Background of ARMANI

Giorgio Armani S.p.A., commonly known as Armani, is an Italian luxury fashion

house founded by Giorgio Armani which designs, manufactures, distributes and

retails haute couture, ready-to-

wear, leather goods, shoes, watches, jewelry, accessories, eyewear, cosmetics and h

ome interiors. It is considered Italy’s second-biggest fashion group behind Prada.

The brand markets these products under several labels: Giorgio Armani Privé, Giorgio

Armani, Armani Collezioni, Emporio Armani (including EA7), Armani Jeans, Armani

Junior, and Armani Exchange. The brand utilizes the association of the Armani name

with high-fashion, benefiting from its prestige in the fashion industry. In 2016,

estimated sales of the company were around $2.65 billion. In 2017, Giorgio Armani

announced that his company will close two of its fashion labels, Armani Collezioni and

Armani Jeans, as part of the restructuring process for his company. While Armani

Collezioni will merge back into the "Giorgio Armani" line, Armani Jeans will be mixed

with the Emporio Armani line due to their similarities in styles and the use of the same

brand logo.
Giorgio Armani is in collaboration with Emaar Properties, creating a chain of luxury

hotels and resorts in several big cities including Milan, Paris, New York, London, Hong

Kong, Los Angeles, Tokyo, Shanghai, Seoul, and Dubai. The company already

operates a range of cafés worldwide, in addition to a bar and nightclub.

Strengths in the SWOT Analysis of GIORGIO ARMANI :

1. Brand Value: Giorgio Armani is considered to be the topmost brand in the

fashion Industry. It has been part of the Forbes list of most powerful brands

from the last 5 years. The Armani name has become the most prestigious name

in the industry.

2. Giorgio Armani: Giorgio Armani, the founder and owner has a net worth of

$7.1 billion and is ranked 196 on the Forbes list of top 200 billionaires in the

world. He has been leading the command of the company from its foundation

and has been instrumental in the success of Armani as a brand.

3. Hand Stitched Clothing: Giorgio Armani is popular for hand stitched clothing.

Apart from machine stitching, it has a made to measure line of apparels which

are hand stitched according to the measured size of the customer

4. Designs – A fashion brand does not become popular unless and until it actually

has some great and unique designs up its sleeves. And that is what Giorgio

Armani full of – Quality designers who are hand selected from the best design

schools across the world. The dresses, the stitches and the overall look and

design as well as finishing of each Giorgio Armani outfit is unique and beautiful.
 You should look at some of the interiors of automobile brands done by Armani

or their travel bags. The designs are absolutely fantastic.

5. Innovating marketing – Giorgio Armani is known for his

innovating marketing tactics. We all know that models are supposed to be stick

thin but the trend was actually started by Giorgio Armani, who banned any

model with an even moderate Body mass index. He loved zero figures and only

hired them for showcasing the clothes. Besides this, the Armani brand was the

first one to display a fashion show live on the internet to the worldwide

audience thereby making it a grand event.

6. Strong tie ups – Giorgio Armani has massive tie ups across the celebrity as

well as the corporate world. There are many premium automobile brands which

hire Giorgio armani for their interior decor thereby giving the automobiles an

ultra premim look. Similarly, he is known to be the designer whom celibrities

like Lady GAGA and others go to and revere in his costumes. There are whole

sports teams for whome Giorgio Armani has designed clothing. Such tie ups

with strong brands ensures the glitz and glamour of Giorgio Armani.

7. Brand experience – The measure of a brand’s positive experience is

what people say after they have stepped out of the store. A study carried out

the influence of the brand Giorgio Armani and how influential they though the

brand was.
Weaknesses in the SWOT Analysis of GIORGIO ARMANI :

1. PETA Controversy: Giorgio Armani was criticised by PETA for using animal

fur in its clothing line. This created an uproar in animal lovers and a bad

impression about the brand. The controversy lasted for about 7-8 years after

which Armani reneged on a promise to stop using animal fur in any of its

products.

2. Limited Global Presence: Giorgio Armani has a limited presence globally in

only about 36 countries whereas some of its competitors like Dolce & Gabbana,

Christian Dior etc. are sold over 50 countries.

3. Higher Price: Armani products are priced higher and thus it caters exclusively

to the top of the pyramid. It loses out onto many customers due to the

high pricing.

4. Lack of Scaling opportunities – With the ultra niche segment that Giorgio

Armani has chosen, there is a lack of scaling opportunities and therefore the

brand will always be a niche brand meant for the ultra chic crowd. Naturally,

this affects the year on year growth patterns of the brand.

Opportunities in the SWOT Analysis of GIORGIO ARMANI :

1. Expanding their market: Armani should consider expanding its target

market to enhance customer base and hence customer loyalty. This will also

mean decreasing the price and producing in high volumes.

2. Innovative Products: The young and creative staff of Giorgio Armani should

innovate into newer designs and promote the products using digital media.

3. Global Expansion: Armani should look forward to expanding globally

especially to the emerging nations considering the increasing disposable

incomes of people from the emerging nations.

4. More tie ups – There is always scope to tie up with more corporates and more

and more celebrities because it is an ever growing sector and that is where the

maximum business will come for Giorgio Armani.

Threats in the SWOT Analysis of GIORGIO ARMANI :

1. Lower customer base: Since Armani is catering to a very premium market,

it has a small customer and hence customer loyalty from these customers is a

necessity or Armani to be profitable.

2. Brand Duplicity: Brand duplicity has been a threat to the industry and stricter

norms are required to stop the illegal practice which affects the sales as well

as the brand value of Armani.