Gucci’s Creative Chief to Step Down

Alessandro Michele, whose eccentric designs reinvigorated Gucci, is stepping down as creative director of the Italian luxury brand as a period of rapid growth peters out.

Parent company Kering SA said in a statement late Wednesday that Mr. Michele was leaving his post at the fashion house having “played a fundamental part in making the brand what it is today.”

The company said Gucci’s design office would continue to carry the direction of the house forward until a new creative organisation is announced. Mr. Michele is stepping down immediately, a Kering spokesperson said.

Kering didn’t give a reason for Mr. Michele’s departure. In the statement, Mr. Michele said that “there are times when paths part ways because of the different perspectives each one of us may have.”

The departure of Mr. Michele comes as Gucci tries to adopt some subtler designs that endure across fashion seasons.

Since taking the creative lead of Gucci in 2015, Mr. Michele’s flamboyant designs were roundly praised by critics and scooped up by droves of younger shoppers from New York to Beijing, sparking a run of remarkable growth for the brand.

However, in recent years Gucci’s sales growth has lagged behind some major rivals like Louis Vuitton and Dior appeal more to older, wealthier consumers who seek out products that are unlikely to go out of style. That trend was exacerbated by the pandemic because of Gucci’s heavy reliance on tourist shoppers from Asia.

After Mr. Michele’s seven-year stint, Gucci is suffering from brand fatigue, said Bernstein analyst Luca Solca. “It needs to open a new creative chapter,” he said.

Still, the departure of Mr. Michele, 49, marks the end of an era for the industry. When he took the creative director job in 2015 the famous double-GG marque had gone cold after years of over reliance on the logo and over expansion into lower-price bags and accessories.

Mr. Michele, who first joined Gucci in 2002 to design bags, was little-known at the time and his appointment was seen by some analysts as a risk. But the Italian soon rolled out an instantly recognisable look and his use of pop culture logos quickly made his designs a favourite of fashion-savvy Instagram users. Fashion shows became spectacles that generated huge buzz on social media.

Gucci went on a tear, with the brand’s annual revenue more than doubling during Mr. Michele’s first four years to reach €8.3 billion in 2018, currently equivalent to about $8.6 billion.

From 2019, however, growth at Gucci slowed substantially, hurt in part by controversy over a sweater that critics likened to blackface. The pandemic then largely locked down international travel, pressuring the brand’s sales to well-heeled shoppers who splurged abroad.

In the most recent quarter, sales growth at Gucci lagged behind its key competitors while its business in China has yet to rebound.

That is a headache for the parent, Kering, where the Gucci brand accounts for the lion’s share of sales and profit. In June, Kering detailed to investors its strategy for Gucci aimed at sparking the next phase of growth. It recruited a former Tiffany’s executive to run the brand’s Chinese business and named a new executive vice president to oversee merchandising.

Paris-based Kering has in recent years successfully steered its stable of brands to capture the spirit of the times, mixing pop culture with more traditional luxury. Balenciaga has taken the U.S. by storm under the creative direction of Demna, its mononymic Georgian designer, while rising sales at Saint Laurent and Bottega Veneta also have helped the company offset slowing growth at Gucci.

As Paris makes its final preparations for the Olympic games, its residents are busy with their own—packing their suitcases, confirming their reservations, and getting out of town.

Worried about the hordes of crowds and overall chaos the Olympics could bring, Parisians are fleeing the city in droves and inundating resort cities around the country. Hotels and holiday rentals in some of France’s most popular vacation destinations—from the French Riviera in the south to the beaches of Normandy in the north—say they are expecting massive crowds this year in advance of the Olympics. The games will run from July 26-Aug. 1.

“It’s already a major holiday season for us, and beyond that, we have the Olympics,” says Stéphane Personeni, general manager of the Lily of the Valley hotel in Saint Tropez. “People began booking early this year.”

Personeni’s hotel typically has no issues filling its rooms each summer—by May of each year, the luxury hotel typically finds itself completely booked out for the months of July and August. But this year, the 53-room hotel began filling up for summer reservations in February.

“We told our regular guests that everything—hotels, apartments, villas—are going to be hard to find this summer,” Personeni says. His neighbours around Saint Tropez say they’re similarly booked up.

As of March, the online marketplace Gens de Confiance (“Trusted People”), saw a 50% increase in reservations from Parisians seeking vacation rentals outside the capital during the Olympics.

Already, August is a popular vacation time for the French. With a minimum of five weeks of vacation mandated by law, many decide to take the entire month off, renting out villas in beachside destinations for longer periods.

But beyond the typical August travel, the Olympics are having a real impact, says Bertille Marchal, a spokesperson for Gens de Confiance.

“We’ve seen nearly three times more reservations for the dates of the Olympics than the following two weeks,” Marchal says. “The increase is definitely linked to the Olympic Games.”

Worried about the hordes of crowds and overall chaos the Olympics could bring, Parisians are fleeing the city in droves and inundating resort cities around the country.
Getty Images

According to the site, the most sought-out vacation destinations are Morbihan and Loire-Atlantique, a seaside region in the northwest; le Var, a coastal area within the southeast of France along the Côte d’Azur; and the island of Corsica in the Mediterranean.

Meanwhile, the Olympics haven’t necessarily been a boon to foreign tourism in the country. Many tourists who might have otherwise come to France are avoiding it this year in favour of other European capitals. In Paris, demand for stays at high-end hotels has collapsed, with bookings down 50% in July compared to last year, according to UMIH Prestige, which represents hotels charging at least €800 ($865) a night for rooms.

Earlier this year, high-end restaurants and concierges said the Olympics might even be an opportunity to score a hard-get-seat at the city’s fine dining.

In the Occitanie region in southwest France, the overall number of reservations this summer hasn’t changed much from last year, says Vincent Gare, president of the regional tourism committee there.

“But looking further at the numbers, we do see an increase in the clientele coming from the Paris region,” Gare told Le Figaro, noting that the increase in reservations has fallen directly on the dates of the Olympic games.

Michel Barré, a retiree living in Paris’s Le Marais neighbourhood, is one of those opting for the beach rather than the opening ceremony. In January, he booked a stay in Normandy for two weeks.

“Even though it’s a major European capital, Paris is still a small city—it’s a massive effort to host all of these events,” Barré says. “The Olympics are going to be a mess.”

More than anything, he just wants some calm after an event-filled summer in Paris, which just before the Olympics experienced the drama of a snap election called by Macron.

“It’s been a hectic summer here,” he says.

Hotels and holiday rentals in some of France’s most popular vacation destinations say they are expecting massive crowds this year in advance of the Olympics.
AFP via Getty Images

Parisians—Barré included—feel that the city, by over-catering to its tourists, is driving out many residents.

Parts of the Seine—usually one of the most popular summertime hangout spots —have been closed off for weeks as the city installs bleachers and Olympics signage. In certain neighbourhoods, residents will need to scan a QR code with police to access their own apartments. And from the Olympics to Sept. 8, Paris is nearly doubling the price of transit tickets from €2.15 to €4 per ride.

The city’s clear willingness to capitalise on its tourists has motivated some residents to do the same. In March, the number of active Airbnb listings in Paris reached an all-time high as hosts rushed to list their apartments. Listings grew 40% from the same time last year, according to the company.

With their regular clients taking off, Parisian restaurants and merchants are complaining that business is down.

“Are there any Parisians left in Paris?” Alaine Fontaine, president of the restaurant industry association, told the radio station Franceinfo on Sunday. “For the last three weeks, there haven’t been any here.”

Still, for all the talk of those leaving, there are plenty who have decided to stick around.

Jay Swanson, an American expat and YouTuber, can’t imagine leaving during the Olympics—he secured his tickets to see ping pong and volleyball last year. He’s also less concerned about the crowds and road closures than others, having just put together a series of videos explaining how to navigate Paris during the games.

“It’s been 100 years since the Games came to Paris; when else will we get a chance to host the world like this?” Swanson says. “So many Parisians are leaving and tourism is down, so not only will it be quiet but the only people left will be here for a party.”

Gucci’s Creative Chief to Step Down

Alessandro Michele had reinvigorated storied Italian luxury brand, though a period of rapid growth has since slowed