Kering in the spotlight in Paris, Cantino's appointment at the top of Gucci well received

(Il Sole 24 Ore Radiocor) - Kering up on the Paris Stock Exchange (CAC 40 ), on the day after the appointment of the CEO of Gucci, the group's flagship brand. Although the luxury sector continues to be weak on fears of asphyxiated Chinese consumption (Shanghai closed at -6% today), shares in the Pinault family group are celebrating the announcement of the arrival of Stefano Cantino, a manager with many years' experience in the fashion and luxury world. Cantino will take over the position held since July on an interim basis by Jean Francois Palus, following the departure of Marco Bizzarri at the beginning of 2025. Equita analysts comment that "this is not a real surprise as Stefano Cantino had joined the group last May as deputy ceo of Gucci". On the other hand, for the experts, the appointment and exit of Palus 'signal that the managerial reorganisation of Gucci in view of the relaunch is complete'.

Cantino cut his teeth at Prada, where he worked for 20 years with increasing responsibility in the marketing and sales area, until he became director of communications and marketing. He then spent five years at Louis Vuitton, as head of marketing and communication. He will take the reins of the Florentine brand from January 2025, reporting directly to Francesca Bellettini, deputy ceo of Kering responsible for the group's brand developmet. The manager said: "I am deeply grateful to Jean-François for his dedication and loyalty to Gucci during this period of transition. I am confident that, building on what has been achieved over the past 15 months, Stefano and the Gucci team will achieve the goal of returning Gucci to the leadership it deserves". François-Henri Pinault, Chairman and CEO of Kering, also said: "During a particularly complex period, Jean-François made the difficult decisions that the House needed, and laid the necessary foundations to renew Gucci so that it can regain new momentum under Stefano's leadership.

Kering is inextricably linked to Gucci, as it represents the brand with the greatest weight in the group's turnover (accounting for almost half of total sales). For the past few years, however, the Double G brand's sales have lost momentum, so that Kering decided to promote a 360° change with the exit first of designer Alessandro Michele (who recently joined Valentino) and then the ceo, Marco Bizzarri. In the first half of 2024, the transalpine group suffered an 11% drop in sales to €9 billion, with Gucci dropping 20% to €4.1 billion.