After Armani: what becomes of the fashion empire he built?

Giorgio Armani established one of the world's best-known fashion brands over the past five decades, and his death inevitably raises questions about the future of an Italian company whose independence he cherished. Giorgio Armani, who died on Thursday at the age of 91, was the sole major shareholder of the company he set up with his late partner Sergio Galeotti in the 1970s and over which he maintained a tight rein - of both the creative and managerial aspects - until the very end. He has left behind no children to inherit the business, which generated relatively stable revenue of 2.3 billion euros ($2.7 billion) in 2024, but whose profits had shrunk amid a broad industry recession. Despite the slowdown,...