Why Gucci is parting ways with Alessandro Michele – even though the progressive Italian fashion designer helmed the Kering brand for 7 years and saw sales boost with Lady Gaga’s House of Gucci

Nov 24 , 2022

Alessandro Michele will soon step down as the creative director of Gucci. Photo: Gucci

The fashion powerhouse confirmed Michele’s exit from the brand, with WWD reporting the decision was made after a request for him to orchestrate a creative revamp

Under his direction, Michele had a vision for less and ‘seasonless’ shows – but Kering CEO François-Henri Pinault is eager for a quick change, according to WWD

The Italian designer Alessandro Michele is set to leave Gucci, where he has overseen a surge in sales at the fashion powerhouse since 2015, but seen his star fade in recent seasons, according to a report in industry bible Women’s Wear Daily on November 23.

Gucci’s creative director Alessandro Michele poses at the LACMA Art+Film Gala in Los Angeles, California, US, in November 2021. Photo: Reuters

Citing “well-placed sources”, the magazine said Michele was quitting after being asked to orchestrate a creative revamp to restore the brand’s lustre.

The French conglomerate Kering, which owns the Italian house, declined to comment.

A model wears a creation as part of the Gucci autumn/winter 2022-2023 fashion collection, unveiled during the Fashion Week in Milan, Italy, on February 25. Photo: AP

With his bookish chic looks and vintage mash-ups that hearkened back to the 1970s and 80s, Michele helped turn the once-flagging house into a white-hot success, drawing in a new generation of fans with his anti-establishment veneer.

Michele, 49, also joined a handful of other designers by announcing in 2021 that the number of annual shows would be slashed to just two from five, saying that “clothes should have a longer life” and that his future collections would be “seasonless”.

Alessandro Michele is leaving his role as creative director of Gucci, the fashion house announced on November 23, bringing an end to an eight-year tenure that sharply redefined Gucci’s codes with romanticism and gender fluidity, all the while powering revenues for the Kering parent. Photo: AP

Sales also got a boost from 2021’s Ridley Scott-directed House of Gucci film with Lady Gaga and a host of Hollywood A-listers.