Gucci, the Italian luxury fashion business, kicks off Men’s Fashion Week in Milan with the much-anticipated debut of new artistic director Sabato De Sarno’s first men’s collection.
The autumn/winter 2024-25 season also sees the comeback of Fendi, which decided to display its men’s collection at its new leather factories outside Florence June ’23. De Sarno joined Gucci in January 2023 after 14 years at Valentino and a few stops at Prada and Dolce & Gabbana.
The collection has only been available since the beginning of 2024, but Gucci, which accounts for over 50 per cent of Kering’s sales, had its revenue plummet 13 per cent in the third quarter of 2023, owing to a sluggish luxury market.
Bernstein analyst Luca Solca said, “The Gucci brand is in an evolution phase. Today, Gucci must find fresh passion and fresh concepts to attract new consumers.” The classic design of De Sarno’s first women’s collection, in his opinion, was insufficient, particularly for Chinese purchasers.
“Gucci works when it’s outrageous,” he says, citing recent collections by Tom Ford and Michele, whose designs drew a younger and more diversified clientele.
Other notable brands displaying men’s collections in Milan include Armani, Prada, Dolce & Gabbana, and Fendi, with Valentino returning to Paris.
Following a robust return from the coronavirus pandemic, with growth of 20.3 per cent in 2022, the Italian men’s fashion business experienced a more modest rise of 4.9 per cent in 2023.
Turnover in the Italian fashion sector as a whole increased by 4 per cent last year, but development was uneven, with significant growth in the first quarter fading as geopolitical concerns escalated later in the year.
