Kering appoints Demna as Gucci's artistic director

By Dominique Patton and Mimosa Spencer

(Reuters) -Italian luxury brand Gucci has appointed Georgian designer Demna as its artistic director, owner Kering said on Thursday, as it tries to revitalise its struggling flagship label and stop a slide in sales.

"His creative power is exactly what Gucci needs," Kering CEO François-Henri Pinault said in a statement.

Once one of the industry's biggest success stories, Gucci has suffered a prolonged sales decline, with revenue down 24% in the fourth quarter of 2024.

Demna, known by only his first name, has introduced streetwear to the realm of luxury since debuting for Kering's smaller Balenciaga label in 2016. He will take up the prestigious role at Gucci in July, the first non-Italian artistic director since American Tom Ford departed in 2004.

Although widely praised, the 43-year-old sparked a major backlash in 2022 over ad campaigns involving children, which he later said was the "wrong artistic choice".

One featured a handbag in the form of a stuffed teddy bear in bondage-style straps, held by children. Another campaign included papers featuring text from a 2008 Supreme Court ruling relating to child pornography.

Demna, one of the industry’s most influential designers, graduated in International Economics in 2001 before moving to Germany, and then Belgium to study fashion design.

The latest in a string of top moves in luxury fashion came only hours after Donatella Versace stepped down as Versace's main designer, with Dario Vitale taking over.

Analysts have been impatient for Gucci, which generates nearly half of group sales and two-thirds of operating profit, to find a new artistic director after firing Sabato de Sarno in February after less than two years in the role.

Bernstein's Luca Solca, who previously said Gucci needed a "heavyweight" chief designer to regain much-needed momentum, said he was "not really" satisfied with Demna's appointment.

"Demna has a strong viewpoint...Great for a small brand a few years ago. But what about a big brand like Gucci today? The risk is of another 180-degree change of direction," he said.

De Sarno's shift to minimalist and more timeless styles failed to gain traction with shoppers and his firing was the first major decision by Gucci's new chief executive, Stefano Cantino, who took over in January. 

At Demna's latest Paris Fashion Week runway show on Sunday, male models stomped down the runway in precisely tailored suits, ripped tank tops and hulking boots, while female models paraded a series of fitted, asymmetrical dresses that were open at the back.

(Reporting by Piotr Lipinski, Dominique Patton and Mimosa Spencer, writing by Tassilo Hummel; Editing by Elaine Hardcastle, Kirsten Donovan)