Kering is shuffling around its top management. The luxury group announced on Tuesday that Gucci’s longtime president and CEO Marco Bizzarri will leave the brand effective 23 September – the day of creative director Sabato de Sarno’s debut show at Milan Fashion Week.
Marco Bizzarri, who has been at the helm of Gucci since 2015 and has been a member of Kering’s executive committee since 2012, “has masterminded the execution of Gucci’s outstanding growth strategy,” according to the press release. “I want to thank Marco for his spectacular contribution to the success of Gucci and of Kering, and I wish him well in his future endeavors,” François-Henri Pinault, Kering chairman and CEO, said in a statement.
Jean-François Palus, currently Kering Group managing director, has been put in charge as the president and CEO of Gucci for a transitional period. He is in charge of strengthening Gucci’s teams and operations as the brand rebuilds influence and momentum, and preparing its leadership and organization for the future. Palus will hand over his position on the board of directors of Kering and relocate to Milan.
Bizzarri’s exit is a large one for Kering that completes a series of high-profile departures. After years of incredible growth led by Bizzarri and previous creative director Alessandro Michele – a previously untouchable duo – Gucci has begun to decelerate. In November 2022, Michele exited. Robert Triefus, CEO of Gucci Vault, also left earlier this year.
The news comes just days before Kering reports its first half earnings. HSBC on 29 June downgraded Kering from “buy” to “hold”. “We upgraded Kering to buy from hold on 31 May 2022, hoping that strategic actions taken, especially in Asia (appointment of a new head of Greater China, strengthening of its local team), would bear fruit. Despite many more changes – a new head of merchandising, new creative designer and a step-up in marketing spending – signs of improvement are not visible yet, with Gucci performance disappointing quarter after quarter, lagging behind luxury sector peers,” the HSBC note said. “Q2 2023 performance is unlikely to impress, with Gucci sales at constant FX still growing in the low single-digit territory despite an easing basis of comparison in China, whereas most sector peers could approach or even exceed 20 per cent growth.”
HSBC analysts added, “Despite the group announcing a new designer for Gucci, with Sabato De Sarno joining this May and his first products likely to be available in stores at the very back end of this year or early next year, some investors will question if this is going to be enough to reignite the Gucci brand. Some investors are clearly asking for a change of Gucci CEO even if that leads to a brand reset with margins being cut before any rebound is seen.”
“Kering is in transition, as the relaunch of its mega-brand Gucci is still work in progress. The departure of Marco Bizzarri seems timed to give full visibility to the ‘new chapter’ (just ahead of De Sarno’s maiden fashion show in Milan) and is not totally unexpected,” explained Bernstein analyst Luca Solca. “It becomes even more important that the new Gucci team will score some goals and win some matches, to give investors some confidence we are indeed on the right path.” Consensus expects Gucci sales to be down in the high single-digits for Q2, says Solca.
“We are building a more robust organization to fully capture the growth of the global luxury market,” reads Pinault’s statement. “I am confident that the changes we are announcing today will Kering on a path to success and profitable growth over the long term.”
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