Tag: Kering

What You Need to Know About Gucci’s New Creative Director

[ad_1]

Photo: Riccardo Raspa/Courtesy of Gucci

Just two months after Alessandro Michele left the job he held for seven years (after working at the brand for two decades), Gucci has a new creative director.

On Jan. 28 — a Saturday — Kering announced it had hired Sabato De Sarno, a Valentino alum, to take over Gucci. (Could the weekend news drop have been a pun on the designer’s name? Which means “Saturday” in Italian? Get it? Haha.) He’s tasked with leading the brand’s design studio across categories: women’s, men’s, leather goods, accessories and lifestyle. He’ll report to President and CEO Marco Bizzarri.

“I am delighted that Sabato will join Gucci as the house’s new Creative Director, one of the most influential roles in the luxury industry,” Bizzarri said, in a statement. “Having worked with a number of Italy’s most renowned luxury fashion houses, he brings with him a vast and relevant experience. I am certain that through Sabato’s deep understanding and appreciation for Gucci’s unique legacy, he will lead our creative teams with a distinctive vision that will help write this exciting next chapter, reinforcing the house’s fashion authority while capitalizing on its rich heritage.”

Scroll to Continue

For his part, De Sarno shared the news on Instagram, writing: “I’m proud, honored, touched and excited. In a statement, he said, “I am proud to join a house with such an extraordinary history and heritage, that over the years has been able to welcome and cherish values I believe in. I am touched and excited to contribute my creative vision for the brand.”

De Sarno spent the last 13 years at Valentino (and was at Dolce & Gabbana before that), most recently working as the Fashion Director for men’s and women’s ready-to-wear.

He’ll present his debut runway collection for Gucci at Milan Fashion Week in September. Like the first post-Alessandro Michele menswear collection from January, the brand’s upcoming Fall 2023 ready-to-wear presentation in February will be designed by the design team.

Will De Sarno continue the Gucci-est Gucci that Michele left behind, or will he forge a new path for the luxury label?

Want the latest fashion industry news first? Sign up for our daily newsletter.

[ad_2]

India Roby

Source link

January 30, 2023
It’s Official: Alessandro Michele to Depart Gucci

[ad_1]

Alessandro Michele is officially exiting his role as creative director of Gucci, a position he has held for seven years, though he’s been at the brand for a total of 20 years. The brand’s parent company confirmed the news on Wednesday afternoon.

“There are times when paths part ways because of the different perspectives each one of us may have. Today an extraordinary journey ends for me, lasting more than twenty years, within a company to which I have tirelessly dedicated all my love and creative passion,” Michele said in a statement shared by Kering and posted to Instagram. “During this long period Gucci has been my home, my adopted family. To this extended family, to all the individuals who have looked after and supported it, I send my most sincere thanks, my biggest and most heartfelt embrace. Together with them I have wished, dreamed, imagined. Without them, none of what I have built would have been possible.”

“[Michele’s] passion, his imagination, his ingenuity and his culture put Gucci center stage, where its place is. I wish him a great next chapter in his creative journey,” Kering CEO François-Henri Pinault said in a statement. Gucci CEO Marco Bizzarri also expressed his gratitude: “I would like to thank [Michele] for his 20 years of commitment to Gucci and for his vision, devotion, and unconditional love for this unique House…”

Rumors of the designer’s departure began to circulate on Tuesday. An anonymous source told WWD that Michele was “asked to initiate a strong design shift,” which he had failed to meet. Another source revealed that Gucci’s parent company, Kering, simply wanted a change of pace with the brand and to revamp its image.

Scroll to Continue

Michele was promoted from within the company in 2015 to succeed Frida Giannini. Before the appointment, he oversaw leather goods, shoes, jewelry and home collections at the brand. Under Michele’s leadership, Gucci has embraced a younger and more diverse demographic. His novel, quirky and gender-fluid point of view pushed Gucci to the forefront of cultural conversation. Since 2015, the brand has also taken on highly successful collaborations outside of its traditional jet-set aesthetic, such as HA HA HA with Harry Styles, Gucci x North Face and Gucci x Balenciaga — cementing the house’s status as one of the buzziest luxury brands. Last Spring, Michele continued to surprise fans by sending 68 sets of identical twins down the runway, in a bizarre yet effective way to grab the public’s attention.

Brand building aside, Michele’s direction also profoundly impacted the company’s bottom line. During the designer’s tenure, Gucci’s growth exceeded 35% for five consecutive quarters. However, more recently, the brand reported underperforming sales in comparison to other brands under the Kering umbrella. According to WWD, estimates had projected a 10% increase in comparable sales, and the brand came up short of that at 9%.

This isn’t the first time that François-Henri Pinault, chairman and chief executive officer of Kering, has made an unexpected decision in terms of ousting creative leadership. Just last November, the company replaced designer Daniel Lee with Matthieu Blazy at Bottega Veneta, despite Lee’s outstanding performance and short three-year tenure.

So far, Gucci has not announced a successor to Michele, leaving the brand’s design office to lead in the interim.

Sign up for our daily newsletter and get the latest industry news in your inbox every day.

[ad_2]

Angela Wei

Source link

November 23, 2022

Tag: Kering

What You Need to Know About Gucci’s New Creative Director

It’s Official: Alessandro Michele to Depart Gucci