Milan, Feb 26: The king of Italian style, Giorgio Armani, plans to offer holidaymakers the ultimate luxury break by opening a series of hotels that will bear his name and be decked out in the elegant, relaxed style that made him famous.
Armani has signed a letter of intent with Dubai-based real estate developer EMAAR Properties to open 10 hotels and four luxury resorts over the next seven years in top cities including New York, Paris, Milan and Shanghai.
"Fashion and style has expanded to encompass our way of life -- not just how we dress, but where we live, which restaurants we eat at, what we eat, which car we drive, where we go on holiday and which hotels we stay at," said Armani.
Pushing into hotels is the latest new foray for one of Italy's richest men who presented a debut clothes collection 30 years ago and has now built up a global empire that sells anything simply stylish from bunches of flowers to furniture.
The project starts just months before smaller luxury group Bulgari is due to open its first ultra-swish hotel just behind Armani's flat and office in central Milan.
Armani will design and furnish his hotels while EMAAR will look after their building and day-to-day management.
The whole project is expected to cost more than $1 billion (540 million pounds) but Armani would not say how that would be divided, simply saying he would put in "significant resources and personnel".
Bureau Report
