Armani is one of the only large, established fashion houses still controlled and designed by its founder and now that Giorgio is getting up there (he's almost 78)...well, that obviously won't be the case forever. He's clearly still going strong--pushing out collection after collection, expanding into new product categories, designing clothes for the Olympics, etc--and never really talks about who will succeed him. Still, he tells the Wall Street Journal, in a lengthy piece about that and the future of the Armani brand, that it's something he thinks about every day--"when I wake up in the morning and when I go to sleep at night." He also touches on his battle with hepatitis, his initial reluctance to strike a deal with LVMH (which he seems to now regret not doing), why editors shouldn't praise designers like Marc Jacobs and Miuccia Prada, what (and who) will take Armani into the future (there is no mention of Stefano Pilati, who has been rumored), and the possibility of starting a foundation. Read on for the most interesting bits:

Fashion people are really at each other's throats these days! Giorgio Armani used a press conference before his spring 2013 show yesterday to address recent comments Roberto Cavalli made about him on his blog.

The final verdict is not yet in on whether or not LVMH came into its 22.6% Hermès stake using secretive, illegal methods in an attempt to take over the competing French luxury brand. However, AMF, the French market authority that has been investigating the case, has proposed its recommended sentence.

Labelux would maintain majority control.