[ROME] Giorgio Armani fought for decades to keep the fashion empire he founded independent, as Italian icons like Gucci and Fendi were snapped up by larger luxury chains. It will be his heirs who decide what the future will hold.
The Italian patriarch, whose death at age 91 was announced on Thursday (Sep 4), entrusted the future of Giorgio Armani to close family members and associates who will map the next steps for a company he started in 1975.
A fierce protector of his empire during his long career, Armani told Bloomberg News last year he wouldn’t rule out an IPO or a sale to a larger group once he was gone. Armani’s estimated net worth of US$9.4 billion represented mostly the value of his company.
The company on Thursday vowed to preserve his spirit of independence, collaboration and the vision Armani crafted that went beyond fashion, “anticipating the times with extraordinary clarity and pragmatism”.
While it offered no specifics about what comes next, it pledged to protect what Armani created and carry the company forward in his memory.
“Giorgio Armani is a company with 50 years of history, built with emotion and patience,” it said. “Giorgio Armani always made independence – of thought and action – his hallmark. The company is, now and always, a reflection of this spirit. His family and employees will carry the group forward in respect and continuity of these values.”
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In an April 2024 interview, Armani said he did not want to rule out any possibilities, saying that it would be up to his heirs to evaluate opportunities that arose in the future.
While independence could still drive value for Armani, “what has always characterised the success of my work is an ability to adapt to changing times”, he said.
At the time, Armani envisioned “a pool of trusted people close to me and chosen by me”, he said.
He pointed to the leadership of his company’s foundation, particularly Leo Dell’Orco, who has supported the designer in managing the company for years, as well as his nieces, Silvana and Roberta Armani, and nephew Andrea Camerana. Armani had no children.
Armani reiterated those views in an interview with the Financial Times last week, saying he envisioned a “gradual transition” of his responsibilities to family members and close associates such as Dell’Orco, who is head of men’s design.
An Armani representative on Thursday declined to comment on the company’s future.
Armani, who rose from a window dresser to create one of the world’s most prominent luxury houses, was a hands-on boss who kept tight control over his company, managing to remain independent in a luxury industry that has become more concentrated under groups such as LVMH Moet Hennessy Louis Vuitton, which owns Loro Piana and Fendi, and Gucci owner Kering.
Recently, Prada– which owns the hit Gen-Z brand Miu Miu – agreed to buy Versace.
The Italian fashion mogul created a sprawling business with various fashion lines as well as long-term licences attributed to L’Oreal for its beauty and fragrance products, famously Acqua di Gio, and EssilorLuxottica for its branded eyewear, while Fossil Group sells Emporio Armani watches.
“I don’t currently envisage a takeover by a large luxury conglomerate,” Armani told Bloomberg last year. “But as I said, I don’t want to exclude anything a priori because that would be an ‘unentrepreneurial’ course of action.”
Armani was very active in his final year. In October 2024, he donned a tuxedo and presented his womenswear spring-summer 2025 collection in New York City.
The show coincided with the inauguration of the Armani building on Madison Avenue, spread over 12 floors, which includes at least two boutiques, a restaurant as well as Armani apartments – a project that was developed with Armani’s team of architects, according to the brand’s Instagram account.
Still, the group was not immune to the luxury slump that has dented the fortunes of LVMH majority owner Bernard Arnault and Kering’s Pinault family. In July, Armani reported a 5 per cent drop in annual sales to US$2.7 billion due to macroeconomic uncertainty and slowing demand in China.
“He created a unique style, combining light and shadow, that he developed into a large and successful entrepreneurial journey and extended Italian elegance to a global scale,” Arnault said in a statement.
Armani is also one of the luxury brands that has been caught up in probes by Italian authorities into questionable labour and supply-chain practices. Earlier this year, a court in Milan released a unit of the company from administrative oversight following allegations of worker exploitations in bag production.
For the fashion capital of Milan, Armani’s death marks the departure of one of the city’s major lights and a constant civic presence.
His influence spanned fashion, architecture, furniture, hospitality and philanthropy – even sports, with Armani’s ownership of the Olimpia Milano basketball club. His minimalist style, meanwhile, came to define Italian elegance in the world.
The foundation he created will also now bear responsibility for advancing his charitable works, particularly in Milan. The nonagenarian worked on collections and projects until his final days, the company said.
“In this company, we have always felt like part of a family,” it said. BLOOMBERG
