Analysts Pressure for Gucci to Name High-profile Creative Director as Brand Seeks Rebound
MILAN — The pressure to find the right successor for Sabato De Sarno mounts, as analysts believe Gucci’s future relies heavily on choosing the new creative director.
Two days after Kering reported a 24 percent decrease in Gucci’s organic revenues in the three months ended Dec. 31, analysts are watching with a beady eye what the brand’s next steps will be.
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They are cautious about the future of the brand, which accounted for 63 percent of Kering’s operating profit in 2024, following the exit of De Sarno last week after less than two years in the job. His successor has yet to be named, but Kering chairman and chief executive officer François-Henri Pinault believes the brand is poised for a rebound.
“Gucci will come back. I have absolutely no doubts about this,” he said on Tuesday, commenting on the results.
There is no time to waste and Gucci should turn to a tried-and-true, big-name designer, according to Bernstein’s global luxury goods analyst Luca Solca. In his report issued Thursday, he stated that Gucci “needs a new, heavyweight creative director, and it needs it now. The task is to add an original and compelling fashion twist on the cleansed Gucci image Sabato De Sarno has contributed to create: more elegant, more qualitative, but dull. A heavyweight designer (say, Hedi Slimane — the most likely candidate in our view — or John Galliano or Maria Grazia Chiuri, for example) could restart the buzz around the brand, and help it to regain center stage.”
In Solca’s opinion, “the first priority would be to reinvigorate the carryover products, that are tired and uninspiring. Combine that with inspired new communication — and Kering may have a way to drive the full-price retail boost they need to meet their guidance. Even before the new [spring 2026] fashion collections hit the stores.” Bernstein expects Gucci to reveal De Sarno’s successor around its Milan fall 2025 show on Feb. 25, he added.
“Seeing is believing and pending group sales turning positive — not before [the third quarter] in our view — and the appointment of a new designer at Gucci, we are happy with our Hold rating,” stated HSBC analysts, defining “the visibility” of a Gucci rebound “blurry.”
“We believe many investors are sticking to the side of caution and want to see numbers turning positive, as recovery at Gucci has been delayed many times.” In accordance with Solca, the bank believes that “one element that could create some traction for the shares is the appointment of a new well known and appreciated by the luxury market creative designer” to succeed De Sarno.
James Grzinic at Jefferies also dubbed the bank’s report “Seeing is believing.” After Kering’s management “sets forward a confident outlook for Gucci,” based on the “fundamentals” De Sarno put in place for the brand, Jefferies believes “this is something that a new designer — Slimane? Galliano? — will be able to build upon in a more fashion-forward manner, even if an imminent appointment would not present a collection until September at the earliest.”
The rumor mill has been going into overdrive with Slimane, Galliano, Kim Jones, Chiuri (although, as WWD reported, LVMH Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton is also in talks with her about taking the women’s design reins at Fendi) and Dario Vitale all rumored to be potentially in line for the creative lead at Gucci. Speculation is also rife that Luke and Lucie Meier will be exiting Jil Sander after the fall show in Milan, so their names could be added to the list.
TD Cowen also maintained its Hold rating on Kering’s shares. “In order to gain more conviction, we need to see improvement in trends at Gucci and margin stabilization. Near-term acceleration in newness could support traffic trends although we are cautious on the time needed to launch product under the new creative director (yet to be announced).”
Upon the exit of De Sarno, Citi’s Thomas Chauvet wrote in a research note: “The identity of the new designer will be key in redefining the brand’s aesthetics, perhaps halfway between classic/understated elegance and fashion-forwardness.”
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