MILAN — “We continued to operate as best we could following the strategic path and founding guidelines indicated by Mr. Armani without any forced decisions and always thinking long-term.”
 
During an interview to discuss the Armani Group’s performance in 2025, chief executive officer Giuseppe Marsocci repeatedly underscored the natural progression of the company’s development during a year that saw the death of the iconic founding designer on Sept. 4 at age 91, ahead of the events planned last year to mark the 50^th anniversary of his namesake fashion brand.  

“The global scenario is challenging, but the company rests on solid fundamentals,” said Marsocci, who was named to his role in October, succeeding Armani. Marsocci has more than 35 years of international experience in the fashion and luxury sector, 23 of which have been within the Armani Group. Since 2019 he held the role of deputy managing director and global chief commercial officer.
 
He highlighted the “founding principles” established by Armani, from the ethical management of activities and the “careful diversification” of the group’s brands while maintaining consistency of design, product image and communication, to a cautious approach to acquisitions aimed at developing expertise and skills. In particular, Marsocci pointed to staying true to the “right level of investments for the continuous development of the brands,” as well as limiting resorting to debt while reinvesting profits into the company to generate liquidity.

Marsocci and the board clearly stayed true to these guidelines last year, as consolidated net equity amounted to 1.99 billion euros, down 3 percent due to currency fluctuations, he remarked.

As of Dec. 31, the group’s net cash position amounted to 529 million euros, a decrease of 41 million euros, but taking into account treasury investments, it totaled 596 million euros.

The economy didn’t stop the group from continuing to invest in retail and innovation, channelling around 100 million euros into the company, all self-financed, Marsocci underscored. In 2024, investments reached 332 million euros, almost double the 168.5 million euros in 2023 and almost three times the average yearly investments in the previous years.
 
While influenced by the industry challenges and the general geopolitical unrest, the Armani Group last year confirmed its solidity with an improvement in profitability on a 2.8 percent sales decrease at constant currency.
 
At current exchange rates, consolidated revenues were down 4.6 percent to 2.19 billion euros, compared with 2.3 billion euros the year before.
 
Direct brand turnover, including revenues generated by licensees, stood at more than 4 billion euros and the total retail value of Armani-branded products worldwide at more than 6 billion euros, Marsocci added, in line with the previous year.
 
“Mr. Armani’s values of discreet and timeless elegance, his idea of a solid and cautious company are extremely current, if not even more timely than ever in light of the current trends,” said Marsocci.

Addressing Speculation

Asked to comment on media and market speculation about the future of the company, Marsocci was quick to point out that “it was all clearly mapped out by Mr. Armani in his will. For the first 12 months after his death, we were expected to set the governance and I can say it was all done in a speedy manner.”

To be sure, a new board was appointed in November with Leo Dell’Orco, Armani’s longtime partner in charge of the men’s division, named chairman with 40 percent of the voting shares. Other board members include Armani’s niece Silvana and his nephew Andrea Camerana;  Marsocci; Marco Bizzarri; former Armani top executive John Hooks; Federico Marchetti, and Angelo Moratti. The latter four do not have operational roles in the company. Silvana Armani was named women’s creative director.

Under this new structure, the company held four fashion shows since last year and the Armani/Casa presentation earlier this month and Marsocci touted the positive feedback to the collections designed by Dell’Orco and Silvana Armani.

The executive recalled how Armani gave instructions that after 12 months from the opening of the will and within 18 months at the most, an initial 15 percent of his namesake company could be sold to either LVMH Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton, EssilorLuxottica or L’Oréal — the latter two the group’s eyewear and beauty licensees, respectively. The late designer did not rule out other companies besides those three, as long as they operate in the world of fashion and luxury and are of equal standing.

“We have not started meetings with the three potential buyers, and there are no tensions among the family members,” Marsocci clarified, denying some online rumors.

Armani also stated that, between the third and fifth years after the opening of the will, the Armani foundation and the heirs could choose to sell a stake of between 30 and 54.9 percent to the same buyer of the first group of shares, or in five years and within eight, to consider a public listing in Italy as a priority but also on other markets of equal standing.

“In any case, the foundation would keep a 30.1 percent stake of the group to ensure its control and to guarantee the respect of the founding principles,” said Marsocci.

Financials

In 2025, the group’s retail channel was up 2 percent at constant currency, while wholesale was down 7 percent, reflecting “the distributors’ reasonable caution in this complex market,” said Marsocci, adding that the performance was “better at full-price and in the high-end range.” The home, hospitality and food and beverage categories grew double digit “confirming more dynamic experiential market segments and our lifestyle credibility.”
  
In 2025, consolidated earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization before the IFRS16 accounting rule rose 3.2 percent to 152.7 million euros, compared with 148 million euros in 2024.
  
Operating profit pre-IFRS16 was up 2.5 percent to 52.6 million euros, compared with 51.3 million euros the year before.
  
On current trends, Marsocci said the first quarter was “in line,” although penalized by currency fluctuations, which he expects “should settle down in the year.”
 
Marsocci touted geographic markets that are “very well-balanced.” Excluding Italy, which represents between 15 and 20 percent of sales, Europe, Asia and America each account for one third of sales. “We are not over-exposed in any region, so we still have potential to grow.”
 
 Asia has shown “more dynamism” in early 2026 compared with last year, in particular in China and Japan.
 

Investing in Stores

The group is investing in South East Asia, opening a Giorgio Armani store in Bangkok last year and planning an opening in Taiwan at the end of 2026 or early 2027 with a restaurant and an Armani/Casa boutique.
 
In October, a signature brand store will open in Wuhan with SKP and Marsocci said a floor could be dedicated to Armani/Archivio, the interactive platform that collects and organizes the brand’s historic collections. This debuted its second chapter earlier this month during Milan Design Week. 

Launched in 2025 to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the company’s founding, the second edition features 13 men’s and women’s looks from the brand’s collections spanning 1979 to 1994, reproduced and available for sale in stores, and unveiled at the brand’s Via Sant’Andrea boutique in Milan.

China, which represents around 10 percent of sales, still offers plenty of potential, continued Marsocci, adding that a Giorgio Armani store opened at China World in Beijing last year.
 
With its partner Shinsegae in Korea, Armani is planning to open a store in Cheongdam at the end of 2027 or early 2028.
 
Other openings are planned in Mykonos, Greece, this summer, and a new location in Sydney at the end of the year. These followed a new store in Las Vegas at The Forum Shops.
 
An Emporio store was refurbished in Berlin and another is being restructured in Athens.

There are 138 Giorgio Armani and 308 Emporio Armani stores in the world.

While not disclosing the performance by single brand, Marsocci said that Giorgio Armani full-price and Armani Privé were performing very well, as is the Archivio project, and that Emporio Armani has seen an increase in sales over the past two years.
 
He underscored that despite the tariffs, higher energy costs and inflation, “Mr. Armani never wanted to pass this on to his customers and did not embrace the race to hike the brands’ prices.”

Armani Hospitality Projects

Marsocci said that Armani/Casa saw double-digit growth in sales in 2025. There are seven stores dedicated to the home collection in the world.

In January, the group inked a joint venture with Symphony Global to further develop a portfolio of Armani Hotels & Resorts in selected international locations. Symphony Global is the private investment firm of Mohamed Alabbar and the agreement furthers the storied bond between Armani and Alabbar that led to the opening of the first Armani Hotel in Dubai in 2010, which occupies eight floors of the soaring Burj Khalifa tower.  In January, even before the war broke out in the Middle East, the group began to refurbish the hotel in Dubai, which should be completed by the end of the year, said Marsocci.

That hotel was followed by a second in Milan in 2011, which will be refurbished next year. “It’s an exciting project and it was one of the last conceived by Mr. Armani who was working on this until last August,” said Marsocci.

An Armani Hotel is being built in Diriyah, a 300-year-old site located a 15-minute drive from Riyadh, in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and expected to open next year.
 
Since 2003, the Armani /Casa Interior Design Studio has provided complete interior design services to private individuals and property developers, including the Maçka Residences in Istanbul, the Century Spire in Manila and the 260 Residences by Armani Casa in Miami, in a 60-story oceanfront tower designed by architect César Pelli in Sunny Isles. Marsocci said that residences in Marbella are also in the works.

Armani Exhibitions Extended

The death of Armani drew a new wave of attention to his work, exemplified by the extension until May 3 from Jan. 11 of the “Giorgio Armani: Milano, Per Amore” exhibition at the Pinacoteca di Brera inaugurated last September and marking the company’s five decades in business.

The “Giorgio Armani Privé 2005-2025, Twenty Years of Haute Couture” exhibition inaugurated last May at the designer’s Armani/Silos space that was planned to end in December will be extended until the end of 2026, recording so far “five times the usual number of visitors, more than 1,000 people a day,” said Marsocci.