Dance of chairs in the dome of luxury: Marco Bizarri leaves Gucci and Francesca Bellettini (Saint Laurent) becomes deputy director of the entire group | Fashion

2023-07-19 13:28:06

The Kering group, one of the most powerful luxury holding companies in the world, is in full transition. After the scandal of the Balenciaga campaign and the gradual drop in Gucci sales, the company led by François Henry Pinault wants to once again be LVMH’s great competitor in terms of fashion, which has seen how in 2022 its sales have risen in 2. 3%. Hence, last Tuesday Pinault announced through a statement some decisive changes in his leadership.

The most significant is the departure of Marco Bizarri, CEO of Gucci since 2015. The Italian executive has been considered a kind of King Midas since joining the Kering group in 2005. He was in charge of developing Stella McCartney internationally, managed to make the crisis of 2008 did not affect the benefits of Bottega Veneta and with Gucci he worked a kind of miracle: it was he who, months after his appointment, opted for Alessandro Michele, who had been with the company for a decade, as the new creative director. A bold move, given that in this business, filled with star designers coming and going from prestigious firms, it’s rare to trust a member of the design team that way, but the move worked more than well for him. The Bizarri-Michele duo (as happened at the beginning of the century with the Tom Ford-Domenico de Sole duo) defined part of the aesthetics of the past decade, revolutionized the way of communicating (with campaigns on networks and unusual ambassadors) and ended up breaking a record: in 2017 they sold no less than 6,200 million euros. No brand had sold so much. The record, however, was far surpassed by Louis Vuitton last year, with 20,000 million profit.

After two years in a recession, Keing decided to terminate Michele’s contract at the end of last year. It was a matter of time before Bizarri went after him. However, the company has maintained its strategy of signing unknown creatives and in January announced that Michele would be succeeded by Sabato de Sarno, until now Pier Paolo Piccioli’s right-hand man at Valentino and whose debut at the helm of Gucci is expected on September 23. Bizarri’s last day on the job.

Bizarri’s departure has caused several chairs to move in Kering. The position of executive director of Gucci will be occupied, on a temporary basis, by Jean François Palus, a trusted man of Pinault and managing director of the group since 2008. «He has been my right hand for decades. He will now focus his energies on revitalizing our main asset,” Pinault declared in the statement. Bizarri has also been in charge, since 2012, of directing the leather goods division of the entire group. Her departure has led to another appointment, that of Francesca Bellettini as deputy general manager of the entire group. The Italian has become the new Queen Midas of the company: since her entry as CEO of Saint Laurent in 2013, the French firm has doubled its sales and has become one of the few assets in the group that continue to accelerate its expansion. Bellettini retains her position at Saint Laurent but also, she thus becomes a kind of ‘CEO of CEOs’ supervising the performance of all Gucci CEOs. Bottega Veneta, Balenciaga, Alexander McQueen and Brioni.

“We are building a stronger organization to more efficiently capture the growth of the global luxury market. I am convinced that these changes will set Kering on the path to long-term success and profit,” Pinault said in the statement. The comoaía also plans to enter the division of beauty and well-being cWith the medium-term development of some own brands. Y, According to The New York Times, it also plans to get a piece of the entertainment business, negotiating the acquisition of the talent agency CAA.