Kering's shake-up begins at Gucci
From Kering to Lotus, scandals and stumbles show an industry on edge
In this week’s Dark Luxury news round-up
Gucci gets another CEO
Luxury reels from a wave of cyberattacks
Bloomberg’s Loro Piana’s vicuña scandal reportedly drove sales
Lotus’s Porsche dreams collapse into “La-La Land”
Royal handbag diplomacy snubs Burberry in favour of Anya Hindmarch
Kering’s new CEO makes quick moves
Kering’s new CEO Luca de Meo is moving fast. Now installed as the boss after leaving Renault, he has scrapped the dual-deputy CEO layer, kept Jean-Marc Duplaix as COO and installed Francesca Bellettini as Gucci CEO, ousting Stefano Cantino after nine months. Bellettini, credited with growing Saint Laurent, is Gucci’s fourth chief in two years. The focus is very much on fixing Gucci’s interminable problems.
“Gucci, as the flagship of our Group, deserves the sharpest focus, and Francesca — one of the most seasoned and respected professionals in our industry — will bring the leadership and flawless execution needed to restore the brand to its rightful place”, de Meo writes in the press release. Sales at the group are down about 25 per cent, and as we’ve reported previously, the group has mounting debt and looming payment deadlines. So this is just the start of the long awaited turnaround. (FT)
More about the car industry veteran who must engineer fashion’s ultimate turnaround for paid subscribers:
A luxury cyberattack recap
One problem that we’re sure de Meo would prefer not to be worrying about is the cyberattack which has forced the company to reassure clients their data is safe. (Bloomberg News)
Here’s a running tally of the cyberattacks on luxury retail this year (that we know about).
Dior - January 2025
Harrods - April 2025
(Third-party) Chanel - April 2025
Tiffany & Co. Korea - May 2025
Kering - June 2025
Cartier (Richemont) - June 2025
Louis Vuitton UK (LVMH) - July 2025
Jaguar Land Rover - August/September 2025
Who’s next?
Perhaps the worst affected in the luxury sector by attacks has been Jaguar Land Rover, whose suppliers are reportedly facing bankruptcy after the car maker was forced to shut down its IT networks and stop production. The union says that staff on the supply chain are being told for universal credit, the UK’s social security payment. (BBC News)
Who can save luxury?
The luxury industry’s problems are not just limited to Gucci and Kering. Bloomberg Opinion columnist Andrea Felsted argues that the luxury industry is at a turning point after years of easy growth driven by post-pandemic spending, with unusually high stakes for the industry. A dozen creative directors have changed houses in the last 18 months, and there is huge anticipation about the upcoming debuts of Matthew Blazy at Chanel, Jonathan Anderson at Dior and Demna at Gucci. They must prove that luxury can still excite and resonate in today’s culture, not just supply expensive (overpriced?) basics. No pressure then. (Bloomberg Opinion)
Former New York Times journalist Elizabeth Paton’s debut story at the Financial Times from earlier this month similarly charts how the luxury sector has slid from seemingly unstoppable growth towards an identity and sales crisis. Price hikes of 50 per cent since 2019 have alienated aspirational shoppers while even the one percenters have grown weary of “greedflation” and poor storytelling. Bain estimates 50 million consumers exited the market between 2022-24, she writes. Those are mostly “aspirational” customers, one of the industry’s favourite euphemisms that means “not that rich”.
Viral TikToks from China, sweatshop scandals and counterfeit culture have eroded trust, while brands still pitch $10,000 handbags and $160 lipsticks. Some, like Burberry, are cutting prices. Others are reshuffling management, while others are still betting on new star designers. Yet luxury’s cultural cachet looks fragile, squeezed between oversupply of imagery online and shifting status symbols favouring privacy, experiences and meaning over logos, Paton writes.
The shoppers are still there. But many have defected to Ralph Lauren, Coach or second hand vintage shopping on apps. The next few seasons of designer debuts will show whether creativity can revive the dream, or whether consumers have moved on. (FT)
Giorgio Armani, who died earlier this month aged 91, left a handwritten will setting out the future of his €2.4bn fashion empire, naming LVMH, L’Oréal and Ray-Ban maker EssilorLuxxotica as the preferred buyers for the fashion empire. (FT)
When Donald Trump scrapped the de minimis exemption on imports under $800, he intended to attack cheap importers of fast fashion such as Temu and Shein which are undercutting US manufacturers. The first casualty was in fact Montreal-based SSense, the online luxury fashion portal which has filed for creditor protection, which had liabilities of CA$499 million as of 31 July. (Bloomberg News)
How Lotus’s drive to become a ‘British Porsche’ went wrong
We’ve previously reported on the challenge for luxury carmakers in going upmarket and trying to challenge brands such as Porsche. This write-up shows how Geely’s £3 billion bet on Lotus unravelled with chaotic u-turns on manufacturing, a series of departures of middle- and senior-level executives in sales, job cuts, supplier disputes and overambitious SUV plans. The markets once valued Lotus at $9 billion. It’s now worth less than $1.4 billion after sales collapsed 43 per cent in early 2025. Former insiders said, “The whole plan had no grounding in reality from the beginning. It was just La-La Land”. (FT)
Meanwhile, BMW and Mercedes are taking on Tesla with new luxury SUVs, aimed squarely at Tesla’s Model Y. BMW showed the new iX3 in Munich, while Mercedes revealed its EQC successor in Munich, marking Europe’s boldest attempt yet to catch up in a segment increasingly dominated by Chinese and US car makers. Both brands are betting on their luxury credentials to charge customers more for electric SUVs. Will it work? (WSJ)
Loro Piana’s problems - not so bad?
We've mentioned Loro Piana's problems with its supply chains many times. Now, Amy Odell has spoken to a former Rodeo Drive store staff member at the brand who says the scandals can boost sales. Despite Bloomberg’s exposé on labour exploitation related to the fine vicuña wool that goes into its jumpers, sales reportedly spiked as new clients discovered the fabric thanks to the story. Revenue comes from ultra-wealthy regulars spending $20,000 to $200,000 on each visit, while VIPs are flown to events for bespoke crocodile jackets with $95,000 minimum orders. (Back Row)
Other Dark Luxury links
The Royal Family chose Anya Hindmarch’s small British handbag brand, known for its “I’m not a plastic bag” totes for Melania Trump’s royal gift at the state visit this week, over rivals Burberry, Mulberry and Aspinal. (FT)
The super yachts of a global criminal empire are mapped out finely here by Whale Hunting. South African criminal Benjamin Mauerberger, tied to ex-Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, is accused of running a $1.5 billion Cambodian money-laundering network. Investigators are chasing assets including three luxury yachts, Wanderlust, Atlas, and Starlust, while a fourth, Red Sapphire, has already been sold and rebranded. Does the super yacht industry have an AML problem? (Whale Hunting)
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A not so Sexy Fish in Manchester… The giant fish sculpture on the ceiling of restaurateur Richard Caring’s Sexy Fish outpost in the UK has crashed onto the floor. It reportedly fell during lunch service on Thursday. (TikTok)
A Reddit post, now deleted, alleged harsh treatment of staff at a cafe inside the one of the most prestigious hotels in London. The claims included bullying, overwork on below-minimum wages, withheld digital tips, no breaks, unsafe workloads, and humiliation by the owners. Ex-employees warn others to avoid “high-end” jobs like this. Dark Luxury has been unable to corroborate the report. (Reddit)
Australia’s sunscreen scandal has ensnared Ultra Violette, a brand retailing for A$50 a tube and sold in luxury beauty channels such as Harrods. Tests showed the flagship 50+ SPF product performed at 4 SPF. (BBC News)
We almost missed this astonishing story about the jewellery boss involved in a £170 million scam, part of which I unwittingly witnessed as a completely oblivious editor at British GQ during a tour of their store in 2017. Vashi Dominguez pulled off what investors call the UK’s biggest diamond scam where a promised stock of £157m in diamonds turned out to be worth barely £100,000. Staff were told to pose as customers and goldsmiths to impress investors, while accounts exaggerated 2021 sales twentyfold. Backers including Pret’s Clive Schlee and billionaire John Caudwell lost all of their investment. Dominguez reportedly enjoyed Mayfair flats and a Lamborghini before fleeing to Dubai as the company imploded in 2023. Perhaps the most astonishing fact is this line in the BBC story: “both the Metropolitan Police and the Serious Fraud Office have decided not to investigate”. (BBC News)
Lab-grown diamonds are undercutting natural gem demand in the US, stripping Botswana of revenues that fund its healthcare and education systems. (Bloomberg News)
An interesting tidbit about UK VAT in this story by tax investigator Dan Neidle in the FT about kids luxury clothes. “The UK has the leakiest and most complex VAT system in the world. Our patchwork of zero rates and exemptions looks compassionate but ends up subsidising £2,850 Dolce & Gabbana dresses because they are in kids’ size,” he writes. Hot tip for Rihanna next time she’s shopping for her kids RZA and Riot. Pop over and get your kids JW Anderson range in London next time, it’s 20 per cent off. (FT)
Chanel’s owners are betting on a 38-year-old heir to protect their fortune. (Bloomberg News)
The luxury that Vladimir Putin, Xi Jinping and Kim Jong Un really want is to live to 150 years old. (Bloomberg News)
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