Giorgio Armani: Company profile and strategy

Abstract

As coined by Giorgio Armani,'Elegance is not about being noticed, but about being remembered.' Giorgio Armani was born on 11 July 1934 in Piacenza, Italy. He began his career by working in a departmental store called La Rinascente, as a window dresser. Giorgio soon emerged as an Italian designer from the well-known fashion house, Nino Cerruti, specializing in menswear. In 1974, along with the assistance and support of his partner Sergio Galeotti, Giorgio established his own company. The company was named 'Armani'. Armani received worldwide recognition as one of the world's most polished brands, and was awarded the sole owner of the $7 billion label.

Leveraging its strong brand equity in the fashion apparel market, the ambitious Giorgio Armani ventured into other related categories like eyewear, watches and cosmetics. Giorgio Armani diversified further into other products such as Occhiali (glasses), leg and body wear, cosmetics, profumi (Italian perfume), gioielli (jewellery) and orologi to name a few. But Armani did not stop at just these product categories. He thereafter extended the brand into multiple other categories such as Armani Casa (up-market furniture), Armani-branded Dolci (confectionary), and Armani-branded Fiori (Flowers). Hungry for expansion and growth Giorgio additionally included the services market into his wide portfolio of brands. The services market would cover restaurants, nightclubs and caffè (coffee shops) under the Armani Brand. He also recently struck a deal with the Dubai-based property group Emaar to come up with a chain of 14 Armani branded hotels and resorts by 2011.