It is not obvious that a lumber and building materials company, the original activity of Kering, would know about fashion. But the luxury group now led by François-Henri Pinault is doing nicely with Gucci.
Kering caught lightning in a bottle by appointing the extravagant Alessandro Michele as creative director of Gucci and letting him indulge his playful imagination. At Gucci’s show in Milan last week, one model strode along the runway wearing “a taffeta moire guru jacket with wide crystal, sequin and bead floral embroideries, and the initials of the San Francisco Giants”.
Mr Michele’s elevation at Gucci in 2015, although a brave bet, was not an accident. The gamble has paid off with a surge in Gucci sales not only to traditional luxury buyers but to millennials, too. It also shows that European multi-brand groups such as Kering, LVMH and Richemont bring reliability to fashion that one-name outfits lack.