Gucci’s chief executive and creative director to leave within two months of each other

Gucci's creative director Frida Giannani and chief executive Patrizio di Marco are stepping down within two months of each other, the luxury brand revealed this morning. 

 

Di Marco will leave the company on January 1, while Giannini departs at the end of February, after showing her autumn 2015 collection.

 

Di Marco has been at Kering, Gucci's parent company which was rebranded from PPR last year, for 13 years, starting out as chief executive of Bottega Veneta. He has been at the helm of Gucci for the past six years.

 

The company praised him for having been “instrumental in recapturing the sophisticated consumer, improving the overall quality of the sales mix and conquering market share in the upscale segment”.

 

He is being replaced by Marco Bizzari, who has been at Kering since 2005, when he was appointed chief executive of Stella McCartney. He, too, was chief executive of Bottega Veneta, and has been chief executive of Kering’s luxury couture and leather goods division since April, overseeing its launch in that time. 

 

Kering chairman and chief executive François-Henri Pinault said: “I truly enjoyed working with Patrizio over those years. The great performances achieved by the Gucci brand during his tenure stand as a testament to his success. His strategic vision, passion, dedication and charisma were key to bring Gucci where it is today. I want to warmly thank him and wish him the very best in his future endeavors.

 

“As for Marco, after successfully setting up Kering’s couture and leather goods division in only a few months, I am fully confident that he will now build on Gucci’s extraordinary legacy to have the 93-year-old house enter a new momentum and continue to write bright chapters of its exceptional history.”

 

Giannini has been with the group for more than 12 years, having joined Gucci in 2002 and working in a number of departments in that time. She has been creative director since 2006.

 

Pinault said: “I would like to thank Frida for her extraordinary passion, dedication and contribution to the Gucci brand. She has been the sole creative director of Gucci for close to a decade. This is a remarkable accomplishment, considering the level and breadth of responsibility of overviewing all the aspects related to product and image for such a global brand during such a long period of time. I am truly grateful to her for her achievements, creativity and the passion that she has always instilled in her work.”