Armani is 90 years old and has so far been tight-lipped about succession plans for the company he founded in 1975 and still firmly controls.
"I can give myself another two or three years as the head of the company. No more, it would be negative," he told the Italian newspaper Corriere della Sera. Armani said he has restless nights dreaming of a future where "I no longer have to be the one to say 'Yes' or 'No'".
He added that he had received "slightly more pushy" approaches from potential outside investors in his company, "but at the moment I don't see any openings."
Asked what the secret to longevity is, Giorgio Armani said: "Discipline."
Journalists who interviewed the famous Italian designer asked him if it was true that he started doing sports, after noticing in some television images that he had "rounded out". "There's a moment when you look in the mirror and say, well, I was different. Then there's the press, which reminds you of how you used to be. And then there are the pictures – a disaster. But I try to limit the problem by choosing the photos," said Armani.
He also stated that he started playing sports four decades ago, and in recent years he has a routine.
“I started exercising seriously when I was 50, every morning. For the past 15 years, twice a day when I wake up and before I go to bed at night."
With no children to leave the business to, there has been speculation about the long-term future of the Armani empire and whether, in an industry dominated by luxury conglomerates such as Louis Vuitton and Kering, it will be able to maintain the independence it values.
In an interview with Corriere della Sera, Armani said he had "built a kind of structure, a project, a protocol" to regulate his succession, without elaborating.
Last year, Reuters reported on a document held by a Milan notary that sets out future leadership principles for those who will inherit the group, and another detailing aspects such as job protection at the company.
Armani's heirs are speculated to include his sister, three other family members who work at the firm, his collaborator and partner Pantaleo Dell'Orco, and a charitable foundation.
