Cinquantamila.it La storia raccontata da Giorgio Dell'Arti

Nessuno compra. La recessione c’è in pieno. I negozi strabrillano di cose ma rimangono sugli scaffali. Tutti noi veniamo toccati. Zara la sente questa realtà, ma la sente anche Cartier». A lanciare l’allarme sul lusso è Giorgio Armani (foto),
in un’intervista a Bloomberg nella quale rimpiange le nozze mancate con Hermes. «Armani con Hermes poteva essere una cosa fantastica», ha ammesso lo stilista, confessando che c’erano troppi membri della famiglia Hermes tra gli azionisti per poter raggiungere un accordo. Quanto alla crisi che fa cambiare i piani a molti gruppi della moda (Brioni cerca nuovi investitori, Prada ha rinviato per la quarta volta la quotazione), Armani dichiara che continuerà ad aprire nuovi negozi nel 2009 e nel 2010, grazie alle risorse interne, né intende ridurre i prezzi.

Dec. 12 (Bloomberg) -- Giorgio Armani said he’ll keep control of his fashion company as long as he stays healthy and has no plans to raise cash from outside investors to help withstand a recession.

’If I’m no longer the one that takes a bow at the end of the fashion show, then we’ll find another solution, though it’s hard to imagine what that might be,” Armani, 74, said in an interview yesterday. ”I keep trying to find people who can do things for me. In the end I am always the one who does them.”

Armani also said store openings won’t be scaled back in the downturn, though some ”millionaire women” abandoned orders for his 25,000-euro ($33,425) Prive dress, worn by Cate Blanchett last week when she accepted her Hollywood Walk of Fame star. The designer has been keen to expand rather than step back, and said he unsuccessfully explored a merger with Hermes International SCA. Speculation about Giorgio Armani SpA’s future, usually centering on a deal with L’Oreal SA, has swirled for years.

’I want to enjoy the future at the head of the company I have worked so hard to build,” Armani, wearing a blue cashmere sweater, said at his Milan headquarters. The designer, who says he decides how even the light switches will look in Armani hotels, ruled out a stock-market listing, and said he spurned approaches from bigger companies, without naming them.

Italy’s MF newspaper said in January that L’Oreal would make an offer by the end of 2008, and Armani himself said last year that he would sell to the highest bidder before retracting the remarks, saying they were tongue-in-cheek.

’Psychological Issue’

His 33-year-old company, which has 500 stores, has no debt and had 373 million euros of cash at the end of 2007, which will help the brand as he stays at the helm during the downturn.

Armani, who wouldn’t comment on his company’s current sales or cash, said he was ”amazed” about the cancelled Prive dress orders and the severity of the current slowdown.

’It wasn’t about not having the money,” Armani said. ”It’s a psychological issue. Nobody’s shopping. The recession is in full force and everybody in our sector is going to feel it, from Zara to Cartier.”

Slowing demand and plunging stock markets in the past six months have prompted indebted suitmaker Brioni Roman Style SpA to search for new investors and halted Prada SpA’s fourth attempt to sell stock to the public. Other companies, such as jeweler Bulgari SpA, have suspended store openings.

Hermes Talks

Armani said his resources allow him to proceed with plans to open stores in 2009 and 2010. Though U.S. sales are ”tough” and Japan is ”difficult,” the year-old 12-story Armani tower in Tokyo’s Ginza area is grabbing market share, some European markets are holding up and China is ”strong,” he said.

The designer also said he won’t cut his prices, much like Hermes, which avoids discounting and sells Birkin handbags for more than $5,000. Armani said a merger with Hermes would have united the companies’ strengths in clothes and accessories.

A deal ”could have been something fantastic,” he said. ”Hermes has such class, such prestige.” He said there were too many Hermes family shareholders to achieve an agreement. Hermes’ press office wouldn’t immediately comment on his remarks.

Interbrand ranks Armani as the fourth-most-valuable Italian brand, with a value of 2.73 billion euros, trailing Gucci, Prada and Ferrari. Giorgio Armani SpA reported net income of 218.7 million euros last year on sales of 1.6 billion euros.

Relatives’ Roles

Armani, whose net worth is estimated at $5 billion by Forbes magazine, designed displays for department store La Rinascente before working for Nino Cerruti and then starting his own label. He became famous in the U.S. in 1980 for dressing Richard Gere in ”American Gigolo.” Hand-stitched versions of his suits can sell for 25,000 euros.

Armani, who isn’t married and has no children, is giving more space to relatives such as his niece Roberta, who handles relations with celebrities, and nephew Andrea Camerana, who sits on the board and runs marketing and licensing. Armani agreed to be photographed with Roberta recently in an Italian magazine and is including Camerana more regularly in meetings.

The openings of the first Armani hotels in Dubai and Milan, developed with Emaar Properties PJSC, are on schedule for 2009 and 2010, respectively, he said. Other hotels are planned in North Africa and New York.

Armani said new stores after 2010 may focus more on emerging markets, rather than refurbishing stores elsewhere. ”You have to open in emerging markets now,” Armani said. ”Five years from now they will ask you crazy prices.”

To contact the reporter on this story: Sara Gay Forden in Milan at sforden@bloomberg.net
Last Updated: December 12, 2008 10:25 EST

SARA GAY FORDEN