Gucci strengthens its management team and proceeds to redefine its top management. The latest in chronological order is the arrival of Stefano Cantino (formerly at Prada and Louis Vuitton) in the new role of deputy CEO. Together with the brand’s CEO Jean-François Palus, he will be responsible for defining and implementing Gucci’s strategy. Meanwhile, Louis...
The alarm is sounding in China. The rating agency Fitch, in cutting China’s sovereign credit risk from stable to negative, confirms the economy’s problems. This country’s growing fiscal deficit is “a major concern”. Beijing, which described the cut as “regrettable”, has also contracted debt to stimulate domestic consumption while grappling with the property crisis. Without...
It seems that Hedi Slimane‘s adventure at the helm of Celine is in its final chapters. Indeed, according to rumours, it’s only a matter of time before the designer (pictured right) will be booted out. Some say the divorce is so ripe that Slimane is already close to a new job at Chanel. But the […]
Brands (especially independent ones) are on the hunt for aspirational consumers, as the category is being cut off by luxury brands practicing price increases. But it’s a complex context, as the same category is being affected by lower purchasing power and consumption is thus slowing. Yet, the segment remains interesting: McKinsey estimates its value to...
Prada too is courting the VICs (aka the Very Important Clients) and preparing a mega-investment in Milan. “We have been working to win over certain luxury customers with a specific offer tailored to the high-end, through specific services and spaces within our distribution”, says the brand’s CEO, Gianfranco D’Attis, who gives the example of the...
Chanel raises prices again. All-around. That is, on the one hand from France, fashion division president Bruno Pavlovsky theorises about future price increases. On the other hand, in Asian stores, the increase is a reality: thanks to an adjustment of between 2.8 and 8.3 per cent, the iconic medium flap bag exceeds the USD 10,000...
Will Kering‘s tumble pull luxury along or not? Because it is one thing talking about “slowing growth”, and quite another to record negative numbers. Insiders and analysts are trying to answer the question. The performance of the various brands depends on their exposure in China, where sales are cautious. And also, on the performance of...
For the very refined French customer audience, the most prestigious handbags are Chanel and Hermès. But the third wheel is the “little” Tod’s, which gives giants like Louis Vuitton and Dior a run for their money. With the collaboration of Promise Consulting, Bernstein interviewed 309 French consumers (and analysed 4,720 total answers). Thus, they checked […]
Two Italian luxury groups in great shape, Prada and OTB. Two only apparently “secondary” brands that continue to grow. On the one hand, Miu Miu, younger brother of Miuccia Prada’s brand, which closed 2023 with a 58% increase in revenue. On the other side Maison Margiela, the second brand after Diesel of the group founded...
Prada’s sales reach 4.7 billion euro in 2023 and the brand plans to invest 1 billion euro in the physical retail channel in the next 5 years. The Italian luxury group published its financials, showing a 17% growth on 2022. As far as brands go: Prada +12%, Miu Miu +58%, Church’s -13%. Net income grew...
Latest from Paris Fashion Week (26 February to 5 March), which closed with Ghesquière‘s homage to Louis Vuitton, while Miu Miu amazed with a collection that addressed the act of dressing as representative of every stage of life. Ghesquière’s homage to Louis Vuitton In the Cour du Carrée of the Louvre, the new collection of...
“Luxury should be fun”. This is how Kim Jones and Silvia Venturini Fendi presented the Fall-Winter 24/25 collection during the last Milan Fashion Week (20-26 February). A collection that included a “lollipop bag”, a pure expression of funny fashion: the new Fendi x Chupa Chups leather lollipop holder. And this was not the only “object...
Low, comfortable and made of leather. One only has to look at the latest collections to realise that the iconic Mary Jane model is back. Having become recognisable over time with their black leather upper, rounded toe and an instep strap, the Mary Jane has its roots in childlike aesthetics and school imagery. But the […]
Fashion focuses on seduction. On Milan fashion catwalks, female sensuality is a common denominator that is expressed and declined in different forms. From the extreme elegance of Tom Ford to the gritty unruliness of MM6 Maison Margiela. From the revolutionary tailoring of Prada to the fun naïf mood of Moschino. Milan Fashion Week (20-26 February)...
There are at least two contradictions that have accompanied Miuccia Prada since she ventured into the haute couture industry. The first, she confesses to Vogue in a lengthy interview, concerns her very identity: a young left-wing militant destined for a career in luxury (and what a career). The second concerns the very market segment in...
Not only NGG. Style Capital is reportedly about to take over 50.1% of Autry for 300 million euros. According to Il Sole 24 Ore, Made in Italy Fund will remain within the shareholding structure of the trainer brand with an 8% stake. While the founding partners, the Doro family, will retain a 42% share. “The...
Sales are falling, now that luxury is in the “normalisation” phase, and brands are reviewing their strategies. They are not only focusing on how to increase revenues (mostly by raising prices and expanding the offering into new categories), but are also thinking about how to reduce costs. Each, in a polarised market, as they can. […]
LVMH is a record-breaking machine and a generator of dissatisfaction. Why? Quite simple. First: its latest financial statement is, as usual, insane. Second: its number one, Bernard Arnault (left in the photo), is never satisfied. So much so, that he has (re)made it clear that the French group’s only goal is to get bigger and...
Bloomberg’s provocation is pretentious precisely because it is counterintuitive. Now that size matters and LVMH is celebrating its own cyclopean measures, the financial paper suggests that the French holding company would gain more value if it unbundled its divisions. And that the fragmentation of the luxury empire would make it easier to succeed Bernard Arnault....
Adotta, by Scuola di Altagamma, gets bigger. The third edition will have 9 new brands, Lineapelle and Gruppo Florence. Now there are 33 businesses and 38 schools involved in this new project. The goal is to face the need for resources in the future: 346,000 technical profiles, of which only 50% will be found. Altagamma’s […]
