following Versace, Bulgari, Molinari, Diesel and Ferretti, Armani is preparing his first lux hotel in Milan.
article from wwd
article from wwd
Room at the Inn: Giorgio Armani to Launch Luxe Hotel Venture
By Luisa Zargani
MILAN — Giorgio Armani is checking into another new world.
WWD has learned that the designer will announce on Sunday an ambitious venture to open luxury hotels in partnership with a major, publicly listed company. While the details could not be learned — including the identity of the new partner — the venture fulfills a long-held ambition of Armani’s to bring his signature design style to the travel industry.
Armani first started talking about a hotel in 2000, when he opened his Via Manzoni megastore, his sprawling, three-level space that houses the Emporio Armani collection, the first stand-alone spaces for the Armani Jeans and Casa lines, Armani fragrances and accessories, a cafe, a bookstore, a Sony store, Armani Fiori (flowers), Armani Dolci (chocolates and confectionery), the Japanese restaurant Nobu and, the latest, his exclusive club, Armani Privé.
Armani spent $62.5 million on the real estate alone and invested over $10 million to restore the Via Manzoni building. During the opening of the megastore, Armani said his “dream” was to open a hotel and that the upper levels of the building made his “mouth water." Though he said he was “already thinking about what to do with them,” he conceded it was “just an idea.”
The idea is turning into reality. The move comes as Armani continues to grow his $1.6 billion empire by expanding his product offering with his home collection, launched in 2000, fine-tuning the distribution for his Collezioni and Emporio lines, consistently working on his retail expansion and even finding time to design a car for Mercedes. All this has occurred as Armani has firmly kept his company private and again and again said he has no intentions of retiring just yet.
Armani’s new hotels will be in good company. Bulgari SpA linked up with Marriot International Inc. in February 2001 to open a string of hotels around the world. The first one is expected to bow in Milan later this year, followed by up to five more over the next four years. At the time the venture was announced, Francesco Trapani, Bulgari’s chief executive officer, said the hotel industry then generated more than $300 billion a year, with the luxury segment representing about 10 percent of that.
Sources said that the Armani hotel venture will be similar in its long-term vision to that of Bulgari’s, but different in every other detail, including the nature of Armani’s partner and the structure of the deal.