Sabato De Sarno - Designer, Creative Director of Gucci

[jeanclaude]

I'm not saying anything and I have no "opinion" on this. It's just a marketing plan that may or might not work.
Gucci needs their core client back and they will get him back sooner or later, with or without Di Sarno.
Fashion is all about clever or not so clever marketing moves & communication strategies. It's not about clothes or designers.

That´s the big mistake here. No CEO nor marketing campaigns are going to revive a brand. The only way of reviving a brand is through a designer able to do it. If the final product (clothes and accessories) is not desirable, there is nothing it can be done.

Kering do not want to see that the big problem is Sabato. They insist on keeping him, while changing everyone around him...but the problem is Ancora guy, as he is unfit to revive Gucci.

Remember that Gucci was revamped from the ashes by a designer called Tom Ford, not by a new CEO nor a miraculous marketing campaign. How Tom managed to do it?? By creating desirable products (and for that you need talent, not marketing strategies) .

 

[nationalsalt]

Assuming Pinault and Co. had a good idea of Sabato De Sarno's design style before they hired him, do you think they were actively seeking a designer who would make clothes with higher profit margins than Michele's?

Totally spitballing here, but I can only imagine that his vastly simpler garments would be somewhat easier and cheaper to produce than Michele's, therefore - assuming they still retail at similar price points - giving the execs a higher ROI per piece.

Obviously, this strategy hasn't quite panned out...but I'm wondering if the blame lies solely with De Sarno.

Thoughts?

 

[jeanclaude]

Obviously, this strategy hasn't quite panned out...but I'm wondering if the blame lies solely with De Sarno.

The blame lies in the execs, who chose to hire Sabato as CD, when it is obvious he is not fit for the job.

 

[sunnysideup]

Assuming Pinault and Co. had a good idea of Sabato De Sarno's design style before they hired him, do you think they were actively seeking a designer who would make clothes with higher profit margins than Michele's?

Totally spitballing here, but I can only imagine that his vastly simpler garments would be somewhat easier and cheaper to produce than Michele's, therefore - assuming they still retail at similar price points - giving the execs a higher ROI per piece.

Obviously, this strategy hasn't quite panned out...but I'm wondering if the blame lies solely with De Sarno.

Thoughts?

That was probably an added benefit in consideration as minimalism and a race to pared down basics is much cheaper to produce than embellished, decadence-dripped excess maximalism.

We’ve seen this in their bags already: the lower (low?) quality Blondie replaced the much more sumptuous Disco bag. Blondie costs more but is a definite downgrade in quality.

These luxury brands should have quality at the forefront—they must be obsessed with it to justify their offer and price point. You will only get away with quality and rarefied material deterioration for so long.

For example, many of these brands no longer produce fur and exotics NOT because of their supposed sustainability but because those materials are more expensive and difficult to source and produce. Those raw materials are more volatile and expensive to scale. So now we get polyester faux fur that will be in landfills for thousands of years at real fur prices.

 

[brandon J pierre]

Who would be good for this brand?

 

[FashionPower]

I don't get all the hate posts regarding "Ancora guy" since Gucci's current mess is not because of Di Sarno who's just a "safe" -not a brilliant - choice. Gucci trouble started with Alessandro's repeated styling tricks. I wonder why they hired him at Valentino, makes absolutely no sense to me.

That's what I have been saying since the beginning but people bashing me in the forum for no reason...I provide FACTS!
Michele cheapified the brand in a way that it is going to be impossible for Gucci to retrieve its elevated status
If you look at Michele's bestsellers you can easily get an idea of what the actual customer buying his offerings was:
- Fur slippers
- Dyonisus bag, the only good bestseller from his tenure...but it's something coming from Tom Ford's era
- Marmont bag: basically an elevated Guess bag in terms of design and leather quality with a GG clasp
- Gucci x Adidas collab items (worse than Fendace to me)
- Gucci sneakers
- Embellished / flashy tracksuits and hoodies

Gucci bestsellers under Michele, despite the fashion circus praising him for making Gucci look more youthful and modern, were basically an elevated Philipp Plein, very bad boy hunting for hookers while smoking a blunt and strolling around in their fine tuned BMWs. It's easy to increase profits and marging by selling 1k hoodies to bad boy willing to flex that GG logo...Jeffree Star in 2018 anyone?



The disconnection and disjoint between the look proposal on the runway and the clothes actually purchased in the stores was insane, even worse than Louis Vuitton by Ghesquiere (with avant garde pieces on the runway and basic A line monogram dresses in the store).
Remember that what makes these brands profitable is not Anna Wintour and the Vogue team praising the designer, but the dumb people who buy status symbol items with the lowest production costs and the greatest margins.

 

[tourbillions]

Who would be good for this brand?

hedi... he will be great for gucci since after michele and ancora... gucci is a clean slate. He can easily guccify his slimane. Dunno if he wanna work with kering again though..

gucci needs sexy and easy clothes. Otherwise vauthier will be amazing for gucci.

 

[Xone]

 

[Olaffo]

I’m sorry but what bullsh*t is that: tougher than expected ? b*tch where ? TFS people very much expected that flop and it happened on time. If suits aren’t anticipating the worst with all possible signs on earth then perhaps their heads should roll, one by one. It’s not cataclysmic but cause and effect event, let’s be serious.

 

[Frederic01]

he posted this, which means he is staying at least another year : (


SABATO DE SARNO

 

[Lola701]

Who would be good for this brand?

Maybe a more long lasting strategy, not being afraid of going back to the archives to create a permanent collection of luggage’s and bags.

I always say that the strategy installed by Frida in 2014 (when Gucci wanted to sell more leather bags instead of canvas) was right. I always compliment her FW2014 collection of bags and accessories.
The Diamanté replaced the GG on some products. The horsebit detail is an alternative to the GG.

Someone sent me pictures of menswear bags of the collections between 2004 and 2006 : The Tom Ford/John Ray eras. The GG was tasteful.

Gucci has now a fashion identity because it has been a fashion voice since the 90’s. Gucci is totally different from Vuitton in that aspect but, it needs to be run like Vuitton to make sense on the long term.

It’s Italian, it can be bold, it can be jet set. I think the story telling has to make sense. Nobody is buying the Savoy Hotel story. Alessandro’s fashion was good so he got a pass but it’s a boring story.

There’s a certain exhuberance in Florence so, it should inspire Gucci in being more risk taking.

I don’t believe in Hedi in that context but they needs someone who understand sensuality, is not afraid of color and who has a certain minimalist take on accessories.

35% of Sabato’s work is in stores and in media the sauce is not working. Maybe he needs to take risks.

 

[FashionPower]

I’m sorry but what bullsh*t is that: tougher than expected ? b*tch where ? TFS people very much expected that flop and it happened on time. If suits aren’t anticipating the worst with all possible signs on earth then perhaps their heads should roll, one by one. It’s not cataclysmic but cause and effect event, let’s be serious.

Yeah, the whole Gucci situation is getting ridicolous.
Gucci it's mainly a leather goods brand, it's been one full year since Sabato first runway show and yet they have not released a specific campaign to push a bag, apart from that fiasco travel campaign with Kendull and Bad Bunny (ain't fooling anyone with Kendall flying commercial). If I want travel goods I go to LV, not Gucci...
LV and Dior do heavily push all the bestsellers status symbol bags via advertising, even Frida had dedicated campaigns for Gucci diamante line and Jackies, why Kering can't do the same with Gucci? LV release basically every other week specific seasonal collections with endless iterations of the monogram, why can't Gucci do the same? Release a tye dye GG collection one month, then the next month a reverse GG one, then a GG metallic one and so on...
The close to zero effort in pushing leather goods has been baffling, were the suits really thinking to boost sales with Sabato Zara like debossed GUCCI acrylic hoodies sold at 4k? At least Michele's tacky stuff targeted dumb kiddos and wannabe influencers...the demographic that is the easiest to influence.
You cannot expect to keep sales stable with ONE single version of the Jackie (with that cheap simplified clasp) and unwalkable platform loafers. If I had been Pinault I would have scrapped the whole Spring Summer 2024 runway show and released a lookbook with a selection of bags and other leather goods. That first show had a huge impact on people perception regarding Sabato and Gucci in general, it was just a huge flop, especially compared to Michele's Karl inspired fashion show events. It's like comparing Karl's space station FW17 show to Virginie's Spring 2024 Villa Noailles show. Had this happened in 2015 with Alessandra Facchinetti or in 2016 with Frida, they would have been kicked out the day after the show.
The Fall Winter 2024 show had a great selection of accessories and I am sure they are gonna do much better in terms of sales compared to the first show, but you will need to wait additional 6 months starting from now to get the full advantage of the collection being in the stores...
The huge gap in terms of accessories releases (from Sabato appointment in March 2023 to Fall Winter 2024 collection available in stores) damaged the brand terribly, even Jacquemus team is able to release a new bag every two months, with the Gucci resources they would be able to release a new accessory every day...

 

[PDFSD]

I don't get all the hate posts regarding "Ancora guy" since Gucci's current mess is not because of Di Sarno who's just a "safe" -not a brilliant - choice. Gucci trouble started with Alessandro's repeated styling tricks. I wonder why they hired him at Valentino, makes absolutely no sense to me.

yes but even in his last years he still sold more than what they are doing now and the pieces that are main collection are still from his period of design.

cash cow items are still by Alessandro like it or not .....just the reality of the current structure of product offering.

Even hedi like hi or not managed to build new celine it bags offering and a clear vision after a string celine by phoebe.

Ancora guy is to blame for lack of hype around the brand, because he should drive creation of new product that sells and create a world where people want to buy into its as simple as that .


Pharrell managed with his talent to do something at LV that is building on what Virgil managed with his talent to grow mens wear at LV, so why can't 'Ancora guy do the same ....nobody holds a gun to his head and tells him to be mediocre creativity at best .

And i don't even wear or buy LV mens but still its a clear world they constructed with hit items certain people want and still not be as boring creatively as current Gucci.

objectively.

 

[PDFSD]

he posted this, which means he is staying at least another year : (


SABATO DE SARNO

Let's wait and see Jan 2025 then it will be more clear if the new Ceo has ideas of his own or he is just the puppet of the preexisting ideas of lady YSL :-) and Ancora boy is there longer till it works or further decline forces them to think otherwise.

maybe the awaiting the person they want to be available /say yes or by then who knows .

everything before jan 2025 is just business as usual because they have to ride out the year without more disturbances.

 

[Lola701]

Yeah, the whole Gucci situation is getting ridicolous.
Gucci it's mainly a leather goods brand, it's been one full year since Sabato first runway show and yet they have not released a specific campaign to push a bag, apart from that fiasco travel campaign with Kendull and Bad Bunny (ain't fooling anyone with Kendall flying commercial). If I want travel goods I go to LV, not Gucci...
LV and Dior do heavily push all the bestsellers status symbol bags via advertising, even Frida had dedicated campaigns for Gucci diamante line and Jackies, why Kering can't do the same with Gucci? LV release basically every other week specific seasonal collections with endless iterations of the monogram, why can't Gucci do the same? Release a tye dye GG collection one month, then the next month a reverse GG one, then a GG metallic one and so on...
The close to zero effort in pushing leather goods has been baffling, were the suits really thinking to boost sales with Sabato Zara like debossed GUCCI acrylic hoodies sold at 4k? At least Michele's tacky stuff targeted dumb kiddos and wannabe influencers...the demographic that is the easiest to influence.
You cannot expect to keep sales stable with ONE single version of the Jackie (with that cheap simplified clasp) and unwalkable platform loafers. If I had been Pinault I would have scrapped the whole Spring Summer 2024 runway show and released a lookbook with a selection of bags and other leather goods. That first show had a huge impact on people perception regarding Sabato and Gucci in general, it was just a huge flop, especially compared to Michele's Karl inspired fashion show events. It's like comparing Karl's space station FW17 show to Virginie's Spring 2024 Villa Noailles show. Had this happened in 2015 with Alessandra Facchinetti or in 2016 with Frida, they would have been kicked out the day after the show.
The Fall Winter 2024 show had a great selection of accessories and I am sure they are gonna do much better in terms of sales compared to the first show, but you will need to wait additional 6 months starting from now to get the full advantage of the collection being in the stores...
The huge gap in terms of accessories releases (from Sabato appointment in March 2023 to Fall Winter 2024 collection available in stores) damaged the brand terribly, even Jacquemus team is able to release a new bag every two months, with the Gucci resources they would be able to release a new accessory every day...

But before doing all those versions of products to incite people to buy, they needs to refresh the status of Gucci.
Gucci needs to become a status symbol again. That’s why I think the jet set story make sense.

Vuitton before Marc Jacobs was an esteemed and rather bourgeois maison (despite the counterfeit stuff). But it was a status symbol.
Marc Jacobs made it cool.
Nicolas makes it cool.
Behind, a structure was build to support that cool factor. And the structure is much more classical.

You want a luggage, you want a bag? You can go to Vuitton.
A Vuitton luggage or bag will cost you less than Hermes or Goyard. It will probably last longer than Goyard. It will be a status symbol and depending of your style, it may look tacky or not.

Gucci should be about that. And they have loafers, and silk scarves, belts and sunglasses as products that people can rely on.

The brand is not cool anymore and so those huge GG on the new campaign for the blondie bag doesn’t send the good signal.

Michele revived Gucci in one season with the Princetown loafers and the Dyonisus bag. The clothes made an impression but those accessories were good.

The Dyonisus bag is a timeless bag. The princetown with or without the fur were everywhere. But the brand has to be cool and to be part of that conversation again.

 

[fenty]

Kering gives me the impression that they don't know what they're doing, as we saw with the Balenciaga scandal and all now Gucci with this "talent" the whole company needs a makeover someone tell Pinault to start his retirement process.

 

[LadyJunon]

My huge gripe with Sabato's Gucci is that it just doesn't feel desirable at all.

Funny enough, I actually think the collections and the core designs to be the least problematic element of the rebrand. The silhouetes he graviates towards are oddly charming. The slightly relaxed silhouettes, micro-shorts and platform shoes feel youthful and sexy. His weakest collections were the Cruise show in London (mostly for the awful shoe choice) and SS25 menswear (the shorts felt more juvenile than sexy). That said, I'll admit this is because I find the elements that makes a woman sexy (the neck, back and legs) to be quite different from the elements that makes a man sexy (the chest, shoulders and arms). I also like that he's putting emphasis on the Bamboo and Horsebit design elements as a "logoless" alternative to the tri-stripe and GG hardware. While I wasn't the biggest fan of platform Horsebits for Ancora, I like the variations (men's AW24 creppers, women's AW24 platforms, women's SS25 boots). I like the shape of the Blondie too, though I'd prefer a metal emblem to the leather logo.

What bothers me the most about Sabato's Gucci is the art direction, which is messy, inconsistent and contradictory. They start wiith this sexy Ford-esque campaign with Daria, before giving us whiplash with the very bare, industrial feel for the runway shows and main campaigns. They rebranded with this cherry red colour, before deciding to pair it with a shade of green they literally called "rotten". They want to be chic and upscale, while releasing campaigns of dirty-looking celebrities dressing them in threadbare clothes. While, this is obviously due to corporate meddling, I feel that this fence-sitting branding approach was inherited from Valentino, where the brand storytelling went absolutely wayward after MGC's departure.

 

[Xone]

Someone else have to be doing the creative direction and art direction of the campaigns,.they rely on Ancora guy and team and they dont' deliver...the only campaign people talked about it was the one with Daria but because of her only....Ancora guy and his friend are playing and Kering execs don't want to see that...

 

[tourbillions]

His clothes are definitely sellable and at times can be desirable. He is really just poor at giving his woman a world/identity. Its a shame, i really had hopes after the first collection but apparently he is just confused at which direction to take Gucci.

 

[LenaLena]

yes but even in his last years he still sold more than what they are doing now and the pieces that are main collection are still from his period of design.

cash cow items are still by Alessandro like it or not .....just the reality of the current structure of product offering.

Ancora guy is to blame for lack of hype around the brand, because he should drive creation of new product that sells and create a world where people want to buy into its as simple as that .

It will take time to bring back the original Gucci client.
Hype is great for brand awarness, actual sales is something else.
Dropping hearts at IG accounts does not translate to actual sales and
this was the whole issue with Michelle, too much hype, not enough sales.

I don't say Di Sarno is great, he's not. He's just a guy doing what has been asked from him. Brands are not dependent on designers, this is not the '90s.