New CEO must steer Armani sale in the right direction

Italian fashion house Giorgio Armani has appointed a successor to its recently deceased founder: Giuseppe Marsocci, who has been with the company for 23 years and served as commercial director for the past six years, is the new CEO.

Luxury sector under pressure

The new CEO’s main task will be to prepare and manage the sale of the fashion group. Within 18 months, an initial 15% stake will be sold to a large luxury group. Cosmetics group L’Oréal, with which the luxury house has a licensing agreement until 2050, seems to be the preferred choice in this process – discussions are still at an early stage – but LVMH and EssilorLuxottica are also being mentioned.

The impending sale comes at a time when the luxury sector is under pressure. The Armani group’s turnover fell by 5% last year to 2.3 billion euros. Analysts estimate the value of the group at between 5 billion and 12 billion euros.