We Need to Talk About Those Jonathan-Gucci Rumors…
Feverish late summer speculation that Anderson is leaving Loewe for Gucci has reignited fantasies in Paris (and Milan) of a Sabato de Sarno hot swap. It’s fake news, for now… but captures an inescapable truth.
Anderson, who is only 39, has been designing Loewe for 11 years and is more than likely thinking about his next steps. Photo: Victor Virgile/Gamma-Rapho/Getty Images
LAUREN SHERMAN. pucknews
July 29, 2024
LVMH likes to make announcements on Sunday mornings, and I had a gut feeling that there would be one coming yesterday. After all, the news of Peter Hawkings’ departure from Tom Ford earlier in the week shook loose an avalanche of speculation, much of it totally insane—such as Galliano going to Dior—but some of which felt grounded in
something real,
like the rumor that Sarah Burton could be headed to Givenchy. (From my conversations with people close to the decision-making, I know that if Burton is not the answer at Givenchy, she was at least a leading candidate.) Anyway, this was the last Sunday in July, everyone at LVMH is busy with the Olympics, and everyone else in the industry will be out for the first two to three weeks of August. It seemed like something had to give.
In the end, there was no announcement,
but instead a bunch of fake news rubbernecking over the fates of Loewe’s Jonathan Anderson and Gucci’s Sabato de Sarno, which started on Friday and crested over the weekend. Anderson, who is in the midst of developing several projects that require significant investment from LVMH, has
not announced that he is leaving Loewe and heading to Gucci.
One source who has worked with him on certain aspects of the business told me that they were surprised by the prospect of the rumor of Anderson taking over de Sarno’s job.
And that may be true.
But so is the fact that Anderson, who is only 39, has been designing Loewe for 11 years and is more than likely thinking about his next steps. LVMH, presumably circumspect about Anderson’s own circumspection, is likely to do everything in its power to ensure that his next act is within the group. Although they may have to get creative: As I’ve said before, Dior and Louis Vuitton, the
big gets, aren’t necessarily the
best gets given all that they require. Anderson has the mind to manage an extensive product range and all the employees that come with such an operation. He is also inventive enough to make it interesting. But does he want to deal with all the corporate B.S.?
Of course, I don’t think the speculation is bad for Anderson, who benefits from these cultural reminders to LVMH that consumers idolize his work.
As I reported a few months ago, I was told by someone close to Anderson that he had taken a meeting in Rome with Alessandro Michele, Gucci’s former creative director, now at Valentino. Sure, Anderson could have been soliciting career advice, shooting the sh*t, or asking pointed questions about Kering. Only two people know the truth, and even then, their truths could be completely different. But in an industry that views rumors like rocket fuel, the conversation itself is all that matters, and knowledge of the chat surely made its way back to Paris.
The Gucci Fantasy
Fact checks aside, it’s tempting to imagine what Gucci would be like today if Kering had hired Anderson instead of de Sarno to replace Michele. Forget about whether Anderson would have taken the job, or that he would have cost far more per year to exfiltrate from LVMH. An Anderson regime wouldn’t have precluded the executive upheaval or reorganization at Gucci, which has borne the brunt of pressure from activist investors on Kering. There would have still been supply chain hiccups and slow-going store flips. But it would have been
different. There is proof of concept with Anderson and market confidence.
That’s not what happened, though. Kering hired de Sarno, believing that his talent for dressmaking would translate to the main stage. As we approach the anniversary of his first collection, however, counterfactuals are inescapable. For many reasons, the stars have
not aligned: macroeconomic conditions, product delays, collections falling short of marketing fantasies (the sweet little dresses, the disco loafers). Meanwhile, Gucci’s sales continue to plummet and profits continue to shrink. The brand is overstored in certain parts of the world, including the U.S., where it may be forced to walk back its strategy of opening small-format outposts in tertiary cities like Detroit and
Pittsburgh. The executive team—including C.E.O.
Jean-François Palus, deputy C.E.O.
Stefano Cantino, chief commercial officer
Cayetano Fabry, and chief digital business officer
Grégory Boutté—
are only coming together now, which means the long-term strategy and any reorganizing that needs to take place has just begun. It’s going to require more time, regardless if de Sarno is the right designer or not.
If this was a private company, Kering could give de Sarno the two or three years a designer needs to make an impact. Alas, Kering is a public company whose stock, still predominantly driven by Gucci’s performance, is down 21 percent over the past six months. Part of the problem is China, where consumers don’t seem to be cottoning to the new products, which are arriving in stores too slowly to really
hit with consumers. But it’s an issue in the U.S. and Europe, too: The fundamentals of de Sarno’s Gucci—the Jackie shoulder bag in crackly blood-red leather, the little navy jackets, the preppy tennis gear, the hiking boots—work, but have not been presented as fast and furiously as they need to create a
moment.
Nothing in the collection screams “must-have” like Alaïa’s mesh flats or Hermès’ Picotin feeder bag.
As Bernstein analyst
Luca Solca recently told me, the minimalist de Sarno era can be likened to a sorbet after a heavy meal of Michele, whose ornate designs are
not for everyone. But it takes time to appreciate a palate cleanser.
The expectation is that sales will improve in the second half of 2024, and that the reorganization of the business—currently underway—will catapult sales next year and beyond. (Luca said to watch the entrance of new bag styles.)
In September, de Sarno will deliver his second spring collection, this time with a new stylist. Alastair McKimm left the brand earlier this summer, I’m told. De Sarno and McKimm’s early collaborations—in particular, the campaign with
Daria Werbowy shot at the Chateau Marmont—showed promise. But that was before de Sarno revealed a speck of clothing. Like many aspects of the Gucci-de Sarno era, the collaboration between the designer and the stylist never felt quite right.
Perhaps the fall show is a chance for de Sarno to start over, with a new executive team around him, and new creative collaborators in place.
It may be his last chance.