Gucci looks to reignite the flame in its Italian home

Paris, France - Having transitioned from a fashion icon to a thorn in the side of French luxury group Kering, Gucci must now reinvent itself to avoid further weighing on its parent company's accounts.

The luxury giant, which also owns Yves Saint Laurent, Bottega Veneta, Kering Eyewear and Boucheron, will present its strategy to investors on Thursday in Florence, Gucci's birthplace. Particular attention will be paid to its plans for the double G brand.

Luca de Meo, the former head of Renault appointed as Kering's chief executive officer in 2025, must work his magic on the Italian house. He needs to rekindle the brand's former brilliance. The financial stability of the entire group is at stake, as Gucci accounted for approximately 40 percent of its turnover in 2025.

While Tom Ford's tenure as artistic director from 1994 to 2004 represented a golden era for the house, subsequent creative choices have been less successful. This has led to a significant drop in sales over the past three years.

"In this sector, you sell something that consumers desire. If you give too much of something people love, eventually they will no longer want it," analyses Luca Solca, an industry specialist at Bernstein. "With the rise of streetwear, Gucci became ubiquitous... To some extent, this killed its desirability," he added.

Ingredients

Flavio Cereda, director of investments at Gam, shares a similar view. "Gucci has had issues with distribution, products and pricing," the specialist told AFP.

This decline in popularity is reflected in the figures, which is particularly stark against the backdrop of a slowdown affecting nearly all luxury players. After peaking at 10.5 billion euros in 2022 (12.38 billion dollars), Gucci's turnover has steadily declined, falling to approximately 6 billion euros last year.

Hopes are now pinned on the house's new artistic director, Demna Gvasalia, who joined in early 2025. His debut show took place in Milan in February, following a preliminary collection presented in September. "My vision for Gucci is based on the coexistence of heritage and fashion... Gucci only exists when the two are in harmony, when each one nurtures the other," he explained in a letter published in February, outlining his vision for the brand.

Since September, Gucci has also had a new CEO, Francesca Bellettini, who was previously Kering's deputy chief executive officer. Will these changes be enough? In the first quarter of 2026, Gucci's sales fell again by 14 percent to 1.35 billion, according to figures released on Tuesday. On a like-for-like basis, however, the decline was smaller than in the fourth quarter of 2025, at 8 percent compared to 10 percent.

According to analysts at HSBC, 2026 could mark a rebound, with an acceleration in the second half of the year. "It is the largest Italian luxury brand. It has the heritage, the distribution; it has all the ingredients," noted Flavio Cereda.

This article was translated to English using an AI tool.

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