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☆ Musician Rosalía brings the straitjacket back into view
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-03 | by ( Leah Dolan | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +5 min

CNN —On Tuesday, 12-time Latin Grammy winner Rosalía stepped out in New York wearing an outfit that demanded a double-take. (Since the release of her third album, “Motomami,” Rosalía has been spotted in everything from biker-style shield sunglasses to Harley Davidson helmets). In 1994, the New York State’s Office of Mental Health proposed that straitjackets be discontinued after 18 patients died while restrained or in “unsupervised seclusion” between 1988 and 1992. But Rosalía isn’t the first to attempt to recontextualize the garment in the name of fashion. At the Gucci show in 2019, Ayesha Tan-Jones protested the label's straitjacket-inspired clothes by writing "Mental health is not fashion" on their hands.

Persons: Rosalía, Rick Owens, ” Rosalía, Harley Davidson, Gucci, Ayesha Tan, Jones, ”, Alessandro Michele’s, hasn’t, Julia Fox, we’ve, Ye’s, Bianca Censori, John Galliano —, Dior, —, Maison, Dolce, Rosalia Organizations: CNN, York State’s, Mental Health, Fashion, Gucci, Penske Media, Maison Margiela, Dolce, Gabbana Locations: New York, Spanish, York, Gotham, Tan, Florence, Italy, Shanghai, China

☆ The fall of Gucci was inevitable
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-03 | by ( Madeline Berg | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +13 min

"We got used to hearing about double-digit growth at Gucci," Fflur Roberts, the head of luxury goods at Euromonitor, told Business Insider. "I think of what a fashion editor is wearing — it's not Gucci," Lindsey Solomon, a fashion publicist, told BI. After taking the top spot on the Lyst Index of fashion's hottest brands in 2022, Gucci dropped to number 11 last quarter. "We still believe the Gucci brand's current growth rate, which is 10 times higher than that of the industry, represents a risk going forward," Morningstar's Sokolova wrote in a 2017 note. Gucci relied heavily on China for its growth, but stores — perhaps including this one in China's Hainan Province — have struggled recently.

Persons: Alessandro Michele's, loafers, Gigi Hadid, Sienna Miller, Steve Madden, ASOS, Sally Singer, Michele, Fflur Roberts, Alessandro Michele, Harry Styles, Billie Eilish, Jared Leto, Kevin Mazur, Bauer, Griffin, Jeff Kravitz, Gucci, Sabato De Sarno, Lindsey Solomon, De Sarno, François, Henri Pinault, China —, Jelena Sokolova, Solomon, Daniele Venturelli, Michele —, Sokolova, It's, Thomas Chauvet, Morningstar's Sokolova, Michele's Gucci, wasn't, Jeremy Moeller, Chauvet, Roberts, Chanel, Gucci's, Gucci hadn't, Hermès, Birkin, Louis Vuitton's Neverfull, Pinault, Louis, Euromonitor's Roberts Organizations: Creative, Gucci, The Recording Academy, Axelle, Morningstar, BI, Citi, Disney, Getty, Revenue, China News Service, Bain, Louis Vuitton Locations: Euromonitor, China, The Asia, Pacific, China's Hainan Province, Asia

☆ Valentino Enters Its Alessandro Michele Era
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-28 | by ( Vanessa Friedman | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

The song has stopped in at least one game of fashion musical chairs. Valentino has a new creative director: Alessandro Michele, the former Gucci designer who left that brand in 2022. Mr. Michele, who was known for having transformed Gucci into a $10 billion powerhouse by making it a baroque treasure chest of inclusivity and magpie references, replaces Pierpaolo Piccioli, who parted ways with Valentino last week. The appointment, which was first reported by Vogue Business, brings Mr. Michele, 51, back to the heart of the fashion world. “It is a great honor for me to be welcomed in the Maison Valentino,” Mr. Michele wrote in the caption of an Instagram post shared on Thursday.

Persons: Valentino, Alessandro Michele, Gucci, Michele, Piccioli, Jared Leto, Harry Styles, Dakota Johnson, Maison Valentino, ” Mr, “, ” Organizations: Vogue Business

☆ Why Gucci’s New Creative Director Counts Princess Diana Among His Muses
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-18 | by ( Laura May Todd | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +2 min

Alessandro Michele’s departure as the creative director of Gucci hadn’t yet been announced. By his own account, he struggled to express himself; young, gay and interested in fashion, De Sarno felt out of place. He did stints at Prada and Dolce & Gabbana before, in 2009, making a more permanent home at Valentino in Rome. During his 14-year tenure there, he cycled upward through various departments until he became the label’s fashion director and the right-hand man of its creative director, Pierpaolo Piccioli. Recently, Gucci announced that the company will relocate the design office from Rome to Milan, where De Sarno feels most at home.

Persons: Sabato De Sarno, Alexander McQueen, Balenciaga, Saint Laurent, “, Alessandro Michele’s, Gucci hadn’t, ” De Sarno, Maria, Raffaele, De Sarno, Pierpaolo Piccioli, Gucci, ”, “ It’s, Sabato, “ I’m, ‘, I’ll Organizations: Gucci, Istituto, Prada, Dolce, Gabbana Locations: Kering, Bottega, Cicciano, Italy, Naples, Milan, Valentino, Rome

☆ Gucci’s Reboot Brings Back Old-School Cool
▼ + stars: | 2024-01-16 | by ( Guy Trebay | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

The headline was Gucci. Gucci is, in a way, the Ever Given of the personal luxury goods trade. With more than 500 stores worldwide and an estimated market value in 2022 of $35.3 billion, it is that skyscraper-size tanker, caught sideways. The entire fashion business took a hit during the pandemic and then bounced back, or seemed to, with a surprising resilience. The instincts that helped elevate him from journeyman accessories designer to star were already giving him the itch to move on.

Persons: Gucci, Alessandro Michele, —, Michele Locations: Suez, Florence

☆ Gucci staff strike over plans to relocate to Milan
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-29 | by ( Christy Choi | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +3 min

CNN —Dozens of employees at Italian fashion house Gucci staged a strike on Monday to protest the company’s decision to move its design office from Rome to Milan. CGIL has argued that asking staff to move to Milan, approximately 300 miles north of the capital, in the first half of 2024 was tantamount to laying them off. Alessandro Garofalo/ReutersFollowing the departure of creative director Alessandro Michele in 2022, Gucci owner Kering shook up the label’s top management. While sales of luxury goods were on a tear earlier in the year, the market cooled in the second half of 2023. The designer gave the old Gucci codes a refresh sending babydoll dresses, tailored short suits, fringed skirts, hoodies and bejeweled knitwear down the runway.

Persons: Gucci, CGIL, ”, Gucci’s, Sabato De Sarno, Alessandro Garofalo, Alessandro Michele, Kering, Valentino, Marco Bizzarri, Jean, François, Yves, Yves Saint Laurent, Bottega, ” Gucci, De Sarno, “ Gucci Ancora ”, “, Julia Roberts, Ryan Gosling, Jessica Chastain, Kendall Jenner, Julia Garner, bejeweled Organizations: CNN, Reuters, Yves Saint, Gucci Locations: Rome, Milan, Bottega Veneta, Balenciaga

☆ Gucci employees in Rome go on strike over creative office move
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-27 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

A Gucci sign is seen outside a shop in Rome, April 20, 2023. REUTERS/Remo Casilli/File Photo Acquire Licensing RightsMILAN, Nov 27 (Reuters) - A few dozen employees at fashion house Gucci in Rome went on strike on Monday against the company's decision to move its design office from the Italian capital to Milan. Labour union CGIL's regional office said Gucci's decision was not supported by objective reasons, making hard not to think the real goal was to cut staff. The transfer "does not involve any staff reductions", a spokesperson for Gucci told Reuters. Following the departure of creative director Alessandro Michele in 2022, Gucci owner Kering (PRTP.PA) changed the label's top management, as it seeks to reignite sales momentum at its largest brand.

Persons: Remo Casilli, Gucci, Alessandro Michele, Kering, Elisa Anzolin, Mark Potter Organizations: REUTERS, Labour, CGIL's, Reuters, Thomson Locations: Rome, Milan

☆ Davide Renne, Moschino Creative Director, Dead at 46
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-10 | by ( Elizabeth Paton | More About Elizabeth Paton | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Davide Renne, the Italian fashion designer and former head of women’s wear at Gucci, died nine days after becoming the creative director of Moschino. His death in Milan on Nov. 10 was confirmed by Aeffe, the parent group of Moschino, on Friday. “Today, we are left with the responsibility of carrying on what his imagination and creativity only envisioned.”Mr. Renne, who had been at Gucci for 20 years before the announcement last month of his new role at Moschino, had been working on a debut collection that would have been shown at Milan Fashion Week in February. A well-loved figure in Italian fashion and right-hand man to the former Gucci designer Alessandro Michele, he had spoken of his excitement at being hired for a “dream role” at the top of one of the best-known names in Italian fashion. He succeeded the American designer Jeremy Scott, who left the brand last March.

Persons: Davide Renne, Aeffe, ”, Massimo Ferretti, ” Mr, Renne, Gucci, Alessandro Michele, Jeremy Scott Organizations: Gucci, “, Milan Fashion Locations: Milan, Moschino, American

☆ The Great Gucci Reset Is Here
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-23 | by ( Vanessa Friedman | More About Vanessa Friedman | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Sabato De Sarno, the designer who was essentially unknown outside the industry until he was handed the keys to the $10 billion Gucci kingdom earlier this year and tasked with reinventing a brand that had already been reinvented twice before — once by Tom Ford, as a uniform for sultry power players and then again by Alessandro Michele as a big-tent haven for fashion freakazoids high and low — called his first collection “Ancora.”That translates literally as “again.” But, he said in an interview a few weeks before the show, not again as in a retread, like “play it again, Sam” but as the “again, again, again” of desire: the feeling that, when you find something you love, you can never get enough. The feeing that, presumably, Gucci sparked in him, and that he (and his bosses) were hoping his Gucci would spark in consumers. The word was plastered all over posters around Milan teasing the show, on the invitations in a new Gucci burgundy red known as Ancora red and on the sleeve of a vinyl record for the after-party. It was hard to escape.

Persons: Sabato De Sarno, —, Tom Ford, Alessandro Michele, Sam ”, Gucci Organizations: Gucci Locations: Milan

☆ Gucci’s new designer Sabato de Sarno makes himself known
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-22 | by ( Scarlett Conlon | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +4 min

Yet, if Gucci’s new designer Sabato de Sarno was rattled before he took his bow for the Italian luxury house at Milan fashion week on Friday, he didn’t show it. Where Michele was an overt maximalist with retro references, de Sarno mined the Gucci archive and codes in a more stripped-back way. Oxblood red dominated the collection, inspired by The Savoy hotel in London where Guccio Gucci worked in the late 1800s. The bling was, in fact, a reference to the Marina jewelry collection that appeared in Gucci campaigns in the late 1960s. The rest of the embellished crystal designs were inspired by embroideries de Sarno found on 1960s clutch bags in the Gucci archive.

Persons: Milan, Sabato de Sarno, Alessandro Michele’s, De Sarno, Julia Roberts, Ryan Gosling, Jessica Chastain, Kendall Jenner, Julia Garner, Francois, Henri Pinault, Swan, Gucci Ancora ”, ‘, de Sarno, Prada, Gabbana, Valentino, Michele, Jackie, —, Guccio Gucci, Daniele Venturelli, “ Rosso Ancora, ”, Sabato De Sarno, Gucci, Kering, Daria Werbowy, Tom Ford Gucci, embroideries de Sarno Organizations: Milan CNN, Brera, Gucci, Dolce Locations: Milan, ‘, Savoy, London, Naples

"Gucci is the opportunity to fall in love with fashion, ancora," De Sarno said in a post on Instagram in the run-up to the show, using the Italian word for "again." Debut collections can generate mixed reactions, and even positive press reviews are not always a proxy for their future commercial success. Kering shares closed 1.5% higher after the show. At their current price, Kering shares are trading at the equivalent of around 14 times expected earnings over the next 12 months, according to LSEG data. Reporting by Mimosa Spencer and Elisa Anzolin, editing by Silvia AloisiOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Persons: Sabato De Sarno, Kering, De Sabato, Kenneth Richard, Federico Giglio, Giglio.com, Gucci, De Sarno, De, Antoine Belge, Francois, Henri Pinault, Julia Roberts, Ryan Gosling, Louis, Dior, Alessandro Michele, Marco Bizzarri, Jean, Hermes, Mimosa Spencer, Elisa Anzolin, Silvia Aloisi Organizations: luxe, Reuters, Exane BNP, fashion's, Louis Vuitton, Moncler, Thomson Locations: Milan, Italy, New York, Chengdu, Bangkok, London, Brera

De Sarno’s debut Friday, nine months after being hired in the wake of Michele’s surprise departure, was the most anticipated on the Milan Fashion Week calendar for next spring and summer womenswear. The fervor was enough to fill the front row with Hollywood A-listers including Julia Roberts and Ryan Gosling. In one recent interview, De Sarno professed admiration for Brutalist architecture, suggesting a love of the essential, and his collection was exactly that. A tiny leather bra top in embossed leather was paired with a matching midi skirt. The conversation started this week by De Sarno is to be continued.

Persons: — Sabato De Sarno, Gucci —, “ Gucci Ancora, “ Gucci, De Sarno, Alessandro Michele, Sarno’s, Julia Roberts, Ryan Gosling, Tom Ford, Guccio Gucci, De, tinsel, — Organizations: MILAN, Prada, Dolce, Gabbana, Milan, Hollywood, Gucci Locations: Valentino, London, Brera

MILAN/PARIS, Sept 19 (Reuters) - Gucci creative director Sabato De Sarno takes to the runway in Milan on Friday, in a high-stakes designer debut for the Italian label’s owner, French luxury group Kering (PRTP.PA). De Sarno’s Gucci catwalk presentation – one of the industry’s most highly-anticipated shows this year – will serve as an aesthetic reset for the brand, aimed at reigniting sales, but it is also the first major test of a sweeping overhaul at Kering. The group has also taken steps to broaden its revenue sources, announcing plans to buy high end perfumer Creed in June and a 30% stake in fashion label Valentino in July. “We don’t think that a margin reset would be badly received by the market,” said Carole Madjo, analyst with Barclays. Reporting by Mimosa Spencer and Elisa Anzolin Editing by Tomasz JanowskiOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Persons: Gucci, Sabato De Sarno, De Sarno’s Gucci, Valentino, Louis, Jean, Francois Palus, Marco Bizzarri, De Sarno’s, Bizzarri, Alessandro Michele, De Sarno's, Sabato De Sarno's, ”, Carole Madjo, Daria Werbowy, Luca Solca, Bernstein, Mimosa Spencer, Elisa Anzolin, Tomasz Janowski Organizations: MILAN, Louis Vuitton, Dior . Group, Gucci, RBC, Barclays, De, Thomson Locations: PARIS, Milan, Kering

☆ Sarah Burton Exits Alexander McQueen
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-11 | by ( Elizabeth Paton | More About Elizabeth Paton | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +3 min

Ms. Burton, then its head of women’s wear, had been working with Mr. McQueen since 1996, when she started at his label as an intern after graduating from Central Saint Martins, the design school in London. Within a year of her succeeding Mr. McQueen as the brand’s creative director, Ms. Burton created the Princess of Wales’s ivory lace wedding gown, which became more famous than any dress designed by Mr. McQueen. Ms. Burton, who rose to lead a fashion house in an industry still largely dominated by men, helped Alexander McQueen evolve from a label beloved by fashion superfans into a modern luxury powerhouse. Kering, which bought a 51 percent stake in Alexander McQueen in 2001, is also reconfiguring its organization and its assets. The conglomerate has appointed Maureen Chiquet, a former chief executive at Chanel, to its board of directors and has named Francesca Bellettini, the chief executive of Saint Laurent, as the deputy chief executive of Kering’s portfolio of brands.

Persons: Burton, McQueen, Ms, . McQueen, Prince Harry’s, Meghan Markle, Queen Elizabeth II, Alexander McQueen, “, Sarah, ” François, Henri Pinault, Burton’s, Gabriela Hearst’s, Jeremy Scott’s, Alessandro Michele’s, Maureen Chiquet, Francesca Bellettini, Saint, Pinault Organizations: Central Saint Martins, Gucci, New York, Creative Artists Agency Locations: London, Chloé, Moschino, China, Saint Laurent, Hollywood, Valentino

☆ Pinault’s Hollywood foray is untimely distraction
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-08 | by ( Pierre Briancon | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

REUTERS/Charles Platiau Acquire Licensing RightsLONDON, Sept 8 (Reuters Breakingviews) - The story of European business trying to mingle with Hollywood has often led to unhappy endings. The Pinault family, which controls $61 billion luxury group Kering (PRTP.PA), thinks it can buck the trend. Pinault may have overpaid for CAA, especially in the middle of a major strike of Hollywood writers and actors. The transaction, through holding company Artemis, adds Hollywood's premiere talent agency to Pinault’s family empire which spans fashion, wine and contemporary art. CAA was valued at $1.1 billion when TPG acquired a majority stake in 2014, four years after having originally invested in the talent agency.

Persons: Francois, Henri Pinault, Kering, Charles Platiau, Tom Hanks, Steven Spielberg, François, Ari Emanuel’s, Artemis ’, Gucci, Alessandro Michele, Pinault, Jean, Kering’s, Valentino, Brad Pitt, Salma Hayek, Lisa Jucca, Streisand Neto Organizations: REUTERS, Reuters, Hollywood, Universal Studios, Creative Artists Agency, CAA, Gucci, TPG, Endeavor, Thomson Locations: Paris, France, bask

☆ Get Ready for the New Gucci, and Other Surprises of the Fashion Season
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-05 | by ( Vanessa Friedman | More About Vanessa Friedman | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

After seasons of relative calm and predictability (some might say stultifying sameness), Milan has become the city to watch, with the two debuts of the season. First up: Sabato De Sarno at Gucci. Then there’s Peter Hawkings, another longtime deputy, who became the creative director of Tom Ford in April after the brand was sold to Estée Lauder and Mr. Ford stepped down. Mr. Hawkings worked beside Mr. Ford for decades, and judging by his official portrait, is very much in the mold of his mentor (down to the tinted aviators). The result is pretty much guaranteed to remind of us what we lost when we lost the very talented Mr. Moschino at only 44 in 1994 and why brand founders really matter.

Persons: Sabato De Sarno, Gucci, Valentino, Alessandro Michele, Peter Hawkings, Tom Ford, Estée Lauder, Ford, Hawkings, Jeremy Scott, — Katie Grand, Carlyne Cerf, Dudzeele, Gabriella Karefa, Johnson, Lucia Liu —, Moschino Organizations: Mr Locations: Milan

☆ Kering dons Valentino scent to ease Gucci malaise
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-28 | by ( Lisa Jucca | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

Adding the maker of pricey Rockstud bags could help it reduce its dependency on tottering star brand Gucci. Kering’s stake purchase values the whole brand at 5.7 billion euros, or 16 times its EBITDA of 350 million euros last year. Kering will pay 1.7 billion euros for the stake in cash. Valentino had revenue of 1.4 billion euros and a recurring EBITDA of 350 million euros in 2022. Kering’s star brand Gucci rose just 1% on an organic basis.

Persons: Henri Pinault, Valentino, Gucci, Valentino Garavani, LVMH, Sabato De Sarno, Alessandro Michele, Marco Bizzarri, Kering, George Hay, Streisand Neto, Oliver Taslic Organizations: MILAN, Reuters, Thomson

For years, Marco Bizzarri was one of the most well-known and respected executives in the global luxury business. Bald and boldly suited, he was the architect behind the meteoric success of Gucci, the largest fashion brand in the stable owned by the French group Kering, which also includes Balenciaga, Bottega Veneta and Saint Laurent. The news was buried in the third paragraph of a memo Kering released that outlined a major organizational shake-up as François-Henri Pinault, the chairman and chief executive, tries to write a new chapter for the fortunes of Gucci and the conglomerate. In the same announcement, Kering said Francesca Bellettini, the chief executive of Yves Saint Laurent, would become the conglomerate’s deputy chief executive for brand development, a promotion that will require all Kering brand chief executives to report to her and make her one of the most powerful women in the luxury industry. Jean-Marc Duplaix, Kering’s chief financial officer, will also become a deputy chief executive, overseeing operations and finance.

Persons: Marco Bizzarri, Gucci, Saint Laurent, Alessandro Michele, Bizzarri’s, Kering, Henri Pinault, Francesca Bellettini, Yves Saint Laurent, Jean, Marc Duplaix Organizations: Saint, Gucci Locations: Bottega Veneta

☆ Gucci’s horsebit loafer is still a coveted status symbol 70 years on
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-08 | by ( Leah Dolan | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +5 min

Despite their vastly differing personal styles and occupations, they have all been spotted in a pair of Gucci horsebit loafers. In mid-June, coinciding with the menswear shows at Milan Fashion Week, Gucci will stage an exhibition celebrating the legacy of its signature loafer. In 1974, George H. W. Bush wore a pair of horsebit loafers to meet then-President Gerald Ford. Through the decadesThe success of Gucci’s horsebit loafers has been far-reaching, and the secret to their ongoing relevance may lie in the shoe’s versatility. The horsebit loafer is Gucci’s answer to the near-philosophical question: What shoes do I wear?

Persons: George H, Bush, ’, Jane Birkin, Wiz Khalifa, Gucci horsebit, Gucci, loafers, Gerald Ford, David Hume Kennerly, Birkin, Francis Ford Coppola, Sophia Loren, Charlotte Casiraghi, Jodie Foster, Brad Pitt, Zoe Kravitz, Gigi Hadid, Guccio Gucci —, —, Aldo, Rodolfo, Vasco, Guccio, Serge Gainsbourg, Gucci’s, Alessandro Michele, JB Lacroix Organizations: CNN, Metropolitan Museum of, Milan Fashion, Golden Globe, MTV VMA, Savoy, Wall Locations: Cannes, Monégasque, London, Florence, Italy, New York, France

☆ Mixing old and new, Gucci hosts show in 14th century Seoul palace
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-16 | by ( Ju-Min Park | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

SEOUL, May 16 (Reuters) - With sparkling lights and beating drums, Italian luxury label Gucci took over a 14th century Seoul Palace on Tuesday to showcase its cruise collection, blending Korean heritage and modern fashion. The show, featuring the soundtrack of Oscar-winning South Korean movie "Parasite" during its finale, was the first of its kind to take place within the palace's courtyard. The Gucci cruise show follows a Louis Vuitton pre-fall fashion show on a Seoul bridge in April. Built in 1395, the Gyeongbokgung palace served as the main royal palace of Korea's Joseon dynasty. The South Korean national treasure became the latest iconic landmark chosen by Gucci to showcase its collection.

☆ Milan Fashion: Gucci revisits past to pave new way, sober looks at Tod's
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-24 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

[1/2] A model presents a creation from the Gucci Fall/Winter 2023/2024 collection during Fashion Week in Milan, Italy, February 24, 2023. One model wore a crumpled shirt tucked into a miniskirt, others were dressed in coats with voluminous shoulders. At Tod's (TOD.MI), creative director Walter Chiapponi offered a sober collection in earthy tones that played with tailoring. Models wore pea coats as well as long oversized coats, and also appeared in parkas and cropped aviator and elongated bomber jackets. Reporting by Marie-Louise Gumuchian in London and Elisa Anzolin in Milan Editing by Matthew LewisOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

[1/2] A man looks at a window display outside a Gucci store, part of the Kering group, at Tsim Sha Tsui shopping district in Hong Kong January 17, 2013. But while Gucci, which accounts for the bulk of profits and revenues at Kering, was the only brand to post a fall in sales, analysts said other labels too posted lower-than-forecast results. Kering said sales fell by 15% in North America in the fourth quarter and by 19% in Asia Pacific. But the situation has been more complicated for Kering, since Gucci relies more heavily on China than competitors. LVMH's fashion and leather goods division, home to Louis Vuitton and Dior, grew sales by 10% over the fourth quarter.

☆ Gucci's challenge: reigniting heat while boosting timeless appeal
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-30 | by ( Mimosa Spencer | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

PARIS, Jan 30 (Reuters) - Sabato De Sarno, newly appointed by Kering (PRTP.PA) to reinvigorate its prized Gucci brand, needs to spark heat with a new direction, analysts say - a delicate task, given the emphasis executives have also put on the label's timeless appeal. De Sarno, a senior fashion designer from Valentino, is tasked as creative director with reviving the fortunes of the brand that accounted for two-thirds of Kering's profits in 2021. Analysts welcomed Kering's choice of a seasoned but relatively unknown designer, noting that previous creative director Michele did not have a public profile when he was appointed in 2002. His experience at Valentino suggests a "less eccentric aesthetic" than Gucci's previous designer, noted Carole Madjo of Barclays. The designer rose through Valentino's ranks after his arrival in 2009 to become fashion director overseeing both the men's and women's collections, working closely with chief designer Pierpaolo Piccioli.

☆ New Gucci designer has big sneakers to fill
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-30 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

MILAN, Jan 30 (Reuters Breakingviews) - Gucci’s new creative head Sabato De Sarno is stepping onto a wobbly catwalk. François-Henri Pinault’s conglomerate Kering (PRTP.PA) on Saturday picked the 39-year-old from smaller fashion house Valentino to lead its biggest brand and succeed star designer Alessandro Michele, who left abruptly in November. Michele’s daring designs, which he applied lavishly on anything from shirts to sneakers, helped Gucci sales shoot up to nearly 10 billion euros in 2019. But at around 10.5 billion euros in 2022, Gucci sales are expected to have risen only 10% since then. They do not reflect the views of Reuters News, which, under the Trust Principles, is committed to integrity, independence, and freedom from bias.

PARIS, Jan 28 (Reuters) - French luxury goods group Kering (PRTP.PA) has appointed Sabato De Sarno, a senior fashion designer at Valentino, as creative director of its top brand Gucci, it said on Saturday. "I am touched and excited to contribute my creative vision for the brand.”He will present his debut Gucci runway collection at Milan Women's Fashion Week in September 2023. Gucci CEO Marco Bizzarri said that having worked with a number of Italy's most renowned luxury fashion houses, De Sarno "brings with him a vast and relevant experience." "Gucci - and the Kering shareholders - need courage and an original point of view." "The eyes of the world will be on him to see if he also has the required creative genius."

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