By Elisa Anzolin and Lisa Jucca

MILAN (Reuters) -Designer Giorgio Armani, who helped to put Italy at the forefront of global fashion and dressed Hollywood stars, has died at the age of 91, the company that he founded and led for five decades said on Thursday.

Armani combined the flair of a designer with business acumen as he directed a company generating some 2.3 billion euros ($2.7 billion) in annual turnover.

“With infinite sorrow, the Armani Group announces the passing of its creator, founder, and tireless driving force: Giorgio Armani,” the fashion house, which has remained proudly independent for 50 years, said in a statement.

“We, the employees and the family members, who have always worked alongside Mr. Armani, commit to protecting what he built and to carrying his company forward in his memory, with respect, responsibility, and love,” it added.

The designer had been unwell for some time and was forced to drop out of his group’s shows at Milan’s Men’s Fashion Week in June, the first time he had missed one of his catwalk events.

Actress Julia Roberts, who famously wore an Armani men’s suit for the 1990 Golden Globes, posted a picture of herself with the designer on Instagram with a broken heart emoji. “A true friend. A legend,” she wrote.

Armani remained the sole owner of his company and worked with a tight-knit group of long-time colleagues and members of his family.

“He treated everyone as equals and felt at ease among young people. He’d invite us to birthday parties and dinners at his villa in Broni (northern Italy), groups of us: tailors, mailmen, sales assistants,” said Mauro Barbieri, who worked as a warehouse man for Armani in Milan for 32 years.

“He would laugh with us and was really down to earth,” Barbieri told Reuters.

A funeral chamber will be opened on Saturday and Sunday in Milan, the city he made his home, to allow well-wishers to pay their respects. His funeral will be held on Monday in private.

ATTENTION TO DETAIL

Known as “Re Giorgio” – King Giorgio in his native Italian – the designer famously oversaw every detail of his collection and all aspects of his business, from advertising to fixing models’ hair as they headed out on to the runway.

The company had been planning an exhibition and other events during Milan Fashion Week this month to honour the 50th anniversary of the company Armani founded with his romantic partner Sergio Galeotti in 1975.

Family members, including nieces Silvana and Roberta as well as his nephew, Andrea Camerana, and his right-hand man Pantaleo Dell’Orco are expected to run the company from now but his death raises inevitable questions about its future.

Armani’s minimalist style, particularly for jackets, was an instant success in the United States in the late 1970s and 1980s, particularly among women, who found in his aesthetic a perfect balance of elegance and strength in what was back then still a masculine-led working world.

“His clients usually continued wearing his style for decades. They married into his philosophy, especially professional women,” said Virginia Hill, a dress and fashion historian based in Italy.

(Reporting by Elisa Anzolin and Lisa Jucca; Editing by Keith Weir, Joe Bavier and Ros Russell)