Discussion: The State of Kering

[gallianostan]

wow. i was not expecting that.

edit: if they appoint that dilara b*tch as creative director i will ***********

 

[perhydrol]

If I were Blazy, I would be absolutely terrified by the state of Kering. All of their brands, except for Bottega Veneta, are either in transitional phase or deeply troubled. I wouldn't be surprised if Richemont made a good use of that.

 

[style_expert]

I forgot about the Valentino deal with Mayhoola..which also happened just recently.
Mayhoola with their remaining stake in Valentino and Balmain. I assume they have a good cash position. A sort of merger with Kering would be a way to try to come closer to LVMH.

 

[Drusilla_]

Seems like this thread was created right on time. Now the departure of Sarah Burton at McQueen.
I have to say it's a lot for Kering to handle at the moment. If they're capable of making the right decisions, things could swing either way.
Positioning McQueen as a brand remains difficult I think, no matter the the designer.

I don't think the positioning is what's difficult about McQueen, it's that the expectations and history attached to that name are so weighty - Lee McQueen's level of talent, technical ability and vision casts a very long shadow and those are huge shoes to fill.

Contrary to many here, I actually liked Sarah Burton's McQueen, but whoever comes after her isn't even going to have the connection to Lee that she did, and as for ability..... I doubt most currently trained designers coming out of the last ten years have the actual craft that he/she did.

 

[Lola701]

Burton turned the brand to real commercial success. The next designer will have to do what Slimane and Vaccarello did for YSL: And I guess now, they will push heavily the reboot of the fragrances at McQueen.

If I were Blazy, I would be absolutely terrified by the state of Kering. All of their brands, except for Bottega Veneta, are either in transitional phase or deeply troubled. I wouldn't be surprised if Richemont made a good use of that.

If I were Blazy, I would be absolutely terrified for my position from the moment I signed.
One thing that KERING is known for is messy break-ups…

 

[style_expert]

I don't think the positioning is what's difficult about McQueen, it's that the expectations and history attached to that name are so weighty - Lee McQueen's level of talent, technical ability and vision casts a very long shadow and those are huge shoes to fill.

Contrary to many here, I actually liked Sarah Burton's McQueen, but whoever comes after her isn't even going to have the connection to Lee that she did, and as for ability..... I doubt most currently trained designers coming out of the last ten years have the actual craft that he/she did.

Yes of course, but the current (and especially young) average luxury consumer probably has very little notion of who Alexander McQueen was, what he stood for and how genius he was as a designer. Surely his specific history is great but in the end the current offerings must be both desirable and commercial in order to scale the brand to the perhaps unrealistic revenue level Kering is aiming for.
Sarah Burton was indeed probably the last connection and she had a great and long run, no question about that. Her shows were often great but the final product in stores did not always make sense to me.

 

[RaisinBoy]

Alessandro Michele is in Rome at the moment, and they are rumors about him joining LVMH. That would mean either Fendi or Bulgari.

 

[HazJW]

Attempting to clean up the image of a scandal-hit brand by hiring a guy who the general public still associate with antisemitism is the stupidest possible move. There's no way he'll go to Balenciaga. Outside of our little world, the public perception of Galliano is 'famous designer, ruined his reputation by being a probable racist, dropped off the map'. That's what the average consumer will think of and remember if he was appointed, and it would dug back up all over the tabloids. It's literally the worst possible appointment they could make if they value the brand still existing in 2033.

 

[lhhbl]

From Vogue Business LinkedIn:

"What's the latest at Kering?

At the beginning of the summer, CEO and chairman François-Henri Pinaul praised Saint Laurent CEO Francesca Bellettini, whom he has just appointed Kering Group deputy CEO, with all brand CEOs reporting to her. “Francesca has done a great job in her 10 years at Saint Laurent, transforming it into a #luxury powerhouse, overseeing a successful #designer transition, and building a winning management team. Saint Laurent has been the most consistent growth story in the group.”

Overall group sales increased 3% to €5 billion. Saint Laurent revenues grew 7% and Bottega Veneta rose 3%. Kerning's Other Houses division, which includes Balenciaga and Alexander McQueen, reported a sales decline of 1%.

Last night, Saint Laurent staged its SS24 show under the lights of the Eiffel Tower in Paris during #ParisFashionWeek."

Link to article: Kering sales rise 3% in Q2 as group hits reset

 

[donyan]

Balenciaga and Alexander McQueen, reported a sales decline of 1%.

This not good right? Wasn't Balenciaga supposed to be the next multi billion brand? And what about Gucci?

 

[LadyJunon]

This not good right? Wasn't Balenciaga supposed to be the next multi billion brand? And what about Gucci?

There's definitely going to be a massacre at Balenciaga now.

 

[donyan]

There's definitely going to be a massacre at Balenciaga now.

In spite of everything I’m sad for Demna. Like him or not but there’s no denying that he did an incredible job at Balenciaga, and it would be sad to see his era finish in such a negative way

 

[yslforever]

You know it's bad when the Gucci cash-cow is not mentioned, the Q2 reports states - 1% as reported and + 1% as comparable but thats just massaging the figures.
To be compared to +17% (or +20%) on the same period for LVMH Fashion & Handbags....

 

[LadyJunon]

You know it's bad when the Gucci cash-cow is not mentioned, the Q2 reports states - 1% as reported and + 1% as comparable but thats just massaging the figures.
To be compared to +17% (or +20%) on the same period for LVMH Fashion & Handbags....

At this point, part of me thinks that a merger is going to take place, be it with Richemont or otherwise.

 

[upNorth]

Pretty bad.



Source: Twitter

 

[LadyJunon]

Pretty bad.

View attachment 1237885

Source: Twitter

Oh no...

The fashion drama accounts are going to eat this up...

 

[kasper!]

They try to make a fuzz and choose to ignore Claire Choisne from Boucheron.

 

[yslforever]

Oh I forgot about Norbert Stumpfl ...
Should we add Valentino and PPP in the list ?

 

[style_expert]

It's a problematic look in 2023 I'm afraid.
Everything changes in fashion except nothing changes.

It's the bare minimum but they appointed Francesca Bellettini as the Kering deputy CEO recently.

 

[LadyJunon]

Also, the top/most recent comments under this post are very angry at his appointment:

The comments are disabled under the announcement post. It's funny how the general consensus was to complain about Sarah Burton, which often lead to them linking her shortcomings to her gender, until she's replaced by a white man (like Lee himself).