Giorgio Armani SpA, the Italian fashion
company whose clothes are worn by celebrities including Angelina Jolie and
Leonardo DiCaprio, said it opened its first stores in Mongolia and Vietnam as
it seeks to tap Asian demand.

Emporio Armani boutiques opened in
Ulaanbaatar and in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, where the clothier also added a
cafe, the Milan-based company has said in two e-mailed statements to Bloomberg,
without saying when the outlets began trading. Each country is “ready” for
Italian fashion and design, Giorgio Armani, the closely held company’s founding
president and chief executive officer, said in the statements.

Armani is seeking to diversify its geographic
sources of revenue after profit fell 28 percent last year because of the
recession in North America and Japan. The company follows LVMH Moet Hennessy
Louis Vuitton SA in opening stores in Mongolia and Vietnam. Sales of luxury
goods in Asia Pacific, excluding China, may rise 10 percent this year, Bain
& Co. estimated in April.

Armani has 1,503 single-brand outlets
worldwide.