Markets promote the new Gucci’s era

After the announcement arrived when Stock exchanges were closed, the market responded positively to Gucci’s choice expressed through an unexpected statement on saturday at 7:40 a.m, unveiling Alessandro Michele’s successor. Everyone knows his name by now, Sabato De Sarno. A campanian who grew up in Naples, 39 years old, with a husband who works at the EU in Brussels and a career path that started in 2005 at Prada, continued at Dolce&Gabbana, and landed in 2009 at Valentino, where he rose through the ranks to the position of fashion director for men’s and women’s ready-to-wear under Pierpaolo Piccioli.

Those who know the designer describe him as someone with great taste, smart, professional and full of «joie de vivre». The writer met him a few times some years ago in Rome, in the Testaccio neighborhood where he lived, and remembers his sense of humor and a self-deprecating streak that is usually a good sign of pragmatism and openness. «Nice to meet you Sabato, nice to meet you Domenico...», this was the beginning of his meeting with Domenico Dolce, as he recounted with a smile. Kering once again bets everything on a talent who grew up behind the scenes with a solid career and ready to do his best for a chance that it happens to a few people in a lifetime. The giant group led by François-Henri Pinault, for whom Gucci accounts for 55% of sales, confirms a now well-established and studied in business schools strategy.

And the financial markets approved the decision, promoting the stock with a rise of nearly 9 euros in yesterday’s session, relieved by the end of uncertainty over a key figure of such importance, after two months of interregnum. Analysts from Citi to Equita, Mediobanca to Bernstein, Ubs to Goldman Sachs also welcomed the appointment: «We consider the news to be positive. This choice is consistent with the group’s strategy of commissioning little-known but highly talented creatives, such as Demna Gvasalia from Balenciaga or Matthieu Blazy from Bottega veneta».

Although many people were ready to bet that the designer’s name would come out in June this year, after the men’s shows, MFF had learned from financial sources that the group of the double G would have made a double announcement about ceo and creative director. The first came at the menswear show at the headquarters in Via Mecenate, when Marco Bizzarri was confirmed as the ceo by François-Henri Pinault who said «I need him to build Gucci’s future». The second came now, perhaps a little ahead of schedule. «De Sarno will start in his new position on saturday as soon as he has fulfilled his obligations in his current role», the statement said. The Campania-based designer will then have six months to make his debut.

Buyers contacted by MFF also positively greet the announcement. «De Sarno is more connected than Alessandro Michele was when he arrived», Beppe Angiolini of Sugar said. Now De Sarno has to face two main challenges. The first one is trying to find a fresh, new image for the brand, and then trying to make another leap and become a trend setter. Before him, Tom Ford, Frida Giannini, and Alessandro Michele had managed to break through results that were considered unbeatable. The latter made Gucci earn over 10 billion in sales in one year, and ceo Marco Bizzarri announced a goal of 15 billion. The spotlight will be on such ambitious results, but a honeymoon period with controlling shareholders should allow him to experiment. «With De Sarno at the creative helm, we are confident that the maison will continue to both influence fashion and culture», Pinault stated. The countdown to september has already started. (all rights reserved)