also offering accessories, footwear, cosmetics and home decor.