Fashion bids Armani farewell at designer’s final Milan shows
His heirs face key decisions, from selecting a new chief executive officer to choosing an industry partner for the future
[MILAN] Giorgio Armani built an empire worth billions, but the fashion mogul was most at home in his role of designer, obsessively fine-tuning his creations before he unfurled them on the runway.
As recently as July, when ill health kept Armani from attending his own fashion show in Paris, he oversaw preparations over video link. He later met with staff in person, and continued to pore over coming presentations until days before his death this month at age 91.
Over the past week, the fashion world has witnessed the result of those labours: a museum exhibition in Milan marking the 50-year anniversary of Giorgio Armani SpA, an Emporio Armani runway show during Milan Fashion Week, and Sunday (Sep 28) night’s rollout of the final designs for his signature Giorgio Armani line that were guided by the maestro’s hand.
For the fashion shows, Armani’s staff adhered to decisions he made when meeting with internal teams in late July, according to Anoushka Borghesi, who heads global communications at Armani.
“He really designed and sketched how he wanted the models to appear, and worked with the Style Office team right up until the end to make all the choices,” she noted. “So he was really behind every step of the fashion shows, both Giorgio and Emporio, right up to the end.”
At the Emporio Armani event on Thursday, the models paid homage to the designer by applauding while still on the runway. On Saturday, Anna Wintour presented his family with a posthumous award, recalling his relaxed power suits for men and women that set the tone for the 1980s, from Richard Gere in American Gigolo to Julia Roberts.
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Sunday night’s collection was classic Armani: elegant, weightless fabrics, presented in the softly lit main courtyard of Palazzo di Brera, to an audience that included Gere, Cate Blanchett and Spike Lee. Leo Dell’Orco, Armani’s head of men’s design, and niece Silvana Armani, who leads women’s design, received a brief standing ovation.
The brimming schedule has kept Armani’s family, close friends and colleagues busy in the weeks following his death, but there is more work ahead. His heirs face key decisions, from selecting a new chief executive officer to choosing an industry partner for the future.
The transition comes at a challenging time for global luxury brands, after well-heeled consumers curbed spending on pricey fashion creations, handbags and watches. Armani sales fell 5 per cent last year to 2.3 billion euros (S$3.5 billion), amid economic uncertainty and slowing demand in China.
Armani’s will instructed the company to find a strategic partner to purchase an initial 15 per cent stake within 18 months, raising it to as much as nearly 70 per cent within five years. As an alternative, the company could be listed on a public stock market.
He designated three preferred buyers: luxury kingpin LVMH Möet Hennessy Louis Vuitton, and two existing partners: L’Oréal SA for fragrances, makeup and skin care, and EssilorLuxottica for eyewear.
At a Fashion Week breakfast with journalists, Prada heir Lorenzo Bertelli said that he would be disappointed if Armani followed in the steps of Fendi and Gucci, which were purchased by France’s LVMH and Kering, respectively. Prada, which is buying Italian label Versace from US-traded Capri Holdings, was not among the chosen suitors.
“It was his company so I can only respect his will, but of course we’d be upset to see it in non-Italian hands,” said Bertelli, who serves as Prada’s chief marketing officer.
While a major makeover is not expected before any deal, Armani has some issues that present challenges for a buyer like LVMH, said Luca Solca, an analyst at Bernstein. Clothing lines such as Armani Exchange and Armani Jeans skew to the lower end, and wholesale channels prevail over higher-priced retail.
“I think that the licensees would be more likely bidders (for their own category), with an American company taking fashion,” Solca noted. “I see a better fit with Ralph Lauren than LVMH for Armani, just as one example.”
What Armani needs now is someone to take charge of the company, said Stefania Saviolo, a lecturer on fashion and luxury management at Milan’s Bocconi University. That includes making decisions on the future of some businesses units, from ready-to-wear to beauty and sports lines.
“There is no person or team yet to decide and define a road map for the future, given that Giorgio Armani has been doing all this for decades,” Saviolo added. “What we hope for is to have an entrepreneur-CEO as soon as possible.”
Dell’Orco, Armani’s 72-year-old partner and longtime aide, is leading the business for now, along with family members and key executives. The company has said that finding a new CEO is among the first priorities.
LVMH has said that it is “honoured” to be selected as a potential partner, while signalling little about its intentions. Analysts said that Armani’s expertise in areas like hotel licensing could be attractive, but it lacks a strong presence in key high-margin areas like leather goods.
EssilorLuxottica has said it would carefully consider what it called an “evolutionary prospect”, while representatives of L’Oréal declined to comment. Bloomberg News reported last week that L’Oréal is only interested in Armani’s profitable beauty arm, where its licensing deal lasts until 2050.
The result could be a parceling out of Armani’s key operations, for example with L’Oreal holding onto the fragrance relationship and other lines going to key partners.
“At the end of the day, what matters is that the buyer of Armani keeps the brand’s DNA and the legacy of its founder,” said Carlo Capasa, chairman of the Milan Fashion Week organiser Camera Nazionale della Moda Italiana. “After all, there are French groups that own Gucci and Fendi, and their operations stayed in Italy.”
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