Kering’s recovery is lagging behind the rest of the industry. By comparison,
LVMH’s fashion and leather goods division dropped 5 per cent in the first quarter.Hermès sales were up 7 per cent.
The Moncler brand posted sales up 2 per cent. Valentino sales were down 2 per cent. Prada is to report its numbers on 30 April, Burberry on 14 May and Richemont on 16 May. HSBC expectations are 11.3 per cent for Prada, -7.3 for Burberry and 6.8 per cent for Richemont.
These latest results put even more pressure on Gucci’s incoming creative director, Demna. The former Balenciaga designer’s appointment at the creative helm of Gucci,
announced on 13 March, sent the Kering stock down 12 per cent.
On the creative transition, group deputy CEO Francesca Bellettini said: “Demna is going to build on what has been done so far. We have been working in the past two years on the foundations of the brand. We have improved processes, product quality, invested a lot in our icon and our tradition. But you know very well that the success of Gucci comes when tradition is blended with a strong fashion authority.
So the work that he is going to do is building on what we have been doing and not throwing everything away and starting from scratch, absolutely not.”
She confirmed that he is going to start officially after the Balenciaga couture show at the beginning of July. “It is an internal move, so of course he’s already talking to Gucci and to the brand. He has already met the team,” she said. Gucci’s cruise show on 15 May will be designed by the studio, not Demna, she added.
“Demna is going to build on the vision of the brand, so bringing desirability, fashionability — but it’s a build-up, not a cancellation. So, when are you going to see the first hint of his creative vision for the brand? In September, but in terms of products arriving in the stores, we are working all together to bring novelty.” More newness will be introduced, Bellettini said, as the brand accelerates how quickly it can get products to market. “Therefore you don’t have to wait until 2026 to see some of those products. But also we are not waiting at Gucci to have Demna or not-Demna products. We’re going to have novelties, progressively arriving at the stores and we keep on working also the revamping of our carryovers.”
On Gucci’s creative organisation, Bellettini said: “ What I can share with you is that after the nomination of Demna, I never received so many CVs of creative people and designers who want to join the team. Of course, whenever a new creative director comes, there is a revisitation of the creative team around him. Demna wants it to be the best team. There is already quite a good team in place at Gucci, all supporting functions of the design, like merchandising or collection coordinator. So no, we don’t expect any disruption, but of course there will be some changes according to the typology and the seniority of the people that Demna wants to bring into the brand.”
But who will replace Demna at Balenciaga? His successor will be announced “in due course”, Bellettini said. “ The person we are searching is a high calibre who can build on what has been already very well done at the brand, continue the success and continue to develop it.”
Looking ahead to the end of the year, Kering is planning on improvements in the second half, though US tariffs and the global trade environment have thrown fashion’s forecasts and planning into uncertainty. “ We were already expecting a slow start to the year, and it has been confirmed. Now we are planning cautiously for Q2, still expecting a double-digit revenue decline. We are still expecting that the second half should be better than the first half,” Poulou said.
