Sergio Galeotti was born on 26 July 1945. He attended the art high school in Carrara and worked for several architectural practices before meeting Giorgio Armani in Forte dei Marmi, Tuscany, in 1966. The two became partners in life and business.
It was Galeotti who pushed Armani to go independent. In 1973 he persuaded him to open a design office in Milan, at 37 Corso Venezia, and to build the capital for a label of his own he convinced Armani to sell his Volkswagen to pay for staff and premises. On 24 July 1975 they founded Giorgio Armani S.p.A., with Galeotti running finance and administration while Armani designed. "Sergio made me believe in myself," Armani later said. "He made me see the bigger world." Under Galeotti the company signed the 1978 manufacturing agreement with GFT and launched Emporio Armani in 1981.
Galeotti died on 14 August 1985, aged 40, of complications of AIDS, although his death was reported at the time as a heart attack. Armani said that losing him made him re-examine his company and his life, and he went on to run the business alone.