Sabato De Sarno Departs Gucci, Sparking Succession Speculation, Analysts’ Reaction
MILAN — While fashion gossip mongers and industry observers on Thursday speculated on the potential successor of Sabato De Sarno at Gucci — is it Kim? Is it Hedi? Is it Maria Grazia? — the stock market reacted to the news by sending Kering shares up 5.1 percent to close at 251.90 euros.
Analysts were quick to comment, some surprised, others not so much, that Gucci had decided to end its collaboration with its creative director less than three weeks before the brand’s fall 2025 show in Milan, stating that it would be presented by the brand’s design office. As for the future, the statement merely said the new artistic direction would be announced in due time.
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“I would like to express my deep gratitude to Sabato for his passion and dedication to Gucci,” stated Gucci’s chief executive officer Stefano Cantino, who took on the role in January. “I sincerely appreciate how he honored Gucci’s craftsmanship and heritage with such commitment.” De Sarno joined Gucci in January 2023, succeeding Alessandro Michele.
“I sincerely thank Sabato for his loyalty and professionalism,” said Francesca Bellettini, Kering deputy CEO in charge of brand development. “I am proud of the work that has been done to further strengthen Gucci’s fundamentals. Stefano and the new artistic direction will continue to build on this and to guide Gucci toward renewed fashion leadership and sustainable growth.”
De Sarno’s exit comes amid a flurry of creative shifts roiling Europe’s heritage houses, revealed only a few days after Kim Jones announced his resignation at Dior Homme. Fendi has yet to announce the successor to Jones, who last October stepped down after four years as its artistic director of haute couture, ready-to-wear and fur collections for women.
De Sarno’s departure is fueling speculation around Hedi Slimane, who left Celine in October last year, and who is rumored to be buying an apartment in Milan. Another name that continues to pop up is Dario Vitale, who left his role as Miu Miu ready-to-wear design director at the end of January, although he has also been rumored to be headed to Versace. According to sources, Maria Grazia Chiuri is also a potential candidate to succeed De Sarno.
For his part, De Sarno chose to write a message on his personal Instagram handle, smiling and apparently with no regrets. “Any important project relies on the passion, the intelligence and heart of extraordinary people. To them, I say: always look out for your joy. It is the true measure of whether you are true to yourself, whatever the opportunity, whatever the challenge. A thank-you would not be enough maybe. But today my joy is for you.”
Thursday’s announcement comes on the eve of Kering revealing its fourth-quarter and full-year results on Feb. 11 and analysts are gearing up to sift through the numbers.
Before that, they were divided on Gucci’s decision.
Bernstein’s Luca Solca said “the writing was on the wall. The demure style of Sabato De Sarno didn’t fit the exuberant image that consumers have built of Gucci in the past 30 years.”
De Sarno’s appointment was “a key ingredient in management’s strategy to push Gucci towards a more mainstream position. His departure suggests that consumers have not bought in to this ‘timeless Gucci’ theme, despite management’s lowered expectations for 4Q24.”
Solca pointed to the issue of “a hefty price tag” if Gucci were to turn to creative directors of the caliber of Chiuri or Jonathan Anderson, citing rumors that they are on their way to Fendi and Dior, respectively. “Today’s news suggests management is still finding its feet,” Solca continued. “We expect more pain to come.”
De Sarno was selected by Gucci’s then-president and CEO Marco Bizzarri, and his exit “offers management an opportunity to reassess their strategy. Gucci has to be over the top in order to thrive, the same as zebras have to run. Zebras who convince themselves they can metamorphose into lions and behave as such would not face a bright future,” Solca wrote in a research note. “Fortunately, Kering has likely built up a significant cash pile through recent real-estate transactions. With no clear creative direction to push to consumers, communication spending — which management had maintained at constant absolute levels despite a shrinking top-line — can finally fall too. Gucci now has the opportunity to reignite its brand heat — Kering’s shareholders will need the courage to push this through.”
In a nutshell, sentiment is “negative,” according to analyst Piral Dadhania at RBC, who observed that De Sarno’s exit was not entirely a surprise, “given Gucci’s underperformance” compared to its peers since the designer’s appointment. A potential turnaround of the brand is likely to be pushed further into 2026, which could put pressure on Kering shares, Dadhania continued. “We note that Gucci has proceeded rather swift in creative direction appointments in the recent past.”
The analyst concluded by stating that Kering’s “strategic approach to developing its assets supported by a significantly improved central platform make it one of the strongest luxury conglomerates in the sector, in our view. Gucci brand equity remains intact; however it is midway through a painful repositioning at a challenging point in the broader luxury cycle. Revenue momentum is currently below average, which offers limited near-term upside unless and until Gucci brand heat and revenue trends inflect in our view, which is unlikely to be before early 2026 given new product introduction impact.”
Jelena Sokolova, senior equity analyst at Morningstar, also said De Sarno’s exit “isn’t unexpected, as his leadership failed to rejuvenate the brand’s appeal two years after his appointment. Our research shows brand momentum improvements typically surface by the fifth or sixth quarter of a creative leadership change, but this hasn’t been the case for Gucci, which continued to lag the industry into Q3 2024.”
While admitting the change offers an opportunity, “the process of appointing a new creative leader and seeing tangible results is prolonged. It requires significant marketing investments and possibly clearing previous inventory. A Gucci rebound in 2025 seems unlikely at this stage,” Sokolova said.
She believes that with Bellettini and Cantino in a leadership position, “there’s a chance for broader emphasis on brand marketing rather than solely relying on creative direction. Despite the current challenges, we believe Gucci’s global recognition, strong pricing power, and control over distribution make it improbable that the brand would consistently underperform the industry as current valuation implies.”
Meanwhile, Carole Madjo at Barclays said De Sarno’s exit came as a surprise, since the designer only joined in 2023 and “[we] think his departure will bring more disruption and uncertainty at Gucci in the short term.” She noted that his products were still being rolled? ?out in stores in the second half last year and that this move leaves “room for more earnings risks” in 2025. “However, one could also argue that in the long run, this could be a positive for Gucci as the potential new designer could have more chance to bring back momentum,” given that De Sarno’s designs “failed to re?-?ignite brand momentum during his short time at Gucci.”
Thomas Chauvet at Citi concurred, saying that the announcement was unexpected, given that Kering’s 2024 financial results are due to be released on Tuesday. Gucci accounted for around 60 percent of 2024 group operating profit pre-central costs and and its sales underperformance have “been a drag” on Kering’s share price and valuation over the past five years, stated Chauvet.
Cantino’s “first major decision” since taking on the CEO role “adds uncertainty and P&L complexity by opening another period of transition, as luxury goods demand has turned in most geographies except China,” Chauvet wrote in a research note. “The identity of the new designer will be key in redefining the brand’s aesthetics, perhaps halfway between classic/understated elegance and fashion-forwardness.” Citi maintained a neutral rating.
De Sarno’s first show took place during Milan Fashion Week in September 2023. The designer was raised in Naples, Italy, and began his career at Prada in 2003, moving to Dolce & Gabbana, where he was named head designer of the women’s knitwear and jersey collection, before joining Valentino in 2009, where he spent 14 years and rose through the ranks to become fashion director of men’s and women’s ready-to-wear in 2020.
De Sarno was expected to unveil Gucci’s cruise 2026 collection with a show in Florence on May 15, paying tribute to the city where the brand was founded in 1921. De Sarno’s first cruise collection was held in London last May at Tate Modern with guests including Dua Lipa, Demi Moore, Paul Mescal and Kate and Lila Moss.
Gucci is in the midst of a turnaround under Cantino, who succeeded Jean-Fran?ois Palus.
As the luxury industry has been facing a slowdown in spending, Kering’s marquee brand has been struggling with declining revenues for a few seasons and De Sarno’s collections have been met with mixed reviews.
In the third quarter of 2024, organic sales at Gucci declined 25 percent, versus analysts’ predictions for a 21 percent drop. In reported terms, revenues fell 26 percent to 1.64 billion euros. Gucci has been pursuing an elevation strategy, and, as reported, management is pinning its hopes on the introduction of new handbag lines, alongside a collection of ready-to-wear essentials building on De Sarno’s best-performing designs so far, a shorter time to market and a streamlined distribution and offer.
In March 2024, to introduce De Sarno, Gucci released a short documentary about the designer. Titled “Who Is Sabato De Sarno? A Gucci Story,” the 20-minute documentary was directed by Ariel Schulman and Henry Joost, New York-based filmmakers best known for their breakout documentary “Catfish,” an indie favorite, alongside two “Paranormal Activity” sequels. Irish actor Paul Mescal, Gucci brand ambassador, narrated the documentary.
De Sarno over the years has become a collector of fashion archival pieces in addition to contemporary art works. In fact, in December 2023, the renovated store on Milan’s Via Montenapoleone was an ode to Italian creativity and design, with pieces ranging from Cassina’s “Utrecht” armchair by Gerrit Thomas Rietveld to the “La Bambola” armchair by Mario Bellini, and works from Milanese masters such as Lucio Fontana, Getulio Alviani, Liliana Moro and Franco Mazzucchelli, along with works from international artists such as Nathlie Provosty, Jaime Poblete, Fran?ois Durel, Michael Rey, Herbert Hamak, Adji Dieye and Augustas Serapinas, among others.
With his first collection, dubbed “Ancora [again, in English],” he introduced a new shade for the brand, a deep rose red, almost burgundy, which he employed on new packaging, that wiped out his predecessor Michele’s ornate green decorative pattern embossed onto paper bags.
De Sarno has been busy reasserting the codes of the house on tank tops, statement coats, lingerie-inspired lace slipdresses, baggy jeans and trenches and revisiting the brand’s signature Jackie bag, bringing back the 1947 Bamboo bag and the house’s horsebit on platforms and ballerinas.
While in November, De Sarno was front and center at the Gucci-sponsored LACMA Art+Film Gala in Los Angeles, debuting his second eveningwear collection at the fundraiser, the designer only a month later did not walk on stage to accept Gucci’s special recognition award for the brand’s cruise 2025 “We Will Always Have London” campaign at the Fashion Awards in London in December. Instead, Nan Goldin, who shot the campaign, and Kelsey Lu, who starred in it, collected the award on behalf of Gucci.
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