Kering boss puts studio at centre of turnaround plan
Kering, the French luxury group, will rebuild how its houses turn sketches into shop stock in the next six months.
Chief executive officer Luca de Meo set out the plan in an exclusive 75-minute interview in his office with the fashion trade publication WWD, published on 7 October. He is a little more than a year into the job. He took over at Kering on 15 September 2025 after leading Renault Group, the French carmaker, as chief executive from July 2020. WWD
De Meo gave his own tight definition of creativity. Inside a luxury brand, he said, it means the product creation and product development stream. That covers the full chain from idea to shelf.
He listed five parts to that stream: the design studio, merchandising, the team that shapes the range and prices, purchasing, suppliers and visual merchandising, the way shops display the goods. Re-engineering that process is one of his priorities for the next six months, he told WWD. WWD
The studio stays central. De Meo called it the soul of a luxury house. He described a creative director, the designer who sets a house's look, as a captain and playmaker. That player needs a support system around them.
His fix is about links, not just talent. He said he will try to change the way the studio interacts with the rest of the organisation. The aim is to handle complexity more collaboratively.
He stayed silent on two big houses. De Meo declined to comment on plans for Saint Laurent and Balenciaga. He did describe the creative transition at Balenciaga under Pierpaolo Piccioli as pretty extreme.
What makes this stand out is the lens. For shoppers, this is not about one catwalk look. It is about who decides what gets made, in what numbers, and how fast it reaches the store.
The interview follows a run of public signals. De Meo pledged in April to more than double Kering's operating profit margin from its current level, according to Reuters. Reuters In September he said Italy remains central to Kering's plans and that the group has no intention of moving production out of the country. Reuters He told a shareholder meeting last September that fixing the group requires clear, strong decisions.
A full strategic plan is still to come.
