I’m 90, but I can still give myself two or three years as head of the company, says Giorgio Armani

Giorgio Armani on the runway of one of his fashions show during Milan Fashion Week last year. Photo: Getty

Giorgio Armani, the 90-year-old founder of the revered Italian fashion brand, insists he won’t retire for a few years yet.

Armani has so far been tight-lipped about succession plans for the company he still firmly controls.

“I can still give myself two or three years as head of the company. Not more, it would be negative,” he told Italy’s Corriere della Sera newspaper.

Armani said he had been having restless nights in which he would dream of a future in that “I no longer have to be the one who says ‘Yes’ or ‘No’.”

He added he had received “slightly more insistent” approaches from potential outside investors in his company, “but for the moment I do not see any openings”.

With no children to pass it on to, there has been speculation about the long-term future of Armani’s empire and whether, in an industry dominated by luxury conglomerates such as LVMH and Kering, it will be able to maintain the independence he treasures.

In the interview, Armani said he had “built a kind of structure, a project, a protocol” to govern his succession, without elaborating.

Last year, Reuters reported on a document held by a notary in Milan which sets out the future governing principles for those who will inherit the group, and on another that details issues including protecting jobs at the firm.

Armani’s heirs are expected to include his sister, three other family members working in the company, long-term collaborator and partner Pantaleo Dell’Orco and a charitable foundation.

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