Gucci has promoted deputy chief executive Stefano Cantino to lead the Italian mega-label, succeeding interim CEO Jean-François Palus.
Cantino climbed the ranks at Prada over the course of two decades, working closely with executive chairman Patrizio Bertelli in various communications, merchandising and strategy roles during the companyâs global expansion, public offering and lengthy turnaround. The Italian executive then decamped to Louis Vuitton, where he oversaw communications and image at the LVMH flagship from 2018.
Cantino succeeds Jean-François Palus, formerly the managing director of Gucciâs owner, Kering, who took over leadership of the brand following Marco Bizzarriâs 2023 departure. Palus has worked to revamp internal processes and culture while onboarding a new designer, Sabato De Sarno, but has been seen to lack hands-on experience in running a large fashion brand at a time when Gucciâs fortunes are under severe pressure.
Gucciâs first-half revenue fell 20 percent to â¬4.1 billion ($4.5 billion) as it struggles to transition its image during a global slowdown in demand for luxury goods. The brand phased out product and marketing from its previous creative era, led by designer Alessandro Michele, clipping sales of maximalist couture and streetwear-inflected merch. A new strategy seeking to underscore Gucciâs heritage and better promote the brandâs core range of carry-over items has thus far been unable to fill the gap, in part hindered by a muted industry reception to De Sarnoâs vision and slow delivery of his seasonal collections.
Cantino joined Vuitton during a period of rapid transformation that saw it grow from a â¬10 billion per-year luxury fashion powerhouseâalready the industryâs biggest and most profitable brand by revenueâto a multi-faceted âculturalâ player with estimated sales of â¬20 billion in 2022. Under CEO Michael Burke, Cantino helped the brand juggle various plotlines: supporting marketing momentum across Nicolas Ghesquièreâs womenswear, Virgil Ablohâs menswear, blockbuster collaborations with the likes of artist Yayoi Kusama and nascent initiatives including high jewellery and smartwatches (as well as restaurants, exhibitions, chocolate shops and home design).
In a recent interview, Kering deputy CEO Francesca Bellettini lauded Cantinoâs qualifications to execute Gucciâs strategy by combining experience from heritage juggernaut Louis Vuitton with his tenure at fashion-forward Prada. âWe need to remember what is the DNA of Gucci â but at the same time [having] a super strong fashion component ⦠The moments when Gucci was most successful, itâs when the two things were combined together,â Bellettini said.
