Updated 3:06 p.m. ET on June 16
As the new chief executive officer of Kering effective Sept. 15, Renault executive Luca de Meo is expected to bring a fresh vision to a luxury sector facing myriad headwinds and “structural changes.”
“He will bring new ways of looking at things,” Francois-Henri Pinault said of his successor during a conference call Monday evening to elaborate on the changing of the guard.
Related Articles
Pinault, who has held the CEO title since 2005 and navigated the family-controlled conglomerate through multiple transformations, traversing both buoyant and challenging periods, is to maintain the chairman role.
You May Also Like
“I will be fully involved in the strategic orientation of the group as chairman…but I will not step in and short-circuit the CEO in his prerogatives regarding the priorities, the organization or the key appointments of the group,” Pinault said.
That leaves de Meo to orchestrate a turnaround at the troubled luxury giant, dragged down by a steep slowdown at cash-cow brand Gucci, and worrisome wobbles at Saint Laurent and McQueen.
Pinault said the “fit and chemistry between us was obvious within one or two minutes,” lauding de Meo as a “developer” who “brings a global perspective on markets and growth” as well as an “affinity with the product side” and a knack for “revitalizing brands.”
Exane BNP Paribas analyst Antoine Belge asked if Kering would maintain the current management structure, forged in 2023 when Pinault promoted Saint Laurent CEO Francesca Bellettini to deputy CEO in charge of brand development, and chief financial officer Jean-Marc Duplaix to deputy CEO and chief operating officer.
Pinault allowed that de Meo, who spent his whole career in automotive firms, does not know the luxury fashion industry “so he will need strong support and strong expertise around him, and we have that inside the group, starting with Jean-Marc and Francesca.”
However, as a “fully fledged CEO,” de Meo “will have to set his own priorities, to look at the organization of the group, to look at the key position of the group.”
That said, “we are not slowing down all the action plans defined for 2025,” Pinault added. These include the strategic repositioning of the brands, debt management and the refinancing of real-estate assets.
In a statement, de Meo said he was “approaching this new professional challenge with enthusiasm, eagerness and confidence, inspired by the strength of the group’s brands and the expertise of its people. I am convinced that together we will continue to make Kering an essential player in the luxury industry.”
Shares in Kering surged 11.8 percent on Monday on the expectation of management succession, with several equity analysts giving a thumbs up.
“Kering needs change, as performance has continued to deteriorate,” Bernstein’s Luca Solca said in a research note, highlighting that the French company’s share price has fallen 28 percent in 2025 year-to-date and 78 percent from its peak in mid-2021, “largely driven by shrinking sales at its main brand, Gucci, which has been undergoing a multiyear metamorphosis.”
Citi’s Thomas Chauvet trumpeted de Meo’s credentials.
“De Meo is perceived to have largely contributed to Renault’s turnaround through product newness, technological innovation, [electric vehicle] transition shift, brand elevation, and a return to growth and profit,” Chauvet wrote, while cautioning that “execution of luxury brand turnarounds has become more complex, lengthy, costly and far less public-market-friendly in the past few years.”
He explained that this reflects “consumer preference for top brands rather than those in transition and significant P&L disruption from greater investment commitment and lower cost flexibility.”
“There is still a considerable amount of work ahead at Gucci and Saint Laurent [80 percent of group EBIT combined, pre-central costs] to rejuvenate both brands and generate a steady stream of revenue and cash flow for the group,” wrote Chauvet.
Kering posted a 14 percent decline in first-quarter revenues, with Gucci down 25 percent, Saint Laurent 9 percent and “other houses,” which includes Balenciaga, McQueen, Pomellato and Brioni, off 11 percent.
Solca argued that brand management and marketing are de Meo’s forte, “which dovetails with what the luxury industry does — for which he seems passionate.”
“We were well aware of his affinity for the luxury space, in particular his passion for complicated Swiss watches that we discussed with him at the end of a Renault event in March 2022,” Solca noted. “It is not hard to imagine how intriguing he found the Kering opportunity.”
In a second report issued after the conference call, Solca argued that de Meo “could enact significant change. Key priorities on our list would include resolving the inherent tension in the deputy co-CEO roles, strengthening the leadership team at Gucci, and restructuring or streamlining group and brand-level capex commitments.”
Renault Group revealed Sunday that de Meo had decided to “step down and pursue new challenges outside the automotive sector,” with his departure date set for July 15. Shares in Renault fell 8.7 percent Monday on the news.
The Italian executive has spent five years leading Renault and boasts 30 years in the industry at brands including Fiat, Alfa Romeo, Toyota, Volkswagen and Seat.
Kering has recruited industry outsiders in the past to run its fashion business. What was then Gucci Group famously recruited Robert Polet from Unilever’s ice cream and frozen foods division as its president and CEO from 2004 to 2011.
Still, it marks a significant change for Pinault to take a step back after 20 years and hand the CEO reins back to a nonfamily member.
In 2005, Pinault had succeeded Serge Weinberg at what was then PPR, a retail conglomerate that was still relatively new in the luxury space.
Pinault was previously president of Fnac — PPR’s music, book and home electronics chain — and had orchestrated the acquisition of the Surcouf electronics chain in the late-1990s.
When he assumed the management helm of the group he accepted that PPR faced skepticism in the industry for its lack of experience in the luxury realm.
At the time, he said the solution was “to have the best professionals in charge of those businesses: the right teams at the right level. It’s much more a state of mind. You have to be surrounded by very good professionals. If we had taken the decisions without the luxury professionals we have in the group, that would have been dangerous.”
Pinault certainly had an eventful tenure, transforming the family-controlled group by spinning off its retail chains and changing its name to Kering in 2013. It was the parent of a fleet of international brands specializing in fashion and accessories across the luxury and sport-lifestyle segments, the divisions built around Gucci and Puma, respectively.
Originally an acronym for Pinault-Printemps-Redoute, PPR began edging out of retail in 2006 when it sold the Printemps department store chain, following up with a listing for African trading company CFAO in 2009 and a sale of the Conforama furniture chain to Steinhoff International in 2010.
In that vein, Kering would end up exiting the sport-lifestyle business, selling off its stakes in Puma, Electric and Volcom to become a pure luxury player in 2019.
Pinault enjoyed many big years in his tenure, perhaps none bigger than 2023.
That was the year he took beauty in-house; acquired Creed; invested in Valentino and forged a strategic alliance with Qatari investment group Mayhoola; recruited new designers for Gucci and McQueen; parted ways with longtime Gucci executive Marco Bizzarri, and entrusted Saint Laurent president and CEO Francesca Bellettini with overseeing all the brands in the French group’s portfolio.
More recently, the executive has been rueful, telling shareholders at the company’s annual meeting last April that he was unhappy with Kering’s results and share price performance. “I am totally committed to making sure the stock price recovers by restoring financial performance, not in the very short term, but in a sustainable manner in order to generate a stock price that is less volatile and more solid in the months and years to come,” he said.
Kering is banking on its star Balenciaga designer Demna to speed the turnaround at Gucci, where he starts as creative director next month, with his first designs to be unveiled during Milan Fashion Week in September.
Demna’s successor Pierpaolo Piccioli is to show his first Balenciaga designs in September. Louise Trotter is also to make her debut this fall at Bottega Veneta, which logged a 4 percent uptick in the first quarter.ew