On The Ground newsletter: Get a weekly dispatch from our international correspondentsGet a weekly dispatch from our international correspondentsGet a weekly international news dispatchThe late Italian designer Giorgio Armani has reportedly instructed his heirs to sell a 15 per cent minority stake in his vast fashion empire, a notable shift from his lifelong resistance to suitors. His business will prioritises French conglomerate LVMH, eyewear giant Essilor-Luxottica, or cosmetics firm L’Oreal.According to the will, published online Friday by Italian daily La Repubblica, 40 per cent of the business goes to long-time collaborator and menswear head, Leo Dell’Orco. Niece Silvana Armani, head of womenswear, and nephew Andrea Camerana each inherit 15 per cent.The Armani Foundation, established in 2016 as a succession vehicle, will control the remaining 30 per cent.Armani, one of the most recognizable names and faces in Italian fashion, died on Sept. 4 at the age of 91. Two wills, one for his business empire and the other for his private property, were deposited with Italian tax authorities on Thursday, and widely reported by Italian media on Friday. The Armani Group declined to comment.Both had been rewritten by Armani last spring, partly by hand on the back of a sepia-colored envelope.Armani remained a rarity in Italian fashion, retaining tight control of his fashion empire in the face of advances from LVMH and Gucci, now part of the Kering group, and from Kering itself, as well as the Fiat-founding Agnelli family heirs.But in his business will, he specified the Armani Foundation should sell a 15% stake not before one year and within 18 months of his death, with preference to LVMH, Essilor-Luxottica or L’Oreal or to a fashion group “of similar standing.’’His niece Roberta, who has long served as a liaison between Armani and his red-carpet clients, and his sister Rosanna, each were allotted a 15% non-voting share in the company. open image in galleryDesigner Giorgio Armani receives applause at the end of the Giorgio Armani men’s Spring Summer 2024 fashion show presented in Milan, Italy,, June 19, 2023. (AP Photo/Luca Bruno, File) (Copyright 2021 The Associated Press. All rights reserved)Armani maintained a 2.5% stake in the French-Italian eyewear giant, worth 2.5 billion euros ($2.93 billion), of which 40% goes to Dell’Orco and and the rest to family members — just a part of the distribution of his vast personal fortune which included homes in Milan, New York, the Sicilian island of Pantelleria and St. Tropez on the French Riviera.The final Emporio Armani and Giorgio Armani collections designed by Armani will be presented later this month during Milan Fashion Week, which opens on Sept. 23. A special exhibition at the Pinacoteca di Brera will mark the 50th anniversary of the signature fashion house.In his will, Armani specified that future collections should be guided by “essential, modern, elegant and understated design with attention to detail and wearability.’’
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Giorgio Armani’s will instructs heirs to sell 15% of his empire
