Georgio Armani, an icon of Italian fashion, died this Thursday at the age of 91, accompanied by his family and Leo Dell'Orco, his partner for the past 20 years.
Although the media always speculated about a romance between the two, the designer was very secretive about it. Dell'Orco was his right-hand man and the head of menswear for the luxury brand. He is 73 years old, was born in Bari, and his real name is Pantaleo.
He was one of the designer's closest associates. They had known each other for over 45 years, and he and his niece Silvina Armani were chosen as the heir to the Italian company.
Who is Leo Dell'Orco, the partner of Italian designer Giorgio Armani?
"He is the person to whom I have confided my most intimate thoughts, personal, work-related and otherwise, and who has kept them to himself with great reserve," Armani himself recounted in his autobiography,"For Love," published by Mondadori Electa.
Despite his decisive role in shaping the menswear line, Dell'Orco always chose to remain in the background. In June 2021, during Milan Fashion Week, Giorgio publicly acknowledged this at the end of a menswear show.
She left holding his handand declared: “It was only right to go out with Leo, who has helped me with the men’s collections for so many years; he’s my collaborator and he’s very good, just like my niece Silvana with the women’s collection.”
Italian fashion designer Giorgio Armani and his longtime collaborator Leo Dell'Orco at the presentation of the Spring Summer 2022 collection. Photo: AFP.
As Dell'Orco told the Italian media outlet La Repubblica, they met by chance:"In the park on Via Tiraboschi, in Milan: his dog started playing with a friend's dog, whom I was walking. He was 24 years old and had been working at Snam for years, first as an advertising executive and then as an industrial designer."
In that same interview, he described what it was like to work with Armani:" He's the most creative of all: if he could, he'd be even more daring. We often hide the most commercial pieces from him because otherwise, he'd accuse us of always doing the same thing."
As for his demanding nature, she revealed:"I don't think he's ever said 'well done' to me. It's a good thing he patted me on the back. But it doesn't bother me; I know how he thinks now. And another thing: if it were up to him, he'd do everything right away. You can't keep up with him."
In July 2019, Leo took over as chairman of the board of directors of Pallacanestro Olimpia Milano, the club that Armani has owned since 2008.
Moreover, at the last Milan fashion show, he was the one who took the bow on behalf of the house while Giorgio was convalescing. With Armani's death, the responsibility of keeping his legacy alive falls to his closest circle: his niece Silvana and Leo Dell'Orco.
