Italian fashion designer Giorgio Armani, who died today at the age of 91, had a hand in the design of three recent U.S. condo developments in New York City and the Miami area, from their exteriors to the furniture, lighting and other elements.
Soon after launching his company in Milan in 1975, he became known for designing outfits for movie stars and manufacturing clothing and perfumes for retail stores. He launched his interior design studio in 2004 and collaborated with clients on places to live as well as private yachts and planes, according to the studio’s website.
"Collaborating with Giorgio Armani was one of the highlights of my career, getting to see his design genius and work ethic in action,” Marc Holliday, CEO of real estate investment trust SL Green, said in a statement Thursday.
Holliday said that Armani was personally involved in the development of The Giorgio Armani Residences, a 12-story condo building in the Lenox Hill neighborhood on Manhattan’s Upper East Side, through a venture with New York-based SL Green. Some of the condos have views of Central Park, one block away. The designer reportedly bought one of the units himself before the building designed by New York-based CookFox was completed in 2025. The Giorgio Armani Residences is notable for its fluted limestone façade that “reflects the classic nature of the Armani brand,” according to a statement from SL Green.
Sales of the 10 units that each take up a full floor started at $21.5 million in 2023. One four-bedroom unit on the ninth floor is currently for sale for about $33 million, according to Homes.com. The condos are above the designer’s new Manhattan luxury retail flagship store at 760 Madison Ave. at the corner of East 65th Street.
Armani’s first U.S. residential project was the Residences by Armani/Casa on the Atlantic Ocean in Sunny Isles Beach, just north of Miami, in 2019. The 56-story tower designed by architect Cesar Pelli has 308 condos, with 31 of them currently for sale at prices starting at $1 million. Florida-based Dezer Development and The Related Group worked with Armani on the project. Dezer Development offered a meet-and-greet with Armani for the buyer of the 7,000-square-foot penthouse unit.
“We are proud to have played a role in bringing his design philosophy to life in Miami,” The Related Group chief executive officer Jon Paul Perez told Homes.com.
Armani and a team of developers, including Vertical Developments, WellDuo, GCF Development, SP Developments and G3 Architecture, announced plans in 2024 to build a pair of 19-story condo towers on the waterfront in Pompano Beach, 36 miles north of Miami. Each of the 28 units at the Armani/Casa Residences Pompano Beach has its own floor, including a wraparound terrace. Prices begin at $5 million and sales are underway. The project is scheduled to be complete in 2028.
"I found the integration between the architecture, the natural landscape and the ocean particularly inspiring, and I was excited about the possibility of working for a demanding clientele, being able to convey my vision with complete freedom,” Armani said in a 2024 statement about the Pompano Beach project.
Armani’s interior design arm also was involved in residential projects in London, Beijing, Tel Aviv, Manila, Mumbai and Istanbul. He also has two branded hotels in Dubai and Milan.
Armani learned about design while working as a window decorator in a department store in the northern Italian city of Milan, according to an Associated Press report about his death. He gained fame in part from helping Diane Keaton dress for the part of the title role in Woody Allen’s 1977 film “Annie Hall” and Richard Gere in 1980’s “American Gigolo,” according to the Armani company website.
With Armani’s passing, oversight of his $2.7 billion fashion empire, including the interior design arm, is likely to go to long-time collaborator Leo Dell’Orco and his niece Silvana Armani, according to the AP. Dell’Orco and Silvana Armani currently head the company’s menswear and womenswear collections.
