Giorgio Armani Helped Make 'American Gigolo' a Classic, Director Paul Schrader Says

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Giorgio Armani died Thursday ... and among those mourning the loss is a Hollywood icon who tells TMZ the legendary fashion designer helped make one of his films an instant classic.

As you know ... Giorgio died "peacefully" at home surrounded by his loved ones. He was 91. Getty

Paul Schrader , writer and director of "American Gigolo," tells TMZ … the 1980 film starring Richard Gere had an unintentional cross-promotion that helped make the movie a classic ... and pushed Armani's lucky break into the U.S. market.

John Travolta was originally going to star in "Gigolo" ... and it was his manager who suggested Armani for the costuming, since the studio wanted to get away from the looks of "Saturday Night Fever" and "Grease."

Paul tells us