Following the news that Sabato de Sarno is exiting Gucci as creative director: Louise Deglise-Favre, senior apparel analyst at GlobalData, offers her view: “Gucci has announced the immediate exit of its creative director Sabato De Sarno, only two years after his arrival at the brand. Gucci’s plummeting sales were likely to blame for this departure, as the brand contracted 22.0% in the first nine months of 2024. De Sarno joined Gucci in 2023 with a mission to pivot the brand’s aesthetic away from the maximalist designs of his predecessor Alessandro Michele, which lost appeal post pandemic, leading to stale sales in 2022. While De Sarno’s more muted and wearable designs did act as a palate cleanser, they failed to translate into commercial success due to a lack of truly impactful pieces that generated buzz and excitement.
“However, Gucci’s troubles cannot solely be blamed on De Sarno’s designs, but also on the general slowdown in luxury demand, with relatively accessible fashion-driven brands like Gucci being the worst hit as aspirational shoppers reign in their spending amid economic difficulties. Richemont and LVMH both showed signs of improvement in the last quarter of 2024, after drastic slowdowns earlier in the year, however some of their brands such as Cartier and Louis Vuitton have stronger appeal among core, wealthy luxury shoppers. Kering’s Q4 results are due to be announced on Tuesday 11 June, though this announcement is an early indicator that the group, and especially Gucci, did not follow the same trajectory as its competitors.
“Moving forward, Gucci’s new creative director, who has yet to be announced, will have their work cut out to bring the brand back to the forefront of consumers’ minds and re-establish Gucci’s brand identity following years of instability in both executive and creative direction.”
