The Architect of Timeless Elegance
But he didn’t see it happening anytime soon. “So the solution is to remain here while I can and create a group of people that I can trust, with one person by my side.” Eight years later, he told Vogue that he would pass down the business to family. He mentioned Dell’Orco and Roberta Armani—Silvana’s sister, who had worked at the company for decades, landing eventually in public relations as his most outward-facing lieutenant. But even as he approached his 90th year, Armani remained the undisputed boss of the company.
Then there was the question of succession, creative- and business-wise, within the Armani Group. During a 2013 interview with then New York Times fashion critic Cathy Horyn, she asked him if he thought about who would next take the reins. “Every morning,” Armani, then 79, said.
