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Kering has appointed Stefano Cantino as general manager of Gucci, the flagship brand of the struggling French luxury group (AFP / Charly TRIBALLEAU)
French luxury group Kering announced Tuesday the appointment of Stefano Cantino as chief executive of Gucci, the struggling company’s flagship brand.
Stefano Cantino will “report to Francesca Bellettini, deputy general director of Kering in charge of home development,” the group said in a press release.
He will succeed Jean-François Palus on January 1. This close friend of Kering’s CEO, François-Henri Pinault, was appointed in July 2023 as interim head of Gucci to take control of the brand and put it on the path to recovery.
Stefano Cantino will sit on the Kering executive committee.
“I am confident in the ability of Stefano and the Gucci team, building on what has been built over the last 15 months, to succeed in their mission to restore Gucci to the leadership that the brand deserves,” said Francesca Bellettini, quoted in the press release.
In the first half, Gucci’s sales fell by 20%, falling to 4 billion euros. The Italian brand represents nearly 50% of Kering’s turnover and two-thirds of its operational profitability.
Last May, Stefano Cantino joined Gucci to take on the role of deputy general manager, after a five-year career at Louis Vuitton (LVMH group), where he supervised communications and image. Previously, he spent 20 years with the Prada group.
François-Henri Pinault, also quoted in the press release, greeted Jean-François Palus. “In a particularly complex period,” he “took the courageous decisions the house needed and laid the solid foundations for a new Gucci to thrive under Stefano’s leadership,” he says.
“I would also like to salute the close and constant collaboration of Jean-François over the last 30 years, which has been of inestimable support to me,” he adds.
Kering does not specify whether Jean-François Palus, 62, will take up other positions within the group in January.
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