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Kering has appointed a new chief executive at its troubled top brand Gucci as the French luxury group attempts to revive its performance.
Stefano Cantino, a former executive at rival LVMH’s Louis Vuitton, will take over from Kering veteran Jean-François Palus, who was appointed to lead the brand last year as it underwent a transition under new designer Sabato de Sarno. Cantino, who joined Gucci in May as deputy chief executive, will begin his new role in January.
Sales and profits at Gucci, which account for half of group sales and two-thirds of profits, fell sharply in the first half of the year. Kering sales were down about 30 per cent in mainland China in the period, according to Barclays estimates, dragged down by poor performance at Gucci.
“I am confident that, building on what has been set up over the past 15 months, Stefano and the Gucci team will succeed in the mission to take Gucci back to the leadership the brand deserves,” Kering deputy chief executive Francesca Bellettini said.
Shares in Kering are down 40 per cent this year for a market value of €29.2bn.
Palus had been named chief executive of the group’s biggest brand in July 2023, following an interim period after his predecessor Marco Bizzarri departed the brand. The flux at the top of Gucci follows the departure of former star designer Alessandro Michele at the end of 2022. Bizzari and Michele had led Gucci through a period of explosive growth thanks to the success of the latter’s theatrical, maximalist aesthetic and strong appeal in China.
However, as trends changed, Michele’s vision stopped selling as well. At the same time, the younger aspirational shoppers his vision had attracted pulled back. Gucci had not fully developed the kind of timeless aesthetic that brings in the top tier of wealthy shopper that buys reliably season after season — a project that is ongoing as part of turnaround plans.
De Sarno was brought in from a more behind-the-scenes role at Valentino but just over a year and several collections after his much-hyped Milan Fashion Week debut, sales have yet to turn a corner. Kering has warned it expects group operating income to fall by as much as 30 per cent in the second half of this year.
Palus’s role in overseeing the Gucci transition raised some eyebrows in the industry. The executive has been at the group since 1991 and is a close associate of Kering chair and chief executive François-Henri Pinault, but had little experience on the operational side of running a brand.
Gucci’s situation is especially tricky, given the complexity of turning around one of the biggest brands in luxury with €10bn in annual revenues amid a wider downturn in the luxury market, especially in China. Kering said Palus had been named to the job with “the main goal to set up the foundations of Gucci’s next chapter and hire key talents, including his successor”.
“Over a particularly challenging period, [Palus] made the courageous decisions the House needed, and built sound foundations for a renewed Gucci to flourish again under the stewardship of Stefano,” Pinault said in a statement.
Cantino joined Gucci in May after a five-year period at Louis Vuitton, LVMH’s biggest brand, where he oversaw communications and image. He previously spent two decades at Milan-based Prada, rising to lead communications and marketing at the luxury group before his departure.