With a red rose tied to the railing outside its offices in the Milan fashion district, the city bid farewell to Giorgio Armani on Friday, who died on Thursday at the age of 91, half a century after the founding of his homonym.

The news of Armani’s death, which was synonymous with Italian creativity and timeless elegance, scattered sadness throughout Italy and the world of fashion. “Beyond the artist, beyond the fashion king, we lost a man with a big heart,” said Gabriella Votsia, residents of Milan, in Reuters.

In the rosemary strait where its headquarters are located, clothing traditions continued normally, while the exhibition space hosted shows turned into a place where it will host Armani’s coffin for popular pilgrimage. His funeral will take place in a narrow circle on Monday afternoon.

“With Armani ends a time, a time when Italy has managed to show its creativity to the world,” said Stefano del Frame, a resident of Milan.

The loss of the designer, who held tightly in his hands the empire he created without selling it to foreign chapters, caused a wave of farewells from branded, consumers and fashion leaders. Federico Marketti, founder of Yoox-Net-a-Porter and member of the Board of Directors. of the Armani Group, he stressed that “it left very specific guidelines for the future of the company so that there is no derogation.”

Armani started out as a windshield decorator at the La Rinascente department store before being discovered by Nino Cherti. In the first pages of Italian newspapers today dominates his face. Corriere della Sera wrote: “The embrace of the world for the lord of fashion”, stressing that he was “working to the end”, as shortly before his death he oversees dresses for the show scheduled for September 28.

This show is scheduled to close Milan Fashion Week at Pinacoteca di Brera, it would also be a celebration for the 50th anniversary of Armani.

Armani’s influence was worldwide: he dressed in celebrities such as Richard Gir, Julia Roberts and Lady Gaga. Today the question is focused on the future of the house and who will take over the reins.

“I’m shocked,” said Azelik Benfield outside the Armani store in Beverly Hills. “It was really a flagship person in the fashion industry.”