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My Funny Valentino
Amid tumult in Valentino’s executive ranks and uncertainty in the luxury market, new Kering C.E.O. Luca de Meo has several options before him: reshuffle the team, buy Valentino outright… or simply wait and see.
De Meo, a turnaround expert credited with reviving Renault, theoretically has more than two years to decide on Valentino, but if the past is prologue, he’s proven to be a swift and decisive executive. Photo: Nathan Laine/Bloomberg/Getty Images
July 7, 2025
Last week, there were a number of reports indicating that Valentino C.E.O.
Jacopo Venturini had exited the business—
so many, in fact, that the company, which is owned by Mayhoola, had to issue a statement revealing that the sixtysomething executive, who was recruited from Gucci in 2020, was actually on sick leave. Venturini’s health has been a subject of speculation for months, even dating back to the early days of
Alessandro Michele’s arrival at the Roman brand in early 2024. And, in many ways, this terribly unfortunate turn has highlighted the larger and complex questions surrounding both the brand and its current ownership structure.
Michele and Venturini, a merchandiser by trade, were partners at Gucci, and their reunion was highly anticipated. In the early days of Michele’s Valentino,
I could see Venturini’s prowess sprouting up via the shoes and handbags. And yet nothing appeared to become a runaway hit.
After all, the collection entered the market at the worst moment for luxury fashion, perhaps ever.
But the shoes and handbags were also, at times, overwhelmed by Michele’s designs, which were far more expensive (albeit better quality) than his Gucci wares, maybe attracting fewer diehards than expected. Valentino also undoubtedly lost a part of its base with Pierpaolo Piccioli’s departure.
I still have high hopes for Michele’s Valentino: the brand’s owners,
Mayhoola, have confidence in him and his vision. But the market is simply different than it was a decade ago, when he proposed an entirely new way of dressing. These days, re-creating that magpie look is easier than ever, and consumers are far more comfortable buying secondhand and archival pieces. In 2024, Valentino’s revenue was a little more than $1.5 billion, a drop of about 2 percent from a year earlier. That’s hardly a slide, especially compared to many competitors,
but the 22 percent decline in profit indicates that the business relied far more on promotions than in the previous year.
Will this impact the strategy at Kering? There was recently chatter that the company,
which owns 30 percent of Valentino and has the option to acquire the business outright from Mayhoola, would absorb the brand by the end of this year,
or early next.
This scenario was pooh-poohed by several insiders, who told me the group would wait as long as it could, for the most favorable climate, to buy Valentino. But that was all before the appointment of
Luca de Meo as the new C.E.O. of Kering, effective in early September.
Luca Skywalker
De Meo, a turnaround expert credited with reviving Renault, theoretically has more than two years to decide on Valentino. But if the past is prologue, he’s proven to be a swift and decisive executive. More than a decade ago,
François-Henri Pinault streamlined his father’s group to focus purely on luxury, steadily folding adjacent and synergistic businesses (eyewear, beauty) into the larger operation.
De Meo, with Pinault’s counsel, will now undoubtedly employ a host of advisors to help reimagine the business for the future by asking loftier questions of the business.
To wit: Are fashion brands the future? Can the tremendous growth in leather goods ever be re-created? Do other, more logical acquisition targets or merger partners exist? Valentino’s future lies with the answers.
Before Kering adds more brands to its fold or considers strategic partnerships, however, sales must rebound. There is a scenario in which de Meo maintains
Francesca Bellettini and
Jean-Marc Duplaix as deputy C.E.O.s to focus on that challenge, but that would mean they’re willing to stick around.
Bellettini, who was integral to many of the changes implemented at Kering over the past two years, and once seemed like an heir apparent, must be weighing her options. While I can’t imagine her moving to LVMH—she’s too big of a force—there are big opportunities for someone with her track record. Prada’s C.E.O.,
Gianfranco D’Attis, just left, for instance. Armani is in transition.
I find it hard to believe that Bellettini would have an easy time saying goodbye to the designers she appointed, or the executives who are there because of her.
Nevertheless, she may want to exit if all her work is about to be dismantled. Also, as I’ve mentioned before, de Meo will be able to attract extremely high-caliber executives. This is a guy who has people like Moncler’s
Remo Ruffini and
Brunello Cucinelli singing his praises to
The Wall Street Journal. If he weren’t working for a direct competitor, I bet Louis Vuitton C.E.O.
Pietro Beccari would be giving a quote, too. (They are car friends.) In the Italian executive world, he’s held in the highest regard.
Presumably that means he’ll also know what’s best for Valentino.
