The renowned fashion icon, who is celebrating his 90th birthday this year, has maintained control over his brand for nearly fifty years. However, in a recent interview with Bloomberg, Armani hinted at the possibility of integrating his brand into a luxury conglomerate or potentially going public in the future.
“I don’t currently envisage a takeover by a large luxury conglomerate,” Giorgio Armani wrote in a written interview with the outlet. “But as I said, I don’t want to exclude anything a priori because that would be an ‘unentrepreneurial’ course of action . . . Listing is something we have not yet discussed, but it is an option that may be considered, hopefully in the distant future.”
Armani has long been recognized as a leader in the luxury industry, yet he has remained relatively quiet about the future of his brand once he steps away from the helm. However, in a recent interview, he has begun to share his vision for the company’s future. Currently, Armani retains majority control of the brand, contributing significantly to his substantial net worth of $6.6 billion, as reported by the Bloomberg Billionaires Index. Although Armani lacks offspring to inherit the company, he expressed his desire to pass it on to few relatives and trusted advisors. Some of these individuals are already overseeing the Armani foundation, and Armani sees this group as instrumental in shaping the future trajectory of the entire company.
“The foundation will decide and govern the future of the Armani Group because the people closest to me are at the helm of it,” he said. “The foundation’s role is essentially to guarantee and guard my work and the values I hold most dear and on which I founded my company. My intention was to establish a framework within which my group could operate even in my absence.”
Armani’s core principles notably encompass independence. Despite the trend of luxury brands aligning with conglomerates such as LVMH and Kering, Armani has maintained his company’s autonomy. While he hopes to preserve this independence moving forward, he remains open-minded about exploring alternative pathways.
“Independence is one of the founding values of everything I have created and certainly the one I have guarded most tenaciously, to the point of obstinacy,” he said. “I think independence from large groups could still be a driving value for the Armani Group in the future, but I don’t feel I can rule anything out. What has always characterized the success of my work is an ability to adapt to changing times.”
When Armani steps down from his company, it will undoubtedly signify a transition in leadership.