![\"TOPSHOT-FASHION-FRANCE-ARMANI](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/people\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/1776738874_574_0x0.jpg\")
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TOPSHOT – Italian designer Giorgio Armani acknowledges the applause at the end of his presentation for Armani Prive during the Women’s Haute-Couture Spring\/Summer 2025 Fashion Week to mark its 20th anniversary, in Paris on January 28, 2025. (Photo by JULIEN DE ROSA \/ AFP) (Photo by JULIEN DE ROSA\/AFP via Getty Images)<\/p>\n
AFP via Getty Images<\/p>\n
Giorgio Armani built one of the last great independent luxury powerhouses by saying no\u2014to investors, partners, and acquisition offers from industry giants. \u201cI wouldn\u2019t have blinked an eye if they said it\u2019s just going to stay with the family,\u201d Kurt Bielawski, former Giorgio Armani buyer for Neiman Marcus, told me on our Zoom call.<\/p>\n
Armani was sole shareholder of the estimated $12.1 billion lifestyle brand, encompassing apparel, beauty and fragrance, eyewear, watches and jewelry, hotels, restaurants and even gourmet chocolates. He owned entirely his manufacturing subsidiaries and held a financial stake in a licensing partner\u2019s business. <\/p>\n
And yet, his will introduced a completely contradictory directive: within 18 months, 15% of the Group must be sold, ideally to LVMH, L\u2019Or\u00e9al, or EssilorLuxottica. A second tranche of up to 54.9% follows within five years to create an eventual handoff of majority control. If no strategic buyer emerges, an IPO is mandated.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe was definitely a designer who was also a businessman,\u201d Bielawski added. \u201cI\u2019m sure he was looking at this from a perspective of longevity and who is going to take care of my brand.\u201d<\/p>\n
Armani\u2019s long-time partner and head of menswear, Leo Dell\u2019Orco, will oversee day-to-day operations with 30% of company shares and 40% of voting rights. Armani\u2019s niece Silvana, who leads women\u2019s design, will hold 15% of both shares and voting rights, as will his nephew Andrea Camerana, the only family member with children representing the next generation. His other niece, Roberta, and his sister Rosanna both received 15% of shares but no voting rights. <\/p>\n
At the center sits the Giorgio Armani Foundation, created in 2016 to safeguard the brand\u2019s codes of \u201cessential, modern, elegant and unostentatious\u201d style. It retains 10% of shares and 30% of voting rights, maintaining veto power over major corporate changes to act as guardian of the brand\u2019s legacy. After the mandated 15% sale to outside investors, voting rights and share percentages will be proportionally reduced, but voting structure stays similar.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt is rumored that Pantaleo [Leo] Dell\u2019Orco\u2014Armani\u2019s partner and right hand for decades\u2014will take on its creative leadership,\u201d Jeannine Diego, assistant professor of fashion in the Virginia Commonwealth University School of the Arts told me in an email prior to the will\u2019s reading. \u201cYet Dell\u2019Orco is not Armani. Fashion labels have always been tied to a personality, a persona, a charismatic center.\u201d <\/p>\n
She added, \u201cI wonder whether it is wise for this new chapter to lean so heavily on continuity rather than on opportunity.\u201d<\/p>\n
Armani After Giorgio: Three Paths <\/p>\n
PARIS, FRANCE – JUNE 25: (EDITORIAL USE ONLY – For Non-Editorial use please seek approval from Fashion House) Fashion designer Giorgio Armani walks the runway during the Giorgio Armani Priv\u00e9 Haute Couture Fall\/Winter 2024-2025 show as part of Paris Fashion Week on June 25, 2024 in Paris, France. (Photo by Marc Piasecki\/WireImage)<\/p>\n
WireImage<\/p>\n
Any potential successor must grapple with creative and commercial principles defining the 50-year-old Armani Group and forged through its founder\u2019s absolute vision. The brand\u2019s DNA represents both a powerfully enduring pedigree and potential constraint on future evolution.<\/p>\n
\u201cOnce Giorgio Armani, the man, is gone, by definition, his hand is not involved in the garment you are buying,\u201d Robin Derrick, former creative director at British Vogue and creative consultant for Giorgio Armani for seven years, said over Zoom. \u201cI actually think there is no Giorgio Armani without Giorgio Armani.\u201d<\/p>\n
Dana Thomas, fashion and culture journalist and bestselling author of \u201cDeluxe: How Luxury Lost Its Luster\u201d and \u201cFashionopolis: The Price of Fast Fashion and the Future of Clothes,\u201d drew on her 35-year acquaintance with Armani to offer a measured optimism. \u201cI think the Armani brand is larger than its creator and is likely to remain a mainstay in the fashion and luxury sector,\u201d she told me in email. \u201cOther brands have survived their founders: think Chanel, Dior… I expect brands like Armani or Ralph Lauren will do the same.\u201d<\/p>\n
So then, who takes Armani? <\/p>\n
The will specifically names three contenders, but only one casts a long shadow over the others. Bernard Arnault, fashion\u2019s \u201cCashmere Wolf,\u201d has a proven playbook for folding heritage houses into his constellation. Bulgari and Tiffany have flourished under LVMH, with the former increasing net profits over 60% in recent years and the latter delivering record results at flagship stores. In adding Armani, Arnault will complete a grand trifecta including Dior and Vuitton to claim one of the last bastions of Italian independents. <\/p>\n
The house Armani built isn\u2019t entirely Arnault\u2019s to lose, however. The will also names L\u2019Or\u00e9al and EssilorLuxottica as potential successors, both with decades-long ties to the house. L\u2019Oreal delivers beauty expansion with operational independence; EssilorLuxottica sustains the Italian influence. Neither possess Arnault\u2019s comprehensive sphere, but both might protect more of what makes Armani distinctly Armani. All three fundamentally represent different visions for what the brand becomes next.<\/p>\n
L\u2019Or\u00e9al Knows Armani Best <\/p>\n
PARIS, FRANCE – JULY 04: President of the “Federation Francaise de la Couture” Pascal Morand, Chairman & former Chief Executive Officer of L’Oreal Jean-Paul Agon and his wife Sophie Agon attend the Giorgio Armani Prive Haute Couture Fall\/Winter 2017-2018 show as part of Haute Couture Paris Fashion Week on July 4, 2017 in Paris, France. (Photo by Bertrand Rindoff Petroff\/Getty Images)<\/p>\n
Getty Images<\/p>\n
\u201cI actually thought that Est\u00e9e Lauder would have been a candidate since they had acquired the Tom Ford company a few years back,\u201d Tom Julian, brand consultant and former style manager for Nordstrom, emailed me after our initial Zoom call. \u201cThat has seemed to be a seamless transaction and successful partnership especially for Ford\u2019s high-end tailored collections and boutiques.\u201d<\/p>\n
Indeed, the Tom Ford\u2013Est\u00e9e Lauder deal became one of the most consequential in luxury. What began in 2006 as a licensing agreement for Tom Ford Beauty culminated in Est\u00e9e Lauder\u2019s $2.8 billion acquisition of the full brand in 2023. A beauty house buying a fashion label and making it work suggests a model L\u2019Or\u00e9al could pursue.<\/p>\n
L\u2019Or\u00e9al\u2019s relationship with Armani runs deeper than most realize, spanning nearly four decades of collaboration extending well beyond typical licensing agreements. \u201cL\u2019Or\u00e9al had a deal whereby between five and 10% of their marketing spend, he could do with what he wanted, and one of the things he did was hire me,\u201d Derrick told me. \u201cSo basically, he got a free art director, namely me, paid for by L\u2019Or\u00e9al.\u201d The unusual arrangement gave Armani extraordinary creative freedom while L\u2019Or\u00e9al bankrolled campaigns across categories.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe used to love torturing L\u2019Or\u00e9al,\u201d Derrick laughed, recounting fragrance meetings where Armani would spray samples and tell the French executives the sample \u201csmells like wet dog.\u201d When L\u2019Or\u00e9al proposed naming a new fragrance Bellissima, forecasting $27 million in sales compared to $11 million for Armani\u2019s preferred Anima, he retorted, \u201cLa pasta \u00e8 bellissima (pasta is beautiful),\u201d implying the commonality of their choice lacked sophistication.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe beauty of Armani is he never just slapped his name on colognes and belts to build a business,\u201d Julian noted. \u201cHe did all these very uniquely and very distinctly.\u201d<\/p>\n
The partnership thrived precisely because Armani demanded more. Acqua di Gi\u00f2 became one of the most successful fragrances in history, while the Armani Priv\u00e9 collection achieved a prestige rivaling Chanel and Dior. \u201cHe got them to increase the quality of the ingredients, he got them to do incredible things, and I think the makeup and the cosmetics is brilliant,\u201d Derrick said.<\/p>\n
Now L\u2019Or\u00e9al has the chance to convert that licensing relationship into ownership, but industry speculation suggests<\/a> the French conglomerate only wants the beauty division. The existing agreement was renewed in 2018 through 2050. It\u2019s worth approximately \u20ac1.5 billion annually, or roughly 10% of L\u2019Or\u00e9al\u2019s luxury division sales. <\/p>\n Still, L\u2019Or\u00e9al represents continuity without disruption. Unlike LVMH, which would absorb Armani into a sprawling portfolio, L\u2019Or\u00e9al knows the brand\u2019s creative language, understands its standards, and has invested decades building infrastructure to support Armani\u2019s vision. Ownership could retain Armani Group\u2019s independence.<\/p>\n EssilorLuxottica And The Italian Case for Armani<\/p>\n A range of Giorgio Armani SpA spectacles, manufactured by EssilorLuxottica SA, sit on display inside a Pearle opticians store, operated by Grandvision NV, in Amsterdam, Netherlands, on Wednesday, July 1, 2020. Photographer: Peter Boer\/Bloomberg<\/p>\n \u00a9 2020 Bloomberg Finance LP<\/p>\n An EssilorLuxottica acquisition would keep one of Italy\u2019s most consequential luxury houses under Italian ownership. Giorgio Armani and Leonardo Del Vecchio, Luxottica\u2019s late founder, forged a groundbreaking partnership in 1988, with Armani holding a 2.5% stake in the world’s largest eyewear company. Before their deal, glasses were medical devices. After, they became fashion accessories behind a billion-dollar category, reshaping how luxury brands think about extensions and proving eyewear could carry the same prestige as couture.<\/p>\n Armani-branded eyewear generates about $530 million annually<\/a> for the group; one-fifth of Ray-Ban\u2019s sales, but with luxury positioning\u2019s heftier margins. EssilorLuxottica renewed their exclusive arrangement with Armani in 2022 for another 15 years, running through 2037.<\/p>\n \u201cWhile others remained focused purely on clothing, Armani started building a complete lifestyle ecosystem, decades before \u2018lifestyle branding\u2019 became an industry standard,\u201d noted Effie Kanyua, former director of PR & communications for Hearst UK & Europe, in email. Yet this expansive ecosystem is precisely where doubts about EssilorLuxottica\u2019s capacity arise.<\/p>\n The group only recently stepped into apparel with its $1.5 billion acquisition of Supreme from VF Corporation in 2024. This was a bold move, but hardly preparation for Armani\u2019s sprawling fashion network. \u201cArmani would be a tough nut to crack for EssilorLuxottica,\u201d a Reuters analyst remarked. Managing a streetwear brand built on hype drops isn\u2019t the same as sustaining Armani\u2019s sober sophistication.<\/p>\n And there are margin realities. Armani\u2019s core fashion business operates at just 3% margins. EssilorLuxottica\u2019s eyewear, by contrast, enjoys 17%. As HSBC\u2019s Erwan Rambourg put it, Armani means \u201cgreat eyewear, great beauty, a great legacy, but the ready-to-wear brand today is not the hottest on the planet.\u201d<\/p>\n Still, an Armani succession to another Milan-based company would preserve Italian identity in a way LVMH or L\u2019Or\u00e9al can\u2019t. \u201cThe work now is custodianship, not reinvention,\u201d Eric Abramian, former vice president of development at Zadig & Voltaire, told me in an email. \u201cNew leadership must carry his manners forward \u2014 discretion, respect, the unflashy bow \u2014 so the world he built remains intact while edging ahead of the present.\u201d<\/p>\n But can Armani Group afford sentiment over scale in today\u2019s M&A landscape? Perhaps Armani himself wrestled with this when he left the door ajar for \u201cThe Terminator,\u201d (one of Arnault\u2019s other colorful nicknames) to ensure going with him will allow his dynasty to live.<\/p>\n And If LVMH Takes Armani?<\/p>\n World’s top luxury group LVMH head Bernard Arnault presents the group’s annual results 2022 in Paris on January 26, 2023. – LVMH said that its sales and net profit both hit new heights last year, driven by strong demand in Europe and the United States. Sales came in at 79 billion euros ($86 billion) and net profit at 14 billion euros for 2022 \u2014 both new records for the group, whose brands include Bulgari, Givenchy, Louis Vuitton, and TAG Heuer. (Photo by Stefano Rellandini \/ AFP) (Photo by STEFANO RELLANDINI\/AFP via Getty Images)<\/p>\n AFP via Getty Images<\/p>\n \u201cSuccession is going to be very interesting given what must be a unique structure among a decades-old label of this size,\u201d Jack Yan, founder and publisher of fashion magazine Lucire, told me in email. \u201cI imagine plans have been made among trusted team members to keep the ship steady. This is one of the more diversified fashion groups around with so many brand extensions, including restaurants.\u201d<\/p>\n This latter point makes the case for an LVMH acquisition. With 75 luxury brands in Arnault\u2019s harem, real estate holdings including a major stake in Miami\u2019s Design District and New York\u2019s Fifth Avenue, several hotels through a 2019 $3.2 billion acquisition of Belmond Ltd, and ventures across finance, media and technology, luxury\u2019s modern-day Alexander III of Macedon could easily fold Armani into his empire. <\/p>\n \u201cGiven Armani\u2019s brand is a global one and represents elegance, craftsmanship, design and luxury, these would align strategically with LVMH,\u201d Julian noted. \u201cI really don\u2019t see a downgrade in quality for Armani should an acquisition come to pass.\u201d<\/p>\n Even so, as I\u2019ve mentioned in past articles<\/a> about my favorite Cashmere Conquistador here<\/a> and here<\/a> and here<\/a>, I have reservations; not about LVMH\u2019s ability to keep the brand profitable, but the sacrifices that come from Arnault\u2019s business methods. The Conqueror of the Known Luxury World isn\u2019t known for his sentimentality. <\/p>\n