Giorgio Armani died today at the age of 91. With 50 years at the helm of his namesake label, Mr. Armani helped shape celebrity style as we know it today.
While he had dressed celebrities for red carpets before (Diane Keaton wore Amrani to the 1978 Academy Awards), the 1990 Oscars kicked off the grand tradition of celebrity red carpet dressing. That evening, Armani dressed Jodie Foster, Jessica Lange, Michelle Pfeiffer, Julia Roberts, and Jessica Tandy. The awards show proved itself the perfect opportunity for Armani to display his range as a designer, spanning Foster’s suiting, Roberts’s simple, yet sexy dress, and Tandy’s structured jacket with intricate beadwork.
Armani’s timeless glamour has become a celebrity favorite, from major award show carpets to film festivals around the world. His liquid satin dresses, worn by the likes of Hunter Schafer, Carey Mulligan, and Demi Moore, have become a recent signature. He has also embraced the sparkle. Margot Robbie and Lupita Nyong’o both chose his sequined dresses for the Golden Globes and Oscars, respectively, while Elle Fanning hit the 2025 Cannes Film Festival carpet in a floral baby blue beaded gown.
But Armani has also never been afraid of a risk: He dressed Julia Roberts in an oversized gray suit for her 1990 Golden Globes win and fashioned Lady Gaga a sculptural, embellished dress for the 2010 Grammys, and rubber-stamped sheer styles, dressing Gwyneth Paltrow in a lavender lace dress for the 1998 premiere of Shakespeare in Love.
Here, revisit some of Giorgio Armani’s most memorable red carpet moments.
