Armani
 |
|
| Type | Private |
|---|---|
| Industry | Fashion and Leisure |
| Founded | 1975 |
| Founder(s) | Giorgio Armani and Sergio Galeotti |
| Headquarters |  Milan, Italy |
| Area served | Worldwide |
| Key people | Giorgio Armani |
| Revenue | $1.69bn (2005) |
| Employees | 4,700 |
| Website | www.giorgioarmani.com |
Giorgio Armani S.P.A. is an international Italian fashion house that designs, manufactures, distributes, and retails haute couture, ready-to-wear, leather goods, shoes, watches, jewelry, accessories, eyewear, cosmetics, and home interiors. The brand markets these products under several, highly-specialized sub-labels including Giorgio Armani, Armani Collezioni, Emporio Armani, AJ | Armani Jeans, AX | Armani Exchange, Armani Junior, and Armani/Casa. The Armani name has become synonymous with high-fashion and couture worldwide and is considered one of the most prestigious names in the fashion industry. End of year sales for 2005 were $1.69 billion.[1]
Armani is planning in collaboration with Emaar Properties a chain of luxury hotels and resorts in several big cities including Milan, Paris, New York, London, Tokyo, Shanghai and Dubai. The company already operates a range of cafés worldwide, in addition to a bar, restaurant, and nightclub.
Contents |
Products
Giorgio Armani
Giorgio Armani is a high-end label specializing in men's and women's ready-to-wear, accessories, eyewear, cosmetics, and perfumes. It is one of the most expensive clothing labels in the world and is available only in select high-end department stores. The logo is a curved "G" completing a curved "A" letter,the all forming a circle logo
Armani Collezioni
Armani Collezioni (formerly Giorgio Armani Le Collezioni) is another high-end Armani sub-label. The line is more expensive than Emporio Armani, Armani Jeans, Armani Exchange lines, but less expensive than the high-end, ready-to-wear line, Giorgio Armani and the haute couture line, Armani Privé. It is also less fashioned than the others labels, leaning toward atemporal formal clothes and lacking accessories, unlike the others labels. The logo is a small "A" letter which is intricated in a bigger "G" letter, the "A" being part of the "G". This logo is rarely visible outside the clothes. It provides made-to-measure tailored suits and shirts where every element can be chosen. In addition to being sold in freestanding boutiques (which feature the Collezioni line exclusively), Armani Collezioni is sold in high-end department stores including Holt Renfrew, Bloomingdale's, David Jones, Harvey Nichols, Harrods, Neiman Marcus, Nordstrom and Saks Fifth Avenue. Last year, a sporty line of this label has appeared named "Armani Collezioni Active" in the same way as the EA7 line from Emporio Armani line.
Emporio Armani
Emporio Armani is an "upscale" label designed for young adults in their 20s and 30s. The label features ready-to-wear and accessories. Emporio Armani is available in its 13 stores in the U.S. and over 140 worldwide, and on the brand's website. In January 2010, famed football star Cristiano Ronaldo and Hollywood movie star Megan Fox became the male and female face and body of Emporio Armani.
Armani Jeans
Armani Jeans is a bridge-line collection of denim-related clothing created in 1981 by Giorgio Armani. Armani Jeans is mainly sold in department stores, although there are 15 freestanding Armani Jeans stores in the world, in addition to an Armani Jeans Cafe in Milan. Some Armani Jeans items are sold in Emporio Armani Stores, and Armani Jeans stores sell Emporio Armani items in the Asian Market.
In terms of design, the clothing from this line does not feature Giorgio Armani's signature simplicity and often has larger logos than the clothing in any of his other collections. The colors used for Armani Jeans are more diverse than those found in his higher end lines or Armani Exchange, which feature monochromatic color schemes and focus on cut and material over color.
Armani Exchange
A|X Armani Exchange was launched in 1991 in the U.S. The label created by Giorgio Armani is known for its provocative ad campaigns and popularity among young Hollywood pop culture. Armani Exchange designs, manufactures, distributes, and retails fashion and lifestyle products, including apparel, accessories, eyewear, watches, jewelry, and music. It is inspired by street-chic culture and fashionable dance music. Although considered the most accessible Armani brand, Armani Exchange is considered moderately priced in the general market, with average prices under $100.
Armani Exchange products are available exclusively in 178 stores worldwide and on the brand's website.[2]
On August 4th, 2010 AX opened a new location at the Los Cerritos Shopping Center in Cerritos, Ca. The store features the company's new store concept
Armani Junior
Armani's children's label, Armani Junior is available in 15 boutiques worldwide and select Neiman Marcus and Saks Fifth Avenue department stores.
Armani/Casa
Armani/Casa ("Armani Home" in Italian) is a high-end home collection by Armani featuring furniture, lamps, linens, and dining essentials. Armani/Casa is available at 40 worldwide boutiques and select Neiman Marcus stores.
Other ventures
Armani Privé
Armani's haute couture clothing line made history being the first haute couture Paris fashion show to be streamed live online. The label is strictly made to wear and only by order.
Armani Cosmetics
The beauty brand by Armani features cosmetics, skin care, perfumes, and colognes. It is produced and distributed by the luxury division of L'Oreal, with which Armani has a long-term partnership agreement. It is available at many department stores worldwide and has very few boutiques. Armani also invests in the fine dining industry. Throughout the world, he has 14 Emporio Armani and Armani Jeans cafes. There is also an Armani Bar in Hong Kong and his two new restaurants, NoBu & Prive, are found worldwide. Aramani also has a bookshop (Armani Libri) and a florist (Armani Fiori) under the Armani name and a confectionery company known as Armani Dolci. These smaller brands are mostly sold within larger Armani shops, like the Milan flagship, 31 via Manzoni, and at the Armani/Chater House at 11 Chater Road, Central, Hong Kong. He also created 4 lucky Cds "Emporio Armani Caffè" with the famous Italian sound designer Matteo Ceccarini.
Armani Hotels and Resorts
Armani and Emaar Properties signed an agreement in 2004 for Emaar Hotels to build and operate at least seven luxury hotels and three vacation resorts under the Armani name. Armani would be responsible for overseeing all aspects the interior design and style of the hotels. One of these hotels is located in Dubai.[3]
The bottom 39 floors of the Burj Khalifa skyscraper in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, house the world's first Armani Hotel with 160 guest rooms and suites, and 144 residences.[4] Giorgio Armani is also designing the interiors of the Armani Residences, also within the skyscraper, and its specially designed line of products from the Armani/Casa home furnishings collection.[4]
The Burj Khalifa Armani Residences Road Show toured Milan, London, Jeddah, Moscow and Delhi. The exhibition[5] was designed by Brash Brands winning an International Design Award for its Signs, Exhibits and Point of Purchase (POP) Displays.[6] The London event was housed in the Armani Casa Showroom in New Bond Street.[7]
The Armani Hotel opened in Burj Khalifa on April 27, 2010.[8]
Fur controversy
In July 2007, Giorgio Armani told Time magazine that viewing People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) materials “convinced me not to use fur."[9] However, according to PETA, Armani’s Fall 2008 collection included fur coats for babies, floral printed furs, fur-hemmed skirts and fur-trimmed jackets.[10]
See also
- Giorgio Armani, the founder of Armani
References
- ↑ [1] Hoovers.com
- ↑ Designer Clothing at Armani Exchange
- ↑ Armani Hotels and Resorts launched
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 Armani Hotels, Resorts and Residences official website
- ↑ Burj Khalifa Armani Residences exhibition at Brash Brands
- ↑ Burj Khalifa Armani Residences at the International Design Awards
- ↑ Burj Khalifa Armani Residences
- ↑ http://www.jpost.com/MiddleEast/Article.aspx?id=174074
- ↑ Betts, Kate. "A Standing O for Lacroix". Time, July 4, 2007. Accessed 9 December 2009.
- ↑ Doré, Christine. "PETA to TomKat: Don't Drench Suri in Armani Fur!" The PETA Files, September 24, 2008. Accessed 9 December 2009.
Further reading
- Mackenzie, Suzie (2004-12-11). "The gentle touch". The Guardian. http://www.guardian.co.uk/weekend/story/0,3605,1369891,00.html. Retrieved 2007-09-23.
- McCartney, Stella (2006-05-16). "The wisdom of King Giorgio". Independent on Sunday. http://news.independent.co.uk/people/profiles/article484641.ece. Retrieved 2007-09-23.
- "Q & A: Giorgio Armani". The Scene (CNN). 2006-10-03. http://edition.cnn.com/2006/TRAVEL/06/01/milan.qa/. Retrieved 2007-09-23.
- Lee, Vinny (2007-09-22). "Above the shop". The Times (London). http://property.timesonline.co.uk/tol/life_and_style/property/interiors/article2474210.ece. Retrieved 2007-09-23.