Kering’s leading fashion house, in search of a new lease of life, continues to renew its management team. It has just recalled Alessio Vannetti as Executive Vice-President and Brand Director. This former Maison employee has also worked for Prada, Zegna and Valentino.
The mercato continues at Gucci.
Several stalwarts are leaving (in particular, CEO Marco Bizzarri, at the end of the month), but some are also returning to the Kering Group’s main house, which has run out of energy.
Such is the case of Alessio Vannetti. After announcing his departure last July from Valentino, where he had been brand director since 2019, the Italian executive is returning to Gucci through the front door. While he was global communications director there from 2015 to 2019, he has just been appointed executive vice president and brand director.
Resetting the software?
A new member of Gucci’s governance, he will thus work alongside Sabato de Sarno, the house’s artistic director since early 2023, and “report directly” to Jean-François Palus, Kering’s deputy CEO, who will be Gucci’s interim CEO after Marco Bizzarri’s departure.
The idea is undoubtedly to refresh the software, but with a clear understanding of the brand’s DNA?
In the saddle since September 4, Alessio Vannetti replaces Susan Chokachi. Susan Chokachi left Gucci at the end of August, after almost a quarter of a century with the company.
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Joining Gucci America in 1998, she was given increasing responsibilities, including Senior Vice President for Marketing and Communications, then President and General Manager of the Americas region, before briefly holding the position of Executive Vice President and Brand and Customer Director until last August.
“Respected for her leadership, brand vision and business impact in many roles – including President and General Manager of the Americas region from 2016 to 2022 – Chokachi has helped develop the company’s culture. She has also, according to the Italian brand’s statement, helped strengthen the industry’s leadership in global impact through Gucci Changemakers, the former CHIME for Change campaign, and the Gucci Global Equity Board.”
Field of vision
For his part, Alessio Vannetti has had time to rub shoulders with luxury houses other than Gucci, thus broadening his field of vision.
Jean-François Palus trusts him “to write the new chapter of the House, while reinforcing the heritage of our brand, our values and the coherence of our image”.
Alessio Vannetti spent 7 years at Prada, as head of strategic projects and head of the press office, and almost 2 years at Zegna, as communications director, before joining Gucci until 2019, then Valentino. With Kering having just acquired a 30% stake in Valentino, his return to Gucci almost seems like an internal promotion!
Back at the Florentine House, he will lead the “Gucci Brand and Client Engagement team”, and “oversee strategic direction, image, marketing, communications, metavers and client engagement efforts”.
A new breath?
Is this enough to breathe new life into the former powerhouse of the Kering Group?
After years of growth driven by the Michele-Bizzari duo, Gucci has lost the fire since Covid. In the first half of 2023, sales were virtually flat on a like-for-like basis (+1% to 5.1 billion euros). Kering CEO François-Henri Pinault, for his part, has clearly expressed his desire to get the House “back on track”. The House accounts for more than half (10 billion euros) of the luxury group’s sales and two-thirds of its profits.
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Read also > KERING RE-ORGANIZES ITS GOVERNANCE
Front cover photo: Alessio Vannetti © Gucci
