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After a lifetime of spurning would-be business suitors, the late Italian designer Giorgio Armani instructed his heirs to sell an initial 15% minority stake in his vast fashion empire, with priority to the French conglomerate LVMH, the eyewear giant Essilor-Luxottica or the cosmetics company L’Oreal.Armani gave control of 40% of his business empire to his longtime collaborator and head of menswear Leo Dell’Orco, and another 15% each to niece Silvana Armani, the head of womenswear, and nephew Andrea Camerana, according to his business will posted online Friday by the Italian daily La Repubblica.The Armani Foundation, which he established in 2016 as a succession vehicle, will control the remaining 30%.Armani, one of the most recognizable names and faces in Italian fashion, died on Sept. 4 at the age of 91. Two wills, one for his business empire and the other for his private property, were deposited with Italian tax authorities on Thursday, and widely reported by Italian media on Friday.The executive committee of Giorgio Armani said in a statement that the documents confirms “Mr. Armani’s intention to safeguard strategic continuity, corporate cohesion and financial stability for long-term development.”That includes Armani’s wishes for a short- and medium-term path for the brand mission and structure, which will be carried out by Dell’Orco and members of the family, the committee underlined.The foundation’s first priority is to name a chief executive officer, the committee underlined, and it will never hold less than 30% of share, making it “a permanent guarantor of compliance with the founding principals.” The committee said it would support Armani’s wishes to secure “the best possible future for the company and the brand.”Armani remained a rarity in Italian fashion, retaining tight control of his fashion empire in the face of advances from LVMH and Gucci, now part of the Kering group, and from Kering itself, as well as the Fiat-founding Agnelli family heirs.But in his business will, he specified the Armani Foundation should sell a 15% stake not before one year and within 18 months of his death, with preference to LVMH, Essilor-Luxottica or L’Oreal or to a fashion group “of similar standing.”Within three to five years, Armani also stipulated that the same buyer should increase its stake to 30% and 54.9%, or that a similar share be publicly floated through an initial public offering, either in Italy or a similar market.Both wills were rewritten by Armani last spring, partly by hand on the back of a sepia-colored envelope.His niece Roberta, who has long served as a liaison between Armani and his red-carpet clients, and his sister Rosanna, each were allotted a 15% non-voting share in the company.Armani maintained a 2.5% stake in the French-Italian eyewear giant Essilor-Luxottica, worth 2.5 billion euros ($2.93 billion), of which 40% goes to Dell’Orco and and most of the rest to family members just a part of the distribution of his vast personal fortune which included homes in Milan, New York, the Sicilian island of Pantelleria and St. Tropez on the French Riviera.The final Emporio Armani and Giorgio Armani collections designed by Armani will be presented later this month during Milan Fashion Week, which opens on Sept. 23. A special exhibition at the Pinacoteca di Brera will mark the 50th anniversary of the signature fashion house.In his will, Armani specified that future collections should be guided by “essential, modern, elegant and understated design with attention to detail and wearability.” Colleen Barry, Associated Press
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E-Commerce
Nostalgia is one of the internets favorite pastimes. The New York Times recently reported on a new trend built around that feeling: social media accounts posting AI-generated scenes that look as though they were plucked straight from the ’80s, ’90s, and early aughts. POV: Its summer in 2000 and life felt different, one such post is captioned. A young woman looks into the camera: Long days at the water park, no phones, just fun that never seemed to end. Next, a teenager holds a marshmallow over a campfire. No group chats, no DMs, just stories around the fire until morning, he says. @the.nostalgia.cat Summer 2000 #summer2000s #2000s #2000sthrowback #2000snostalgia #nostalgia #early2000s aquatic ambience – Scizzie Idyllic. Of course, none of those people or scenes are real. But that hasnt stopped viewers from aching for a past that feels simpler. Someone please build a time machine so we can go back in time and enjoy our childhood again, one commenter wrote. Another: I miss this so bad. And another: Technology killed everything. The popularity of this nostalgia-bait reflects a wider mood. More than 60% of Americans report feeling nostalgic right now, per CivicScience data. And for many, nostalgia is actually a sort of coping mechanism: According to a May survey from Human Flourishing Lab, 63% of people reportedly turn to nostalgia when stressed or overwhelmed by modern life, and a similar share lean on it when feeling anxious about the future. In 2025, plenty of people are feeling both. That helps explain why AI clips can be so persuasive. You know the 80s miss you right? one AI creation says. Let me guess, no one even talks face to face anymore. Here, were out till the streetlights come on. You should stay. The world feels real here. A message from the 80s #maximalnostalgia pic.twitter.com/B9oaRQjmzg— Maximal Nostalgia (@MaximalNSTLGA) September 2, 2025 A viral Instagram account, Purest Nostalgia, which has more than 794,000 followers, offers a life before social media through retro televisions, softly lit bowling alleys, and sun-soaked malls. The irony that these are social media posts, created with AI, is beside the point. View this post on Instagram A post shared by Purest Nostalgia (@purestnostalgia) What a beautiful life, one commenter wrote.
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E-Commerce
Swiss watchmaker Swatch has begun selling a special edition watch with the numbers three and nine reversed on its face in a play on the 39% tariffs President Donald Trump imposed on U.S. imports from Switzerland last month. The tariffs among the highest set by Trump worldwide were met with shock and dismay in Switzerland, a leading producer of high-end watches and other luxury goods. Costing 139 Swiss francs ($175), the watch named “WHAT IFTARIFFS?” went on sale on Wednesday and is only available in Switzerland, a company spokesperson said on Friday. The spokesperson said the watch was made with a knowing “wink” and sent a wake-up call to the Swiss government, which so far has not managed to secure a reduction of the tariffs. It aims to be a short-lived product, Swatch said. “Because as soon as the U.S. changes its tariffs for Switzerland, we will immediately stop selling this watch,” the spokesperson said, declining to say how many watches had so far been sold but calling the model “a huge success.” The Swatch website said delivery of the beige and blue watch could be delayed by one to two weeks due to what it called “very high demand”. It is also available at nearly a dozen Swatch stores, including those at the airports of Zurich and Geneva. The government of Switzerland has been seeking to negotiate lower tariffs with the Trump administration ever since the levies were announced. U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick struck a fairly upbeat tone on the talks on Thursday, telling CNBC that his government would “probably get a deal done with Switzerland.” ($1 = 0.7964 Swiss francs) Dave Graham, Reuters
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E-Commerce
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