De Sarno Pursues Gucci Reset with Embellished Coats at Milan Fashion Week

A model presents a creation from the Gucci Fall/Winter 2024 collection during Fashion Week in Milan, Italy, February 23, 2024. (Reuters)
A model presents a creation from the Gucci Fall/Winter 2024 collection during Fashion Week in Milan, Italy, February 23, 2024. (Reuters)
TT

De Sarno Pursues Gucci Reset with Embellished Coats at Milan Fashion Week

A model presents a creation from the Gucci Fall/Winter 2024 collection during Fashion Week in Milan, Italy, February 23, 2024. (Reuters)
A model presents a creation from the Gucci Fall/Winter 2024 collection during Fashion Week in Milan, Italy, February 23, 2024. (Reuters)

Gucci creative director Sabato De Sarno showed a lineup of ornately decorated wool coats on the catwalk in Milan on Friday, building on his approach for reigniting Kering’s prized label with sensual, pared-back styles.

Models marched down a slightly elevated runway in a sparse, window-lined space parading soft wool coats, long bustier dresses and trim suit jackets cinched with thin belts.

Adding to the chunky loafers, mini-shorts and glossy Jackie handbags that have become label signatures under the new designer's direction were thigh-high riding boots, small purses shaped like half moons, towering platform heels and delicate, see-through dresses with lace.

De Sarno's designs, which have begun trickling into stores, are key to reigniting sales at Gucci, Kering’s largest brand, accounting for half of the French luxury group’s sales and over two thirds of its profit.

The French group recently overhauled top management, sending longtime executive Jean-Francois Palus to Italy to manage the label as it pushes Gucci upmarket.

This consists of emphasizing more classic styles and leather goods in a bid to regain traction after losing ground to rivals like LVMH's Dior and Louis Vuitton.

Stores will not be fully stocked with De Sarno’s styles until later in the year - perhaps by June - but early signs are “very encouraging”, Kering deputy CEO Francesca Bellettini said earlier this month.

The group cautioned that margins will be lower this year as it continues to invest in Gucci.

UBS analysts have flagged early signs of "improving brand heat", noting Gucci is "in a much better place than before,” earlier this month.



Hermes 2Q Sales Rise 13% on Continued Appetite for High-End Luxury

People stand with Hermes shopping bags as they wait at a traffic light in Tsim Sha Tsui, a bustling shopping hotspot, in Hong Kong, China December 5, 2023. (Reuters)
People stand with Hermes shopping bags as they wait at a traffic light in Tsim Sha Tsui, a bustling shopping hotspot, in Hong Kong, China December 5, 2023. (Reuters)
TT

Hermes 2Q Sales Rise 13% on Continued Appetite for High-End Luxury

People stand with Hermes shopping bags as they wait at a traffic light in Tsim Sha Tsui, a bustling shopping hotspot, in Hong Kong, China December 5, 2023. (Reuters)
People stand with Hermes shopping bags as they wait at a traffic light in Tsim Sha Tsui, a bustling shopping hotspot, in Hong Kong, China December 5, 2023. (Reuters)

Birkin-bag maker Hermes reported a 13% rise in second-quarter sales on Thursday, demonstrating the continued appetite from wealthy shoppers for its luxury handbags, even as less affluent consumers pull back.

Sales at the French luxury group grew to 3.7 billion euros ($4.02 billion), a 13% organic sales rise that strips out currency fluctuations. The figure was in line with analyst expectations, according to a Visible Alpha consensus.

Operating profit for the first half was 3.1 billion euros, compared to a forecast from consensus provider Visible Alpha for 3.2 billion.

One of the most steady performers in the luxury goods sector -- even as economic conditions worsen -- the French group's results stand out after a string of disappointing earnings updates from peers which have raised investor concern about uncertain prospects for the sector in the coming months.

Hermes' famously classic designs and tight management of production and stock have helped reinforce the label's aura of exclusivity, and CEO Axel Dumas told reporters the company had seen "no big interruption in trends".

However, he said Hermes was seeing slightly less traffic with aspirational clients, which was impacting higher volume products like fashion accessories.