THE Italian fashion world was gripped by speculation yesterday that Giorgio Armani is considering a stock market flotation, despite denials by the company.

Signor Armani, the sole owner of the company he founded thirty years ago with his late partner Sergio Galeotti, has “sounded out” investment banks about a public offering of shares valuing the company at €3.5 billion to €4 billion (£2.3 billion to £2.6 billion), the Milan daily Corriere della Sera reported.

The company said that it was reviewing its operations in order to “keep all options open”. However, a spokesman for Armani said that there were “absolutely no plans on our table” for a stock market listing.

However, fashion industry sources in Milan said that Armani was “one of the few remaining independent companies” in the Italian fashion sector and would make “an attractive stock market listing”.

The Corriere della Sera report claimed that Signor Armani had been carrying out “studies, valuations and contacts” with investment banks “since the start of the year”.

Gianni Gerbotto, managing director of Armani, insisted that such contacts were “part of the normal activity of any management”. He added: “We are not a company close to quotation. This is not an issue on our agenda today.”

Rumours of a public offering have followed the improved performance of companies in the fashion sector and the press reports come at a time when several prominent fashion houses, such as Prada and Versace, are once again talking of flotation.

At 72, Giorgio Armani is also undoubtedly looking to the future of the empire he has ruled almost single-handedly for 30 years.

What lies behind the rumours, Signor Gerbotto says, are “changes in the group in the last six to seven years . . . Today it has more of a systemic control of the business, and a more coherent management”.

He said the firm had “begun to open up a bit more” by publishing its balance sheets on a six-monthly basis “to reinforce internal discipline”. If a public offering ever did take place, the board would have to be opened up to “external members”.

At stake in the long run, according to fashion industry insiders, is the future of Armani without Armani. The silver-haired stylist, a charming but forceful character, has until now insisted on micro-managing all aspects of the venture, from the designs to the running of each Armani shop.

The management side, however, may increasingly fall to his top team, which, apart from Signor Gerbotto, includes Leo Dell’Orco, the longstanding head of Armani fashion for men, and Signor Armani’s niece, Silvana, who heads the women’s collections.

There is no doubting the Armani group’s buoyancy: it ended last year with a turnover of €1.4 billion, a rise of 10 per cent, with the operating margin also up 10 per cent at nearly €263 million. But there is also no doubting the fact that its success is largely a result of Signor Armani’s genius for elegant but “wearable” designs, coupled with his celebrity.

Last week there were reports that although no wedding date has been announced, Katie Holmes, fiancée of the actor Tom Cruise, was insisting on being married in Italy wearing “something sheer and floaty” by Armani.

Bono, the Irish frontman for the band U2, said recently that he admired Signor Armani “because he is in control of his own destiny”, adding: “I like the fact that he is not owned by anyone else.”

Times Recommends

• ‘Thousands of Tamils dying’ in Sri Lanka camp
• Jackson 'rebuilt his nose before he died'
• Tehran: militiamen attack protesters