Latest news with #Kering
Nahar Net
an hour ago
- Business
- Nahar Net
Tariff threats, wars will slow but not collapse global luxury sales in 2025
by Naharnet Newsdesk 20 June 2025, 15:14 Global sales of personal luxury goods are "slowing down but not collapsing," according to a Bain & Co. consultancy study released Thursday. Personal luxury goods sales that eroded to 364 billion euros ($419 billion) in 2024 are projected to slide by another 2% to 5% this year, the study said, citing threats of U.S. tariffs and geopolitical tensions triggering economic slowdowns. "Still, to be positive in a difficult moment — with three wars, economies slowing down, inequality at a maximum ever — it's not a market in collapse,'' said Bain partner and co-author of the study Claudia D'Arpizio. "It is slowing down but not collapsing." Alongside external headwinds, luxury brands have alienated consumers with an ongoing creativity crisis and sharp price increases, Bain said. Buyers have also been turned off by recent investigations in Italy that revealed that sweatshop conditions in subcontractors making luxury handbags. Sales are slipping sharply in powerhouse markets the United States and China, the study showed. In the U.S., market volatility due to tariffs has discouraged consumer confidence. China has recorded six quarters of contraction on low consumer confidence. The Middle East, Latin America and Southeast Asia are recording growth. Europe is mostly flat, the study showed. This has created a sharp divergence between brands that continue with strong creative and earnings growth, such as the Prada Group, which posted a 13% first-quarter jump in revenue to 1.34 billion euros, and brands like Gucci, where revenue was down 24% to 1.6 billion euros in the same period. Gucci owner Kering last week hired Italian automotive executive Luca De Meo, the former CEO of Renault, to mount a turnaround. The decision comes as three of its brands — Gucci, Balenciaga and Bottega Veneta — are launching new creative directors. Kering's stock surged 12% on news of the appointment. D'Arpizio underlined his track record, returning French carmaker Renault to profitability and previous roles as marketing director at Volkswagen and Fiat. "All of these factors resonate well together in a market like luxury when you are in a phase where growth is still the name of the game, but you also need to make the company more nimble in terms of costs, and turn around some of the brands,'' she said. Brands are also making changes to minimize the impact of possible U.S. tariffs. These include shipping directly from production sites and not warehouses and reducing stock in stores. With aesthetic changes afoot "stuffing the channels doesn't make a lot of sense,'' D'Arpizio said. Still, many of the headwinds buffering the sector are out of companies' control. "Many of these (negative) aspects are not going to change soon. What can change is more clarity on the tariffs, but I don't think we will stop the wars or the political instability in a few months,'' she said, adding that luxury consumer confidence is tied more closely to stock market trends than geopolitics. President of Italian luxury brand association Altagamma Matteo Lunelli underlined hat the sector recorded overall growth of 28% from 2019-2024, "placing us well above pre-pandemic levels." While luxury spending is sensitive to global turmoil, it is historically quick to rebound, powered by new markets and pent-up demand. The 2008-2009 financial crisis plummeted sales of luxury apparel, handbags and footwear from 161 billion euros to 147 billion euros over two years. The market more than recovered the losses in 2010 as it rebounded by 14%, with an acceleration in the Chinese market. Similarly, after sales plunged by 21% during the pandemic, pent-up spending powered sales to new records.
Bloomberg
4 hours ago
- Automotive
- Bloomberg
France's Billionaire Kings of Bling Are Under Pressure
Bonjour et Bienvenue to the Paris Edition. I'm Bloomberg Opinion columnist Lionel Laurent. If you haven't yet, subscribe now to the Paris Edition newsletter. At the peak of its powers a few years ago, Francois-Henri Pinault's luxury conglomerate Kering – owner of Gucci, Yves Saint Laurent and Balenciaga — was valued at over $100 billion on the stock market. Since then, its shares have tumbled more than 75%, Gucci is in trouble and after two decades at the helm Pinault is handing the operational reins to veteran auto executive Luca de Meo.
Wall Street Journal
5 hours ago
- Business
- Wall Street Journal
Kering Replaced by Rheinmetall in the Euro Stoxx 50 Index
Kering is being replaced by German arms maker Rheinmetall RHM 0.26%increase; green up pointing triangle in the Euro Stoxx 50 index, which provides a representation of sector leaders in the eurozone. The decision will be effective June 23, the index manager said. This is the first time Rheinmetall joins the index, it said, adding that Kering was added to the Euro Stoxx 50 index on September 24, 2018.
Time of India
5 hours ago
- Business
- Time of India
Tariff threats, wars will slow but not collapse global luxury sales in 2025, new study shows
Global sales of personal luxury goods are "slowing down but not collapsing," according to a Bain & Co. consultancy study released Thursday. Personal luxury goods sales that eroded to 364 billion euros ($419 billion) in 2024 are projected to slide by another 2% to 5% this year, the study said, citing threats of U.S. tariffs and geopolitical tensions triggering economic slowdowns. "Still, to be positive in a difficult moment - with three wars, economies slowing down, inequality at a maximum ever - it's not a market in collapse,'' said Bain partner and co-author of the study Claudia D'Arpizio. "It is slowing down but not collapsing." Alongside external headwinds, luxury brands have alienated consumers with an ongoing creativity crisis and sharp price increases, Bain said. Buyers have also been turned off by recent investigations in Italy that revealed that sweatshop conditions in subcontractors making luxury handbags. Sales are slipping sharply in powerhouse markets the United States and China, the study showed. In the U.S., market volatility due to tariffs has discouraged consumer confidence. China has recorded six quarters of contraction on low consumer confidence. The Middle East, Latin America and Southeast Asia are recording growth. Europe is mostly flat, the study showed. This has created a sharp divergence between brands that continue with strong creative and earnings growth, such as the Prada Group, which posted a 13% first-quarter jump in revenue to 1.34 billion euros, and brands like Gucci, where revenue was down 24% to 1.6 billion euros in the same period. Gucci owner Kering last week hired Italian automotive executive Luca De Meo, the former CEO of Renault, to mount a turnaround. The decision comes as three of its brands - Gucci, Balenciaga and Bottega Veneta - are launching new creative directors. Kering's stock surged 12% on news of the appointment. D'Arpizio underlined his track record, returning French carmaker Renault to profitability and previous roles as marketing director at Volkswagen and Fiat. "All of these factors resonate well together in a market like luxury when you are in a phase where growth is still the name of the game, but you also need to make the company more nimble in terms of costs, and turn around some of the brands,'' she said. Brands are also making changes to minimize the impact of possible U.S. tariffs. These include shipping directly from production sites and not warehouses and reducing stock in stores. With aesthetic changes afoot "stuffing the channels doesn't make a lot of sense,'' D'Arpizio said. Still, many of the headwinds buffering the sector are out of companies' control. "Many of these (negative) aspects are not going to change soon. What can change is more clarity on the tariffs, but I don't think we will stop the wars or the political instability in a few months,'' she said, adding that luxury consumer confidence is tied more closely to stock market trends than geopolitics. President of Italian luxury brand association Altagamma Matteo Lunelli underlined hat the sector recorded overall growth of 28% from 2019-2024, "placing us well above pre-pandemic levels." While luxury spending is sensitive to global turmoil, it is historically quick to rebound, powered by new markets and pent-up demand. The 2008-2009 financial crisis plummeted sales of luxury apparel, handbags and footwear from 161 billion euros to 147 billion euros over two years. The market more than recovered the losses in 2010 as it rebounded by 14%, with an acceleration in the Chinese market. Similarly, after sales plunged by 21% during the pandemic, pent-up spending powered sales to new records.
Fashion United
8 hours ago
- Business
- Fashion United
Why Kering founder Pinault chose Luca de Meo as CEO
French luxury group Kering appointed Luca de Meo as its new chief executive officer. François-Henri Pinault stepped down after more than 20 years. Why did the Kering founder consider the Renault boss the best candidate to lead the company into a new phase of growth after the disappointing business performance of recent quarters? Long process "The group's performance over the past two years has not met our expectations, nor the immense potential of our houses," Pinault admitted during a conference call with analysts on Tuesday, April 10, 2024. The appointment of a group CEO marked the conclusion of a long process that began in early 2023. After 2022 – according to the founder, the best year in Kering's history – it became clear to him that the company had reached a phase that required a new organisational structure. Therefore, in 2023, Pinault appointed Francesca Bellettini and Jean-Marc Duplaix as deputy CEOs to make "significant changes" to the group. Duplaix assumed the new role in addition to his existing management of operations and finance. Bellettini was previously head of fashion house Yves Saint Laurent. Since then, there have been hectic times at the top of the fashion houses belonging to Kering. At Gucci, former Balenciaga creative director Demna Gvasalia followed Sabato de Sarno. Pierpaolo Piccioli took over the creative direction at Balenciaga. The top positions at the maisons were not spared either; at Gucci, Stefano Cantino was recently appointed CEO, and at Saint Laurent, former Balenciaga boss Cédric Charbit holds the top job. These are just a few of the recent management changes. Pinault considered these personnel changes and organisational measures already underway to be the absolutely necessary foundations that had to be laid before de Meo took office. De Meo would now have to deal with the measures already initiated on cost structure and refinancing in the short term in his new position. More importantly, however, de Meo needed to look to the future and think about the long-term perspective. What might Kering's profile look like in the next 10 to 15 years? This is a question Pinault hoped his new CEO would answer. De Meo was therefore expected to present a strategy for the group after taking office. Why an industry outsider? But why was this task given to a manager who could look back on a more than 30-year career in the automotive industry but had no experience in fashion? Initially, the candidate profile Pinault was looking for was not surprising in many respects. It was to be an experienced manager with in-depth knowledge of brand management and international experience; managing a global listed company was an additional criterion. Given the significant changes in the fashion industry, the candidate should have already demonstrated agility and the ability to deal with change. Most importantly, however, Pinault wants the future CEO to bring a fresh perspective to the luxury market: "The ability to bring a new vision to the sector and to our group was a key requirement." It was precisely the structural changes that went beyond the previous cyclical developments in the luxury industry that required a new way of looking at things, Pinault said. The former head of Kering seemed to be hoping for similar success from de Meo's appointment to the one he had with the group's transformation from 2010 and the repositioning of Gucci. As a newcomer to the fashion industry, he had been in a "strong position" to navigate phases of new structural change in the industry. Can Pinault let go? Pinault was also keen to stress that he was not hiring a "fireman" but someone to lead the group's "next chapter of growth". "He will have all the power and authority I had as CEO when I ran the group. So he will set his own priorities, keeping in mind the organisation of the group and the key position of the group," the Kering founder said. With de Meo taking office on September 15, the roles of chairman of the supervisory board and CEO would be separated. Both roles had previously been held by Pinault. He now wants to be "fully involved in the strategic direction of the group" as chairman of the supervisory board. Nevertheless, he vowed not to interfere in the new CEO's decisions on the business model and key personnel. However, it appears that the previous co-CEOs, Duplaix and Bellettini, could remain in their positions for the time being to help the CEO, who is new to the industry. When asked by an analyst whether the previous structure with the two could be maintained, Pinault replied: "He doesn't know the luxury industry, so we need strong support and a lot of expertise around him. And we have that within the group, starting with Jean-Marc and Francesca." Open points De Meo's salary is not yet known but will be discussed at a supervisory board meeting on July 29 before the annual general meeting voted on it on September 9. It will also be interesting to see what long-term vision de Meo will present after Pinault had already initiated many changes in the past two years – starting with the key positions at many fashion houses, such as those of former flagship Gucci. "Having the right people in the right place in the group so that when a new CEO comes in, everything works and runs," Pinault explained his approach. Until de Meo took office, there would be no slowdown in the action plans already initiated at the brands. Was still-Kering-boss Pinault really concerned with putting everything in order in the group before his successor arrived, or was it an attempt to quickly get involved himself? Given this already laid foundation, the question also remains as to what extent the new group CEO, de Meo, could still get involved. This article was translated to English using an AI tool. FashionUnited uses AI language tools to speed up translating (news) articles and proofread the translations to improve the end result. This saves our human journalists time they can spend doing research and writing original articles. Articles translated with the help of AI are checked and edited by a human desk editor prior to going online. If you have questions or comments about this process email us at info@
