With its falling sales, the Kering group is taking a hit

The percentage is dizzying: - 14% to 3.88 billion euros, these are the accounts in the red for the first quarter of 2025 that François-Henri Pinault, CEO of the French group, and his financial director, Armelle Poulou, have just announced. Kering is suffering from the drop in Gucci's turnover (by 24% to 1.57 billion euros) over the first three months of the year, while the Italian brand represents 44% of the group's sales and two-thirds of its operating profitability. "Gucci continues to work on strengthening and renewing its offer, with a good reception of the new handbag lines," assures Kering.

The group has appointed Demna, who came from Balenciaga, to head the house, founded in Florence in 1921. The announcement on March 13 of the arrival of the Georgian couturier , known for his radicalism - he declared to Libération in 2023 that "making acceptable or accessible fashion does not interest me" - shook the markets and caused Kering's shares to fall by 11%. It is an understatement to say that the pressure on the designer's shoulders is enormous. Kering is continuing its policy of promoting its brands by focusing first on the work of a director, and more rarely on an artistic director (AD), to whom the group gives complete freedom. The marketing director of a fashion house, owned by a competing group, sees this as a risk: "The group capitalizes on the designer rather than on the brand. When it works, it's a hit, but when it doesn't, everything risks collapsing. For Kering, the interpretation of the DA prevails, where LVMH imposes specifications on its designers, and above all highlights the codes of a house, its historical roots, and the storytelling that goes with it.

It is impossible for the other brands of the group led by François-Henri Pinault to catch up, while sales of Saint Laurent are down 8% to 679 million euros, and the "other houses" , including Balenciaga and Alexander McQueen, are down 11% to 733 million euros. Those of Bottega Veneta, whose artistic director has just changed, with Matthieu Blazy leaving for Chanel and Louise Trotter taking the reins of the brand, are up 4% to 405 million euros.

The Chinese markets, where Kering has a very strong exposure, which some consider excessive, and the American market, a key territory for all French luxury groups, LVMH and Kering in the lead, are preparing to suffer a significant decline, a consequence of the trade war launched by Donald Trump with the increase in customs duties. François-Henri Pinault says he is "increasing vigilance to overcome macroeconomic turbulence." The Kering group announced that the decline suffered in the first quarter was particularly marked in Asia-Pacific, at -25%.