Lee Shifted to Gucci Brand in Latest Reshuffle
Mon Oct 25,12:26 PM ET Entertainment - Reuters Industry
By Caroline Brothers
PARIS (Reuters) - Italian luxury group Gucci is moving Mark Lee to become managing director of the Gucci brand from his post as the head of Yves Saint Laurent (YSL) in the latest management reshuffle at the turbulent fashion house.
Gucci, still adjusting to full ownership by French retail giant Pinault Printemps Redoute, announced the change on Monday following last week's surprise dismissal of Gucci brand Chief Executive Giacomo Santucci.
The 41-year-old Lee, who takes up his new role on Nov. 2, will answer to Robert Polet, who added Santucci's post to his overall responsibilities as chairman of the Gucci Group, the company said in a statement.
The Gucci Group consists of nine fashion houses, ranging from Sergio Rossi and Balenciaga in leather goods to jeweller Boucheron, clustered around the flagship Gucci brand. It also owns cosmetics firm YSL Beaute.
Gucci added that James McArthur -- currently the group's director for strategy and acquisitions -- would become interim CEO at YSL until a successor could be found for Lee.
New Zealander McArthur, 44, will add the YSL post to his present responsibilities at the multibrand fashion group, where he is currently responsible for its younger brands: Stella McCartney, Alexander McQueen and Balenciaga.
U.S.-born Lee joined the Gucci Group eight years ago after a professional trajectory that took him from Italian designer Giorgio Armani to luxury shoe maker Jil Sander in the United States.
DELICATE PHASE
The changes come at a delicate time for YSL as the Gucci group works to turn it around without the vision of designer Tom Ford and former CEO Domenico De Sole.
"Although it is difficult to leave YSL, I have full confidence in the management teams and the stylists in place in pursuing the work that has been successfully undertaken over the past few years to reposition the brand and guarantee its promising future," Lee said.
Analysts are concerned that the departures would prove destabilising for staff at the group's two biggest brands, Gucci and YSL.
One said the changes looked like "crisis management" and was concerned that Gucci had made too quick a decision in moving Lee, however talented, to the Gucci brand from YSL, given the very different styles of the two houses.
The Ford-De Sole duo quit the Gucci Group earlier this year as PPR bought up the 30 percent of Gucci it did not already own. About a dozen executives have followed in their wake.
Gucci, which Ford and De Sole rescued from the brink of bankruptcy and turned into the world's third-largest luxury concern, has had a stormy history, having weathered the high-profile murder of a family member and fought off a creeping takeover by luxury goods giant LVMH.
PPR shares ended down 1.98 percent on Monday at 71.8 euros, slightly lagging the DJ Stoxx 600 retail index that was 1.44 percent weaker.
