Discussion: The State of Kering

[PDFSD]

Great, FHP will totally feel free now to hangout with Hollywood people without no guilt.
The market is responding well.

They will publish the results for the first trimester next month. I suspect they will be bad anyway so this hiring is an indicator for the market and the industry that they are really bringing all their power to flip the script.

This new ceo will have better taste than FHP for sure ( a friend of mine from car industry today told me he met him in working relations and says he always had a good sense of style and was effective in his work.

so high hopes this guy cleans out the incompetent management, him being italian himself he will know who are the clowns at kering & co.

I hope he not buddy with Bellatinni Martini lady because then nothing will change.

 

[PDFSD]

BUSINESS
HUMAN RESOURCES WWD

New Kering CEO Luca de Meo Seen Bringing a ‘Fresh Vision’ to Luxury Group​

Francois-Henri Pinault, who has held the CEO title since 2005, is to remain chairman of the family-controlled luxury group. De Meo is expected to start on Sept. 15.
By MILES SOCHA

JUNE 16, 2025, 11:53AM​

Luca de Meo COURTESY OF KERING

As the new chief executive officer of Kering effective Sept. 15, Renault executive Luca de Meo is expected to bring a fresh vision to a luxury sector facing myriad headwinds and “structural changes.”

“He will bring new ways of looking at things,” Francois-Henri Pinault said of his successor during a conference call Monday evening to elaborate on the changing of the guard.
Pinault, who has held the CEO title since 2005 and navigated the family-controlled conglomerate through multiple transformations, traversing both buoyant and challenging periods, is to maintain the chairman role.

“I will be fully involved in the strategic orientation of the group as chairman… but I will not step in and short-circuit the CEO in his prerogatives regarding the priorities, the organization or the key appointments of the group,” Pinault said.

That leaves de Meo to orchestrate a turnaround at the troubled luxury giant, dragged down by a steep slowdown at cash-cow brand Gucci, and worrisome wobbles at Saint Laurent and McQueen.
Pinault said the “fit and chemistry between us was obvious within one or two minutes,” lauding de Meo as a “developer” who “brings a global perspective on markets and growth” as well as an “affinity with the product side” and a knack for “revitalizing brands.”
Exane BNP Paribas analyst Antoine Belge asked if Kering would maintain the current management structure, forged in 2023 when Pinault promoted Saint Laurent CEO Francesca Bellettini to deputy CEO in charge of brand development, and chief financial officer Jean-Marc Duplaix to deputy CEO and chief operating officer.
Pinault allowed that de Meo, who spent his whole career in automotive firms, does not know the luxury fashion industry “so he will need strong support and strong expertise around him, and we have that inside the group, starting with Jean-Marc and Francesca.”

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However, as a “fully-fledged CEO,” de Meo “will have to set his own priorities, to look at the organization of the group, to look at the key position of the group.”

That said, “we are not slowing down all the action plans defined for 2025,” Pinault added. These include the strategic repositioning of the brands, debt management, and the refinancing of real-estate assets.
In a statement, de Meo said he was “approaching this new professional challenge with enthusiasm, eagerness, and confidence, inspired by the strength of the group’s brands and the expertise of its people. I am convinced that together we will continue to make Kering an essential player in the luxury industry.”
Shares in Kering surged 11.8 percent on Monday on the expectation of management succession, with several equity analysts giving a thumbs up.
“Kering needs change, as performance has continued to deteriorate,” Bernstein’s Luca Solca said in a research note, highlighting that the French company’s share price has fallen 28 percent in 2025 year-to-date and 78 percent from its peak in mid-2021, “largely driven by shrinking sales at its main brand, Gucci, which has been undergoing a multi-year metamorphosis.”
Citi’s Thomas Chauvet trumpeted de Meo’s credentials.
“De Meo is perceived to have largely contributed to Renault’s turnaround through product newness, technological innovation, (electric vehicle) transition shift, brand elevation, and a return to growth and profit,” Chauvet wrote, while cautioning that “execution of luxury brand turnarounds has become more complex, lengthy, costly and far less public-market-friendly in the past few years.”

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He explained that this reflects “consumer preference for top brands rather than those in transition and significant P&L disruption from greater investment commitment and lower cost flexibility.”

“There is still a considerable amount of work ahead at Gucci and Saint Laurent (~80 percent of group EBIT combined, pre-central costs) to rejuvenate both brands and generate a steady stream of revenue and cash flow for the group,” wrote Chauvet.
Kering posted a 14 percent decline in first-quarter revenues, with Gucci down 25 percent, Saint Laurent 9 percent and “other houses,” which includes Balenciaga, McQueen, Pomellato and Brioni, off 11 percent.Solca argued that brand management and marketing are de Meo’s forte, “which dovetails with what the luxury industry does – for which he seems passionate.”

“We were well aware of his affinity for the luxury space, in particular his passion for complicated Swiss watches that we discussed with him at the end of a Renault event in March 2022,” Solca noted. “It is not hard to imagine how intriguing he found the Kering opportunity.”
In a second report issued after the conference call, Solca argued that de Meo “could enact significant change. Key priorities on our list would include resolving the inherent tension in the deputy co-CEO roles, strengthening the leadership team at Gucci, and restructuring or streamlining group and brand-level capex commitments.”
Renault Group revealed Sunday that de Meo had decided to “step down and pursue new challenges outside the automotive sector,” with his departure date set for July 15. Shares in Renault fell 8.7 percent Monday on the news.

The Italian executive has spent five years leading Renault and boasts 30 years in the industry at brands including Fiat, Alfa Romeo, Toyota, Volkswagen and Seat.

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Kering has recruited industry outsiders in the past to run its fashion business. What was then Gucci Group famously recruited Robert Polet from Unilever’s ice cream and frozen foods division as its president and CEO from 2004 to 2011.
Still, it marks a significant change for Pinault to take a step back after 20 years and hand the CEO reins back to a non-family member.
In 2005, Pinault had succeeded Serge Weinberg at what was then PPR, a retail conglomerate that was still relatively new in the luxury space.
Pinault was previously president of Fnac — PPR’s music, book and home electronics chain — and had orchestrated the acquisition of the Surcouf electronics chain in the late-Nineties.
When he assumed the management helm of the group he accepted that PPR faced skepticism in the industry for its lack of experience in the luxury realm.
At the time, he said the solution was “to have the best professionals in charge of those businesses: the right teams at the right level. It’s much more a state of mind. You have to be surrounded by very good professionals. If we had taken the decisions without the luxury professionals we have in the group, that would have been dangerous.”
Pinault certainly had an eventful tenure, transforming the family-controlled group by spinning off its retail chains and changing its name to Kering in 2013. It was the parent of a fleet of international brands specializing in fashion and accessories across the luxury and sport-lifestyle segments, the divisions built around Gucci and Puma, respectively.

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Originally an acronym for Pinault-Printemps-Redoute, PPR began edging out of retail in 2006 when it sold the Printemps department store chain, following up with a listing for African trading company CFAO in 2009 and a sale of the Conforama furniture chain to Steinhoff International in 2010.
In that vein, Kering would end up exiting the sport-lifestyle business, selling off its stakes in Puma, Electric and Volcom to become a pure luxury player in 2019.
Pinault enjoyed many big years in his tenure, perhaps none bigger than 2023.
That was the year he took beauty in-house; acquired Creed; invested in Valentino and forged a strategic alliance with Qatari investment group Mayhoola; recruited new designers for Gucci and McQueen; parted ways with longtime Gucci executive Marco Bizzarri, and entrusted Saint Laurent president and CEO Francesca Bellettini with overseeing all the brands in the French group’s portfolio.
More recently, the executive has been rueful, telling shareholders at the company’s annual meeting last April that he was unhappy with Kering’s results and share price performance. “I am totally committed to making sure the stock price recovers by restoring financial performance, not in the very short term, but in a sustainable manner in order to generate a stock price that is less volatile and more solid in the months and years to come,” he said.
Kering is banking on its star Balenciaga designer Demna to speed the turnaround at Gucci, where he starts as creative director next month, with his first designs to be unveiled during Milan Fashion Week in September.

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Demna’s successor Pierpaolo Piccioli is to show his first Balenciaga designs in September. Louise Trotter is also to make her debut this fall at Bottega Veneta, which logged a 4 percent uptick in the first quarter.

 

[style_expert]

Finally, a real and hopefully effective move. At this point, I don’t think they had much choice but to send a rigorous signal to the market—and a little late at that.

From what I’ve read, De Meo has an excellent track record in the automotive industry. But to be fair, Kering will need a miracle of sorts—and probably a very long time—to recover.

 

[PDFSD]

Journal du Luxe made good points on DeMeo and underlining what some of us her on TFS have been saying about Francesca Bellettini.​

De Meo understands what few CEOs do: a brand is only strong if its product tells a story. Not just beautiful. Meaningful. With Renault, he was able to combine archives, pop culture, and industrial clarity. At Gucci and Saint Laurent, this product grammar is now shallow.

De Meo a boss who speaks clearly. And who is listened to. Francesca Bellettini may have been the designated successor, but she struggled to embody the group. Her words remain vague, lacking a strategic response commensurate with the structural crisis that has affected Kering for the past three years. Conversely, Luca de Meo knows how to occupy space, clarify a strategy, and establish a vision. The contrast is salutary.

 

[justpassingthrough]

Honestly surprised this thread isn’t getting more attention after such a huge announcement

 

[jeanclaude]

Ok, the guy is stylish (very nice jacket)...but he comes from a car mass brand, to a conglomerate of luxury fashion brands...??? I don´t get it!!

What´s next?? Elon Musk as CEO for Chanel??

 

[PDFSD]

Ok, the guy is stylish (very nice jacket)...but he comes from a car mass brand, to a conglomerate of luxury fashion brands...??? I don´t get it!!

What´s next?? Elon Musk as CEO for Chanel??

So far he is better on paper that FHP and Bellini Martini combined.

Lets see ! honestly i dont mind where he comes from also based of his track record.

 

[FashionPower]

First manager De Meo should laid off is Bellettini herself honestly, she made too many mistakes macroscopic errors for being a deputy CEO:
- Validated Lallo out from Gucci, blaming him for underperforming menswear while with the next appointment they fell into irrelevancy in both menswear and womenswear. This decision alone made the company waste billions of turnover...
- Validated Sabato at Gucci, making the company waste 3 full years of revenues / sales with no creative vision / direction
to sustain the brand
- Terribly managed whole Gucci as a brand...PR / communication directors doing absolutely nothing and leaving after 1 year (looking at you Benjamin Cercio), completely clueless decisions on bags and accessories releases, the cringe campaigns with Kendall. As I have stated many times, Sabato should have been kicked out after his first RTW show and Davide Renne should have appointed creative director ad interim
- She's not pushing the YSL design team / Vaccarello in incorporating bags / small leather goods in runway shows / campaigns and release relevant and contemporary bag lines
- She has no clue how to manage Mcqueen creatively wise: McGirr appointment, his first disaster show, then the lack of desirable bags / accessories, then the low budget version of Burton's collection with ruffles...a disaster since McGirr joined
- Validated Trotter at Bottega and by judging from her first inputs, it looks like it's gonna be another very tough tenure

She and the top management basically messed up every single possible decisions in terms of designers appointment...if it wasn't for Demna at Balenciaga and Vaccarello at YSL (even though we know people got tired of his formulaic shows and detached approach to real life dressing).
They are the ones to blame, not Sabato who was clearly uncapable of being a creative director from a brand like Gucci, who instead took advantage of the situation and got his big check and added Gucci to his resume...

 

[FashionPower]

...and honestly, if we got Leena Nair as CHANEL CEO coming from Unilever human resources, we can definitely tolerate someone coming from automotive industry (IATF16949 and extremely regulated sector) joining Kering.
Interestingly enough, LVMH is actively looking for people and introducing figures coming from the automotive industry, especially in their smaller brands (Loro Piana, Berluti). These brands used to be managed in a less structured than the top players and they are located in very remote areas of Italy (Quarona, Civitanova Marche, Porto San Giorgio, Ferrara), they are looking for people who can establish a more efficient way of working coming from heavily regulated and organized companies.

 

[IndigoHomme]

Ok, the guy is stylish (very nice jacket)...but he comes from a car mass brand, to a conglomerate of luxury fashion brands...??? I don´t get it!!

If it made the hideous Fiat 500 sellable, imagine what it can do with Demna's designs.