The successor plans of the Italian fashion designer and entrepreneur Giorgio Armani are eagerly awaited.
Even if the details of his will are not yet known, the statutes of the company and an interview before his death give an insight into the future of his empire. The designer, known for his discretion, creativity and elegance, has built a global brand with an estimated value between 11 and 13 billion euros.
The Giorgio Armani Group currently employs 8,700 employees and generated sales of 2.3 billion euros in 2024.
Stop transition
The statute of the company is intended to protect business and stylistic integrity after the founder’s death. The succession plan includes several key persons, including Arman’s niece Silvana and Roberta, his sister Rosanna and her son Andrea Camerana. Also represented on the Board of Directors are Armanis Right Hand Pantaleo Dell’orco and Federico Marchetti, the founder of YooX.
“As long as I’m there, I am the boss,” said the Italian designer in 2021 in an interview with the magazine GQ. Armani was reluctant to talk about afterwards. During his lifetime, he failed to clearly commit himself to a successor – he did not have his own children.
But shortly before his death, he spoke to the British Economic Newspaper Financial Times in his possibly last interview about the future of his fashion person: “My plans for the successor provide for a step -by -step transition of the tasks that I have always perceived myself to those who are closest to me.”
The fashion designer also emphasized: “I want the successor to happen organically and that there is no jerky moment.”
The central role of the Armani Foundation
The Armani Foundation, which holds a share of 0.1 percent of Giorgio Armani Spa, will play a central role in this transition. The statutes, which was passed in 2016 and updated in 2023, provide for a complex stock structure with different voting rights.
Formitor: Inside with A shares, 30 percent of the capital, F-shares 10 percent. Despite their share of only 40 percent of the capital, these two groups will have over 53 percent of the vote.
This structure grants the A shareholders the right to appoint three board members, including the chairman, in an eight-member board. The F shareholders may choose two board members, including the managing director.
Leading principles
The articles of association also determine the basic principles that will lead the future business activity of the company. This includes maintaining an “appropriate investment level”, ensuring “balanced financial management” and prioritizing the “reinvestment of profits”.
The principles of the corporate statute also emphasize a “careful approach in the case of acquisitions” and focus on “diversification and segmentation” of the brands while maintaining a stylistic consistency.
The fashion house should continue to work for “innovation, excellence, quality and sophistication” of its products and give priority to the global development of the Armani brand.
Preserving independence
Armani always wanted to maintain the independence of his fashion house and rejected takeover offers until the end. Last year he told the Italian newspaper Corriere Della Sera that he recently increased “somewhat more persistent” approaches from potential external investors: inside to his company. However, he had always rejected all offers.
There will be more clarity about the plans for the successor to the brand prepared before his death. According to Italian media reports, ARMANS TESTAME should then be opened. (Fashionunited / dpa)
This article was used with digital tools translated.
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