Emporio Armani is withdrawing from Argentina. The fashion brand has closed its only boutique in Buenos Aires, citing bureaucratic obstacles which were preventing their imported clothes from making headway in the Argentinian market.

Speaking to La Nacion Rodolfo Gotlib, the director of Clothing Brands – the operating group of private equity firm The Exxel Group – which holds the local licence for Emporio Armani explained: “We are in the process of reorganising our company and giving priority to national production. Recently, it has become more and more difficult to import clothing and the problem with the licence that we have with Emporio Armani is that it does not allow us to produce clothes locally.”

As a result of the economic crisis in the country, following a boom over the past five years, the Argentinian government has increased protectionist measures designed to safeguard local production.

By Jonathan Fulwell (Source: Sarah Ahssen)