Kering Says Investments May Hit Margins as Gucci Sales Decline

(FILES) A photo taken on June 18, 2013 shows the new name and logo of French luxury and retail group PPR , Kering. (Photo by FRANCOIS GUILLOT / AFP)

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08:17-8 February 2024 AD ـ 28 Rajab 1445 AH

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08:17-8 February 2024 AD ـ 28 Rajab 1445 AH

Kering Says Investments May Hit Margins as Gucci Sales Decline

(FILES) A photo taken on June 18, 2013 shows the new name and logo of French luxury and retail group PPR , Kering. (Photo by FRANCOIS GUILLOT / AFP)

Kering posted a 4% decline in fourth quarter sales, hit by slowing demand for fashion as it seeks to turn around its top brand Gucci, and cautioned that investments in its labels could affect margins in 2024.
Sales at the French group, which also owns fashion brands Bottega Veneta and Balenciaga and jeweler Boucheron, fell to 4.97 billion euros ($5.36 billion) in the final three months of the year, despite improvement in the United States and Europe. That was broadly in line with expectations for 4.94 billion euros, according to consensus estimates cited by RBC.
After a post-pandemic splurge that fueled stellar sales growth for high end fashion companies over two years, consumers have been reining back purchases, particularly younger, less wealthy clientele that are more vulnerable to rising inflation.
"We will continue to invest in our brands in the long term -- yes, that means in the coming year our margins will be less supported than in previous years," Kering chief financial officer Armelle Poulou told reporters, according to Reuters.
"We think it’s the good strategy to ensure growth in the long term for our brands," she added.
Kering’s efforts to revive sales at its star label Gucci, which has lagged rivals over the past two years, have been complicated by the slowing demand.
Barclays' analysts project industry-wide growth from high end luxury companies of 5% this year, down from 9% last year and double digit growth the previous two years.
Gucci's performance improved over the fourth quarter, down 4% year-on-year, compared with a 7% decline in the third quarter. The label's recurring operating margin stood at 33.1% for the full year, lower than its level of 35.3% in the first half.
"Gucci is not performing worse than expected which is a relief," said Piral Dadhania, analyst with RBC, noting that the focus would now turn to Gucci's margin outlook.

Stars Hit Paris Runways, but Fall’s Real Trend Was Dressing for Hard Times — and Real Life

Models present creations by designer Victoria Beckham as part of her Fall/Winter 2026/2027 Women's ready-to-wear collection show during Paris Fashion Week in Paris, France, March 6, 2026. (Reuters)

18:12-9 March 2026 AD ـ 20 Ramadan 1447 AH

Stars Hit Paris Runways, but Fall’s Real Trend Was Dressing for Hard Times — and Real Life

Models present creations by designer Victoria Beckham as part of her Fall/Winter 2026/2027 Women's ready-to-wear collection show during Paris Fashion Week in Paris, France, March 6, 2026. (Reuters)

The celebrities came first, as they always do at the Paris runways.

After Oprah Winfrey stole the show in the opening stretch of the nine-day week, Naomi Watts and Kai Schreiber were at Balenciaga. Rooney Mara, Diane Kruger, Alexa Chung, Elizabeth Olsen and Yseult turned up at Givenchy.

Sarah Paulson and Tracee Ellis Ross watched Celine. Chappell Roan was at Vivienne Westwood and then at McQueen, where Myha’la and Sophie Thatcher were also there. Chanel was still to come Monday, and Louis Vuitton capping the season Tuesday.

But this week was about more than the front row.

Paris Fashion Week ’s biggest houses are in reset mode, and the designers leading them are trying to answer the same hard question: How do you dress people when the world feels dark, loud and unstable?

First came clothes built to shield: high collars, wrapped coats and strong tailoring.

Then came the silhouette: a sharper line, as designers moved away from years of oversized dressing and back toward shape.

The third trend was glamour that looked less polished. Hair was messier, makeup was smudged, clothes felt rougher and the mood was darker. Luxury no longer looked sealed off from real life.

Armor for anxious times Balenciaga led the first trend.

In his second show, Pierpaolo Piccioli built the collection around darkness and the search for light, working with “Euphoria” creator Sam Levinson on a set tied to the series’ return.

The mood pushed the collection toward unease.

On the runway, that became balloon bombers, cocoon backs, portrait collars and face-framing necklines that made the body look guarded.

Even the softer draped dresses kept that mood: these were clothes for a hard world.

Givenchy pursued a similar path and made it more personal. Sarah Burton’s third show felt like the one where her point of view clicked.

She was not proposing one ideal woman, but many women and many ways of being strong, with exact tailoring, strong coats, peplum hips, velvet, shearling and evening looks grounded in real life.

Burton's collection was about how women put themselves back together in the world they are living in. That idea gave the clothes force. They were polished, but still connected to it.

Junya Watanabe pushed the idea furthest, turning gloves, motorcycle gear and emergency blankets into couture-like forms.

McQueen did the same, with Seán McGirr talking about paranoia, perfection and the strain of always being seen. His slashed leather trousers, low-slung minis and chainmail-like textures suggested exposure, but also defense.

The second big trend was silhouette.

After years of volume, slouch and oversized ease, Paris is moving back toward the body.

Celine made that shift most clearly. Michael Rider’s third outing felt like a designer settling into his idea.

He wanted clothes for living in. His coats and suits sat closer to the torso. His trousers kicked out in cropped flares. His menswear came in long, narrow overcoats that looked crisp rather than inflated.

Rider also suggested that the long dominance of oversized dressing may be breaking.

His version of sharpness was not stiff or nostalgic. It had ease, but it also had character.

Classic clothes came back with a little edge: smaller details, stranger proportions, a more exact line.

That made Celine a clear mood-setter.

Paris runways were after presence, just no longer through sheer size.

You could see that shift elsewhere, too. Burton relaxed the strict hourglass she established earlier at Givenchy, but she did not give up shape.

Piccioli used collars and cocoon backs to frame the figure rather than bury it. McQueen’s low-rise minis and neat boots pointed the same way.

The season’s line was stronger, cleaner and closer to the body. After years of volume, Paris was asking for something more exposed. Stand up. Be seen. Take shape.

The third trend was less polished glamour.

Designers still wanted beauty, but they wanted friction too.

Rider evoked the messier inner lives beneath beautiful clothes.

Piccioli used shadow to keep darkness close.

Burton filled Givenchy with distinct female characters instead of one polished ideal.

Paris repeatedly rejected sterile luxury. Taken together, the strongest shows suggested a week less interested in escape than in resilience. The best designers were not trying to make the world disappear.

They were trying to arm women for it.

Fashion

Hermes Shows Biker Looks in Dusky Colors for Fall/Winter Collection in Paris

A model presents a creation for Hermes for the Women's Ready to Wear Fall/Winter 2026-2027 collection fashion show as part of the Paris Women Fashion Week, in Paris, on March 7, 2026. (AFP)

17:20-7 March 2026 AD ـ 18 Ramadan 1447 AH

Hermes Shows Biker Looks in Dusky Colors for Fall/Winter Collection in Paris

A model presents a creation for Hermes for the Women's Ready to Wear Fall/Winter 2026-2027 collection fashion show as part of the Paris Women Fashion Week, in Paris, on March 7, 2026. (AFP)

‌Hermes designer Nadege Vanhee took inspiration from the ambience of twilight for a fall/winter collection featuring fluid leather coats, zip-front mini dresses, and biker shorts.

Guests entering the Garde Republicaine, the sprawling barracks of Paris' mounted gendarmes, stepped onto a floor of thick moss extending across the show space.

Models emerged from a luminous ‌circular opening ‌in the far wall evoking the ‌moon ⁠and marched along ⁠a winding raised catwalk, above the vegetation.

The looks came in dusky blue and green tones, with pops of orange, oxblood and yellow.

Tight dresses in dark leather had asymmetrical zips revealing a contrasting ⁠shirt underneath, while long brown overcoats ‌featured huge ‌sheepskin collars.

Aviator jackets and trench coats were paired ‌with glossy cycle shorts made out ‌of lambskin.

Ostrich leather was used throughout for jackets, jodhpurs, and an orange biker-inspired jumpsuit that was zipped up the front and belted ‌at the waist.

Tailoring featured double-breasted jackets and cigarette trousers in browns ⁠and ⁠iridescent burgundy.

Vanhee has been womenswear creative director since 2014 for Hermes, which caters to the ultra-wealthy and tightly controls access to its products, with years-long waiting lists for its most exclusive handbags.

Hermes is one of many major luxury brands showing at Paris Fashion Week, which started on Monday and runs through March 11, with Chanel and Louis Vuitton catwalks still to come.

Fashion

Victoria Beckham Shows Sheer Dresses and Sharp Suits at Paris Fashion Week

FILED - 03 September 2019, United Kingdom, London: David Beckham (L), Victoria Beckham and Brooklyn Beckham arrive at the GQ Men of the Year Awards 2019 in association with Hugo Boss at the Tate Modern. Photo: Matt Crossick/PA Wire/dpa

Asharq Al Awsat

09:13-7 March 2026 AD ـ 18 Ramadan 1447 AH

09:11-7 March 2026 AD ـ 18 Ramadan 1447 AH

Asharq Al Awsat

09:13-7 March 2026 AD ـ 18 Ramadan 1447 AH

09:11-7 March 2026 AD ـ 18 Ramadan 1447 AH

Victoria Beckham Shows Sheer Dresses and Sharp Suits at Paris Fashion Week

Victoria Beckham presented sculptural gowns in sheer fabrics, tightly cut suits and voluminous coats in Paris on Friday for a fall/winter 2026 collection that played with shape and texture.

Dresses in dark blues and greens featured bodices of three-dimensional rosettes, a motif that repeated across skirts, contrasting with sober suits in navy and ‌black, said Reuters.

Large overcoats ‌were paired with sheer ‌white ⁠skirts or drainpipe trousers, ⁠while knitwear had giant collars and cut-outs revealing the models' backs.

According to the show notes, the collection was inspired by the work of Art Deco artist Tamara de Lempicka, famous for ⁠her cubist portraits of aristocrats in ‌sumptuous clothing.

Victoria Beckham's ‌husband David and the couple's children Romeo, Cruz, ‌and Harper were on the ‌front row. Their eldest, Brooklyn, was conspicuously absent after he went public in January with accusations against his parents, laying bare a family ‌feud for the first time.

Beckham founded her brand, which sells ⁠dresses ⁠between $950 and $2,500, in 2008 and launched Victoria Beckham Beauty in 2019.

Guests at the show were gifted bottles of her recently launched perfume, Portofino '97, inspired by a holiday the British couple took when they were still a secret item.

Paris Fashion Week, which started on Monday and runs through March 11, features big-name brands including Chanel, Dior, Hermes, Louis Vuitton, and Saint Laurent.

Kering Says Investments May Hit Margins as Gucci Sales Decline

Kering Says Investments May Hit Margins as Gucci Sales Decline

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Stars Hit Paris Runways, but Fall’s Real Trend Was Dressing for Hard Times — and Real Life

Stars Hit Paris Runways, but Fall’s Real Trend Was Dressing for Hard Times — and Real Life

Hermes Shows Biker Looks in Dusky Colors for Fall/Winter Collection in Paris

Hermes Shows Biker Looks in Dusky Colors for Fall/Winter Collection in Paris

Victoria Beckham Shows Sheer Dresses and Sharp Suits at Paris Fashion Week

Victoria Beckham Shows Sheer Dresses and Sharp Suits at Paris Fashion Week

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