Giorgio Armani Helped Make ‘American Gigolo’ a Traditional, Director Paul Schrader Says

Giorgio Armani died Thursday … and amongst these mourning the loss is a Hollywood icon who tells TMZ the legendary dressmaker helped make certainly one of his movies an immediate traditional.

As you recognize … Giorgio died “peacefully” at house surrounded by his family members. He was 91.

Paul Schrader, author and director of “American Gigolo,” tells TMZ … the 1980 movie starring Richard Gere had an unintentional cross-promotion that helped make the film a traditional … and pushed Armani’s fortunate break into the U.S. market.

John Travolta was initially going to star in “Gigolo” … and it was his supervisor who steered Armani for the costuming, for the reason that studio needed to get away from the seems of “Saturday Night Fever” and “Grease.”

Paul tells us … he and John met Giorgio in Milan, Italy and he agreed to do the movie. After Travolta dropped out for private causes, they needed to redo your complete wardrobe when Richard Gere was recast because the lead.

Gere himself tells TMZ … “Giorgio was certainly an original. An artist. A visionary of sorts. With the eyes and hand of a craftsman, and the soul of a painter. His work had his essence all over it. And he cared right up to the end. Uncompromising. I know there were those who he terrified because of his exacting nature. To me he was a supremely talented pussycat.”

Paul Schrader tells us they needed to make L.A. “look and feel classy” … and after assembly the designer — already insanely standard in Italy — the director believed Armani would try this.

The movie was a smash hit on the field workplace and with critics … and Giorgio used that to catapult the model into the U.S. market — subsequently costuming a number of different movies, together with “The Untouchables” and “Goodfellas.”