On Thursday, just when the fashion world gathered in New York for his freedom of the free shows, Gucci added even more uncertainty to an all tumultuous industry by announcing that the designer Sabato de Sarno was leaving. He had only been to Gucci for two years and was planned to reveal his spring collection in Milan on 25 February. There was no successor, and the collection would be, the brand said in the announcement, designed by the studio.
The news comes only five days before Kering, the parent company of Gucci and Balenciaga, Saint Laurent and McQueen, announces his annual results of 2024. In October, Kering reported that Gucci’s The turnover of the third quarter decreased by 26 percent In 2024 the worst in its stable of fashion houses and one of the worst in the industry results. Presumably the songs of the entire year will follow the same trend-a rejection of the recent wisdom in the industry that “silent luxury” was the answer to fear of consumers.
“Writing was on the wall,” said Luca Solca, a luxury analyst at Bernstein, in an e -mail. “The connection between the Gucci -DNA and the aesthetics of Sabato was not real. A brand cannot change anything in something that likes it, the same as a zebra cannot turn into a lion and vice versa. “
Mr. De Sarno was supplied in 2023 with a lot of excitement (and his own mini documentary) to reinvent Gucci as a Hermès-like luxury brand aimed at timeless range that transcends fashion cycles. The previous designer of Gucci, Alessandro Michele, had transformed his fortune by re-making the label as a more IS-Lake at home for fashion gestks and freaks instead of a gilded leather go-to for the nouveau riche jet set, But the sale had started with Plateau.
Mr De Sarno, who had previously been the design director at Valentino, dissected the excess of the Michele era and introduced a new color, Ancora Red, but he never succeeded in giving Gucci a new identity. His work, which seemed lukewarm, was received lukewarm.
In a press release, Francesca Bellettini, the deputy Chief Executive of Kering, said that is responsible for brand development, (somewhat lukewarm): “I sincerely thank Sabato for his loyalty and professionalism.”
The decision of Gucci to renounce the Lord De Sarno, the first major move by Stefano Cantino, his new Chief Executive, comes at a time when the general luxury expenditures have fallen in the aftermath of global economic and political uncertainty. That decline has led to an unprecedented number of changes in designer, because brand managers try to recalculate the excitement of the consumer by offering more and more new things.
The departure of Mr De Sarno after such a short term of office also reflects the perhaps unrealistic expectations of owners and investors when it comes to fashion. Although it is possible for a designer with a crystal clear feeling of the general mood to make a brand apparently overnight, it is rare.
Nevertheless, this year, 10 new designers will make their debut at well -known fashion houses, including Calvin Klein, Chanel, Tom Ford, Givenchy and Bottega Veneta, another Kering brand. Fendi still has to call a new creative director, while speculation continues to roast the fashion world (which no longer likes nothing more than a little gossip in the front row) that Dior is about to change his creative team.
Gucci’s announcement will further feed the gambling games, which have already focused on Hedi SlimaneThe former designer of Celine.
