MILAN – Giorgio Armani Spa has a new board of directors, established in accordance with the late designer’s wishes, the group said on Friday.
The new board comprises eight members, selected by the Armani Foundation and the designer’s heirs, and some includes some familiar faces in the industry. They are chairman Pantaleo, known as Leo Dell’Orco; Armani’s niece Silvana and his nephew Andrea Camerana; CEO and managing director Giuseppe Marsocci; Marco Bizzarri; former Armani top executive John Hooks; Federico Marchetti and Angelo Moratti. The latter four do not have operational roles in the company.
“The new BoD of Giorgio Armani Spa includes family members and the CEO, all long-time collaborators of Mr. Armani, alongside independent professionals of recognized competence and experience,” stated Dell’Orco. “This provides the best assurance for continuing, enhancing, and updating Mr. Armani’s vision of beauty, business model, and ethical values built over 50 years, enabling us to effectively face market challenges and opportunities.”
Dell’Orco and Marsocci’s roles were confirmed.
In a statement, the company said that the board “will operate in accordance with the founding principles defined by Mr. Armani, which are safeguarded by the Giorgio Armani Foundation, that, it is established will be always holding a stake of no less than 30 percent in the company’s capital, regardless of potential future developments such as the entry of new shareholders or a public listing.”
The members of the Armani Foundation are Dell’Orco as chairman, Camerana; partner of Rothschild & Co. Irving Bellotti; notary Elena Terrenghi and Andrea Silvestri.
Andrea Camerana, Federico Marchetti and Giuseppe Marsocci.
Federica Livia, Frigobar Production
courtesy image
In October, Giuseppe Marsocci was named to lead the fashion group, along with his simultaneous appointment to the board of directors. As CEO, he succeeded Armani, who was also chairman of the group he founded five decades ago. Marsocci has more than 35 years of international experience in the fashion and luxury sector, 23 of which have been within the Armani Group. Since 2019 he has held the role of deputy managing director and global chief commercial officer.
Federico Marchetti was the first non-family member to join Armani’s board in 2020 and was re-appointed for another three years in 2022. Marchetti founded Yoox and spearheaded the merger with Net-a porter. In 2021 Marchetti exited the Yoox Net-a-porter Group and was appointed chair of the fashion task force as part of the Sustainable Markets Initiative that the Prince of Wales launched during the World Economic Forum at Davos in 2020. The Armani Group is part of the SMI task force.
Hooks left his post as deputy chairman and vice president at Giorgio Armani Group in 2011 after 11 years.
Hooks joined Armani as corporate commercial and marketing director in 2000 after leaving his post as Jil Sander AG’s international director of sales in February that year, when the company was owned by Prada Group. His role at Armani was a new one, and Hooks was supposed to report to the then-managing director Pino Brusone, who left in March of that year.
Hooks took on some of Brusone’s responsibilities, splitting them with Gianni Gerbotto, then deputy managing director. In September 2009, Armani promoted Hooks from his deputy general manager title to deputy chairman. He also joined the board of directors with responsibility for global strategy and markets and brand development. Hooks maintained his responsibilities for the group’s foreign subsidiaries. Hooks was instrumental in expanding all of the designer’s brands globally, from the first Giorgio Armani and Emporio Armani stores in India in 2008 to the biggest Giorgio Armani store in the world, on Milan’s Via Montenapoleone, and Emporio Armani’s first flagship in Moscow that same year.
Bizzarri, the former president and chief executive officer of Gucci, invested in Elisabetta Franchi last year through a personal holding called Nessifashion. He divested from this brand in July and left his position as chairman in September.
Marco Bizzarri
Courtesy Photo
He is also an investor in Forel, which in 2024 entered into an agreement on behalf of the FARO fund to acquire a majority stake in Italian luxury interior design brand Visionnaire. The executive first dipped his toes into the investment fund pool in 2021, when he took a stake and became a partner in Orienta Capital Partners, which specializes in investments in small- and medium-sized companies with strong growth potential. Sources say Bizzarri is eyeing additional investments in fashion.
Armani, who died on Sept. 4 at 91, left in his will that his namesake foundation would manage the fashion group. As reported, after 12 months from the opening of the will and within 18 months at the most, an initial 15 percent of the his namesake company could be sold to either LVMH Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton Group, EssilorLuxottica or L’Oréal.
Between the third and fifth years, the foundation and the heirs could choose to sell a stake of between 30 and 54.9 percent to the same buyer of the first group of shares, or in five years and within eight, to consider a public listing in Italy as a priority but also on other markets of equal standing. Even following the potential listing, the foundation would keep a 30.1 percent stake in the group to ensure its control.
Dell’Orco, Armani’s longtime partner in charge of the men’s division, has a key role with 40 percent of voting shares.
