By
AFP
Translated by
Nazia BIBI KEENOO
Published
October 8, 2025
The new CEO of luxury group Kering, Luca de Meo, is set to address the group’s top managers — several hundred in total — after they reviewed a memo outlining strategies to revive the group, AFP reported Wednesday, confirming a report by La Lettre.
The meeting will take place via videoconference, a source close to the matter told AFP.
The memo, prepared this summer by de Meo before he officially assumed office on Sept. 15, details his assessment of Kering — owner of Gucci, Saint Laurent, Bottega Veneta and Balenciaga — and proposes “more than a dozen avenues for action” to turn around the struggling group, according to La Lettre.
Among these strategies, de Meo suggests “putting the customer back at the center so as not to depend solely on the vision of the creative director.”
According to La Lettre, de Meo believes the creative directors’ vision is “perfect for the 20% of products that are the most creative and emblematic in a collection,” but that “for the remaining 80% of small leather goods, footwear and commercial ready-to-wear, it will be necessary to apply the common sense that prevails in the consumer-goods industries — that is, a precise understanding of consumer expectations.”
The trade publication also reported that de Meo aims “to move faster” and “intends to cut the average time to market for a luxury product — from the first sketch to the shelves — from one year to six months.”
“The current situation (…) reinforces our determination to act without delay,” de Meo said on the day of his appointment, Sept. 9. “This will require clear and strong choices,” he added. “We will have to continue to deleverage and, where necessary, rationalize, reorganize and reposition some of our brands.”
Less than a week later, on Sept. 15, de Meo convened about 250 managers — including the creative directors — to mark his first day in office, a source close to the matter told AFP, confirming La Lettre’s report.
A brief video was also shared that day on the internal network for all employees, the source added.
Paris, Oct. 8, 2025 (AFP)
This article is an automatic translation.
Click here to read the original article.
Copyright © 2025 AFP. All rights reserved. All information displayed in this section (dispatches, photographs, logos) are protected by intellectual property rights owned by Agence France-Presse. As a consequence you may not copy, reproduce, modify, transmit, publish, display or in any way commercially exploit any of the contents of this section without the prior written consent of Agence France-Presses.
