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PARIS, France — Kering SA said Gucci Chief Executive Officer Patrizio di Marco and Creative Director Frida Giannini plan to leave the fashion maker's biggest luxury brand.
Marco Bizzarri, head of the parent company's luxury-couture and leather goods division, will take over running Gucci on Jan. 1, Kering said today in a statement. Giannini will depart at the end of February after showing her fall-winter collection, and a successor will be named later.
Gucci has struggled as customers switch to labels they perceive to be more exclusive. Comparable revenue fell 1.9 percent in the third quarter, though the company has said it’s confident of returning to positive trends in the near future.
“I truly enjoyed working with Patrizio,” Kering CEO Francois-Henri Pinault said in the statement.
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Di Marco joined Gucci in 2009 from sister brand Bottega Veneta. He sought to move Gucci up-market by reducing the use of the label’s famous double G logo, narrowing the product range and re-introducing classic styles in luxurious materials. Giannini had led Gucci’s creative team since 2006.
Kering has been overhauling management of its luxury brands. In October, the Paris-based company named new CEOs at Bottega Veneta, Brioni and Christopher Kane.
By Andrew Roberts.
