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Armani Eyes Chain of Hotels, Resorts

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From Associated Press

Giorgio Armani, the Italian fashion designer known for classy-looking clothes collections, is teaming up with a Dubai, United Arab Emirates-based company to launch a collection of luxury hotels and resorts.

In a statement Sunday, Giorgio Armani, the designer’s namesake firm, said it had signed a letter of intent for the project with Emaar Properties.

Over the next seven years, 10 hotels and four vacation resorts will open in London, Paris, New York, Tokyo, Shanghai, Milan and Dubai, the statement said.

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“We have been exploring the idea of bringing the Armani philosophy of design and style to hotels for many years,” the designer said in the statement.

Armani, sole owner of his firm, and Emaar Chairman Mohammed al-Abbar told Dow Jones Newswires on Saturday that building the global chain would entail more than $1 billion in investments over the next six to eight years. Armani will oversee the hotels’ design and styling.

Cash-rich Emaar, responsible for real estate and management, is likely to carry most of the development costs, though details of the financial arrangement haven’t been completed.

“I’m leaning toward a royalties-type deal,” al-Abbar told Dow Jones. He had approached Armani a little more than a year ago when he learned that Armani was considering opening a hotel chain.

Armani has long been expanding his horizons, from women’s and men’s clothing to home furnishings and other designer items.

Armani and al-Abbar are betting on an upturn in the tourism industry, after the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, the scare over severe acute respiratory syndrome and an economic downturn discouraged traveling. Travelers, both for tourism and business, always will frequent the world’s most important cities, Armani said.

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Armani said his company also would benefit from selling merchandise to the hotels, including furniture, staff wardrobes and guest amenities such as toiletries.

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