Kering in the spotlight in Paris; Vaccarello leaves Saint Laurent after 10 years
Under the leadership of the creative director, the group has almost tripled its turnover, from just over one billion euros in 2016 to 3.2 billion in 2023
(Il Sole 24 Ore Radiocor) – Kering is in the spotlight on the Paris Stock Exchange following the announcement that Saint Laurent’s creative director, Anthony Vaccarello, is to leave the ‘Maison’ after ten years. Vaccarello is leaving Saint Laurent, which he has steered ‘on an extraordinary trajectory, elevating the Maison to the very top in terms of desirability and image, whilst producing exceptional work both from a creative perspective and in terms of its cultural impact’, announced the Kering group, owner of the brand, without, however, providing any details on the succession plan at this stage. Kering’s CEO, Luca de Meo, highlighted the ‘key role’ played by the designer in the brand’s development, stating that he had helped to ‘strengthen its identity and influence in the world of fashion and culture’. Rumours of Vaccarello’s departure had, however, been circulating for some time, particularly following the fashion show on 29 September.
Saint Laurent – founded in 1961 by Pierre Bergé and Yves Saint Laurent, who had been abruptly sacked by Dior – has, under Vaccarello’s leadership, almost tripled its turnover, rising from just over one billion euros in 2016 to 3.2 billion euros in 2023, driven in particular by growth in the menswear range, before slowing down like the rest of the sector. It has also established itself as the first fashion house to invest in film production, notably co-producing three films in competition at the 2024 Cannes Film Festival, including Jacques Audiard’s “Emilia Pérez”.
Born in Belgium to Italian parents, Vaccarello graduated from La Cambre in Brussels in 2006 and worked at Fendi before launching his own brand in 2009. He was appointed creative director of Saint Laurent in April 2016, at a time when the fashion house was dealing with the sudden departure of Hedi Slimane. His first fashion show, on 27 September 2016, received a mixed reception from the press, but Pierre Bergé, who was still alive at the time, praised the collection. “The fashion house will shortly announce its new creative direction,” Kering stated in its press release, whilst the name of Chemena Kamali, current creative director at Chloé and former creative director at Saint Laurent, is being widely speculated. As for Vaccarello, unless he decides to devote himself entirely to cinema, rumours circulating in the fashion world suggest he could find a position befitting his calibre at, for example, Balenciaga or Vuitton.
