Armani into Hotel Trade

Giorgio Armani yesterday announced a move into the hotel trade with a GBP538 million plan to open 14 properties over seven years in cities including London, New York and Tokyo. The designer chose the launch of his latest collection at Milan Fashion Week to confirm a tie-up with one of the Middle East's biggest developers, Dubai-based Emaar Properties, for ten luxury hotels and four holiday resorts.

The first will open in Dubai, in the new Burj Dubai development which will be the world's tallest residential building. It will include 15 Armani-designed flats as well as 250 hotel suites and a spa. The move follows the decision by other fashion names to expand from clothing into other lifestyle areas, including home interiors and cosmetics. The recent series of I'm a Celebrity Get Me Out Of Here was filmed at the luxurious Versace hotel on Australia's Gold Coast. Krizia owns a Caribbean hideaway, the Ferragamo family have hotel projects and jewellery firm Bulgari will shortly open its first hotel in Milan.

But Armani is the first to offer such a complete lifestyle - soon high-spenders will be able to buy his suits, his evening wear, his jeans, his furnishings and his holidays. Armani said yesterday he had been "exploring bringing Armani-style to hotels for years and we have had many approaches". He said Emaar, which was set up only in 1997, has the necessary "expansive vision, expertise and appreciation of our aesthetic".