Gianni Versace SpA will close its Japanese stores and review its entire business strategy, as demand for luxury goods declines in the world's second-largest economy.
"The Versace boutiques in Japan no longer represented the brand image and it was felt to be more advantageous for the company to close them and start with a clean slate," Federico Steiner, an outside spokesman for Versace in Milan, said Tuesday in a statement.
The stores are now in the process of being closed, he said by phone. Versace has three stores in Japan, according to its Web site.