Fashion
Luxury industry faces leadership churn and creative shifts as slowdown deepens
Translated by
Nazia BIBI KEENOO
Published
September 8, 2025
Economic slowdown, geopolitical tensions, market volatility, and the 15% tariffs on exports to the United States… The poor economic climate is taking its toll on the luxury goods market, as illustrated by the half-year results of numerous houses. After a rocky summer filled with leadership announcements and executive shakeups, the industry enters autumn with uncertainty, placing its bets on a fresh wave of creative directors.
According to a Bain & Company report presented in Milan in June, in collaboration with the Italian high-end goods association Altagamma, the luxury goods market is experiencing its most significant slowdown in 15 years (excluding the COVID-19 period). In the first six months of 2024, major luxury players reported mixed results, including steep drops among former champions. LVMH saw net profit fall by 22% to €5.7 billion, while revenue declined by 4% to €39.8 billion.
Loro Piana, under the LVMH umbrella, was placed under court administration by the Milan court in July after being reprimanded for outsourcing to subcontractors with poor working conditions—further tarnishing the image of an already struggling luxury sector.
Still reeling from Gucci‘s ongoing decline, Kering reported a 46% decline in net profit to €474 million and a 16% drop in sales to €7.6 billion. Lanvin Group also reported a 22% decline in sales to €133 million and a 26.8% drop in gross profit to €71.9 million.
Salvatore Ferragamo fell by 9.4% to €474 million, recording a net loss of €57 million. The Zegna Group reported sales of €927.7 million, a 3.4% decrease. While Moncler’s revenue remained relatively stable at €1.2 billion (+1% at constant currency), its net income dropped 15% to €153.5 million.
Among the positive performers, Hermès led with a 7.1% increase in sales to €8 billion, although net income slipped 5% to €2.2 billion. Prada achieved 9% growth to €2.74 billion, with a net income of €386 million (compared to €383 million a year earlier). Brunello Cucinelli saw revenue grow by 10.7% (at constant exchange rates) to €684 million and net profit rise by 16% to €76.7 million. Meanwhile, Spanish group Puig posted €2.299 billion in revenue, up 7.6% on a comparable basis (+5.9% reported).
In light of these uneven results, the luxury industry is in full-on leadership reshuffle mode. The most high-profile change came from Kering, where automotive executive Luca de Meo will take over as CEO on September 15, charged with reviving Gucci and restoring growth to François-Henri Pinault’s group. Within the group, Cédric Charbit has moved to lead Saint Laurent, leaving his previous role at Balenciaga to Gianfranco Gianangeli, who, as incoming deputy CEO, Nathalie Raynaud will support. Federico Arrigoni has taken over as CEO of Brioni, replacing Mehdi Benabadji.
LVMH has also been busy reshuffling leadership. Michael Burke has been named President and CEO of LVMH Americas. Pierre-Emmanuel Angeloglou is now CEO of Dior, while Damien Bertrand has been appointed Deputy CEO of Louis Vuitton. Bulgari‘s head, Jean-Christophe Babin, now leads LVMH’s watch division. Frédéric Arnault has taken the reins at Loro Piana, Ramon Ros has been appointed to manage Fendi, and Charlotte Coupé now oversees Kenzo.
The luxury group has also made structural changes. Ludovic Pauchard now leads the new industrial and craftsmanship division and serves as Executive Chairman of Métiers d’Art. Strategy Director Jean-Baptiste Voisin will oversee the “brand, retail & strategy” division and supervise the LVMH Média Recherche Image teams. Meanwhile, Stéphanie Medioni is slated to become Chief Brand Officer in 2026, succeeding Mathilde Delhoume.
Further changes include Riccardo Bellini replacing Jacopo Venturini as General Manager of Valentino, and Sam Lobban taking over as CEO of Thom Browne from Rodrigo Bazan. At Lacoste, Eric Vallat replaces Thierry Guibert. Christian Lacroix CEO Nicolas Topiol stepped down in July, handing control to brand owner Sociedad Textil Lonia (STL), while Serge Brunschwig departed Jil Sander (OTB) after just six months, having previously served as CEO of Fendi.
Alongside these executive changes, the luxury world is undergoing a dramatic creative overhaul, with new artistic directors assuming leadership roles at major fashion houses. This wave of talent is expected to take center stage during the upcoming fashion weeks, setting the tone for the industry’s next creative chapter.
At Milan Fashion Week, all eyes will be on Gucci, where Demna (Gvasalia) will present his first collection on Tuesday, September 23. The next day, Simone Bellotti will debut at Jil Sander. Versace’s new designer, Dario Vitale, is expected to showcase early looks at a closed-door event on September 26, while Louise Trotter will present her first collection for Bottega Veneta on Saturday, September 27.
Paris Fashion Week will see no fewer than nine major debuts. Highlights include Jonathan Anderson’s first women’s collection for Christian Dior on October 1, and Matthieu Blazy’s debut at Chanel on October 6. Other newcomers include Mark Howard Thomas at Carven, Michael Rider at Celine (who teased his pre-collection in July), Lazaro Hernandez and Jack McCollough at Loewe, Duran Lantink at Jean Paul Gaultier, Glenn Martens at Maison Margiela (after a couture debut in July), Miguel Castro Freitas at Mugler, and Pier Paolo Piccioli at Balenciaga.
Looking ahead, the next creative shifts are already in motion. Proenza Schouler has tapped Rachel Scott from Diotima, while Marni has named Belgian designer Meryll Rogge, winner of the Andam Grand Prix, as its new artistic director following the departure of Francesco Risso.
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Copyright © 2025 FashionNetwork.com All rights reserved.
Published
January 21, 2026
Testoni hails from Bologna, Italy, but in 2022 the luxury footwear and accessories maker came under the umbrella of Chinese group Viva China, which controls the Li Ning brand (which has just shown at Milan Men’s Fashion Week) and the British brand Clarks, having previously been acquired by Hong Kong-based Sitoy Group in 2018. The Emilia-based label, founded in 1929 and specialising in men’s footwear, has since placed greater emphasis on womenswear and, following a rebrand from a.testoni to Testoni 1929, in 2025 opened a 200 square-metre flagship on Via Manzoni in Milan.
The Milan boutique is part of the brand’s relaunch plan. In the same vein, the company has taken on a larger showroom to support retail and wholesale activities, at Via Sant’Andrea 21, where the presentation of the Autumn-Winter 2026/27 collection was held. “We currently operate 30 single-brand stores; we have just opened a new one in Taipei,” Philip Yau, CEO of Testoni, tells FashionNetwork.com. “They are located mostly in Asia- in China, Japan, South Korea and, indeed, Taipei. But after focusing on the Far East, we now want to look more to Europe, with Italy as a starting point, and then move on to the US.”
“We had a presence in America in the past, but we had closed the business there. Now we will reopen that market, where we were selling 10 million shoes every year. We have a large distribution centre in Hanover, near Philadelphia. Retailers such as Macy’s and Nordstrom, with whom we have established contacts, can help us successfully resume business in that market,” continues Yau, who is also aiming for “operational, logistics, marketing and other synergies with the brands Clarks and Li Ning and with the group’s market reach.” “Asia remains a strong base for us at Viva China, where we own many companies,” he says.
There are around 60 multi-brand stores that sell Testoni, making distribution highly selective at the top end. “Testoni has always been a more retail-oriented brand, but we are working to expand into wholesale as well, which we believe can be a strong driver of growth,” adds Testoni’s general manager, Enzo Vaccari. “So wholesale expansions are planned, especially in the US and other overseas markets. Nor are we neglecting e-commerce, which is quite small at present. It can do much more; we will work on it by leveraging the synergies we can establish with Clarks’ platform.”
Autumn-Winter 2026/27 has seen an increase in men’s styles and focuses on the Testoni brand’s core offer: loafers, moccasins, clean lines, no eccentricities, underscoring its craftsmanship. “In three years we will celebrate our 100th anniversary, so we have a very rich archive that could certainly form the basis of a museum,” Vaccari adds. “It is one of our dreams, because in our archive there are original products from the 1940s through the 1950s and 1960s, and we have all the original designs by Marisa Testoni, the daughter of Amedeo Testoni, the founder. At the moment, these materials are kept in Piazza XX Settembre, near the Montagnola in Bologna, but we are working to rethink the space and reorganise everything properly. We wanted Bologna to be the focal point of this project, because it is the city where we were born, where the company’s history lies.”
Testoni also makes handbags, another line that has expanded in terms of styles, while men still account for 70% of revenue and production. “However, we are trying to achieve a better balance between the collections: we need to develop more bags dedicated to women,” Yau notes.
From a financial standpoint, the official 2025 year-end has yet to be finalised, so Philip Yau does not intend to disclose Testoni’s annual turnover, which nonetheless grew in the single digits. The leading markets are China, Taiwan and Hong Kong combined- Greater China- accounting for 40%, followed by Japan. “But the US is and will be a key market for Testoni and for the entire Viva China group, as is the Middle East, not only through wholesale distribution but also via retail openings currently under consideration,” explains Enzo Vaccari. “In America we have just returned; we want to find a major retailer, like Macy’s, which has more than 300 doors. In the meantime, there will be consolidation of retail in Asia, where we are looking at other markets, such as Singapore and Malaysia, which we would like to enter within a couple of years, depending on the opportunities that arise.”
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Copyright © 2026 FashionNetwork.com All rights reserved.
Published
January 21, 2026
Add designer to Jaden Smith’s considerable list of professions- along with actor, singer, and rapper- after the Californian creator dreamed up an impressive Dadaist display for his debut at Christian Louboutin.
Evoking a whole plethora of influences from Greek mythology and the Great Paris Exhibitions to Dadaism and the great movement for Civil Rights, in an elaborate set in a disused warehouse in Montparnasse. Mount Parnassus, you will recall, was the home to nine muses in arts and sciences.
Two fine works of footwear even had Greek names: The Plato Loafer, a 2017 model with Swisscheese like holes, which Smith updates with the new Neo CL signature on a steel silver coin. And the Asclepius Sling- named after the ancient god of medicine- with the same emblematic coin detail and metallic hardware on the backstrap.
“I brought my personal interest on Greek mythology in as I thought it would resonate with people, as humans at the end of the day are all very similar. I’m combining my perspective of being an African American designer, linked to my more Dadaist thinking into the heritage of a French maison,” explained courteous 27-year-old.
Close by stood a Nam June Paik worthy mound of TVs, with video showing images of Martin Luther King’s 1963 March on Washington, The Sphinx, and clips from Dadaist filmmaker Hans Richter.
“That art piece is about the overdose of information we experience. This revolution that we are in the midst of right now. And the fact that information is being thrown at us all the time. And the psychological effects of looking at 10 screens at the one time. While also drawing correlations between my ancestry and Christian’s ancestry, and the history of art,” said Smith, attired in a giant gangster jeans, an oversized parka and pearl encrusted beanie.
Another installation was a broken temple with fluted columns on which were perched Jaden’s new bags. Notably a series of humungous backpacks and biker satchels, some with a dozen exterior zippered pockets with gold lettering reading- coins, pills, keys, tools, phone, documents, phones, and chargers. Alongside a surrealist tote finished like a bucket of overflowing paint and a Dadaist style back made in a black and white photo of an urban madding crowd.
The whole space was dubbed Christian Louboutin Men’s Exhibition, as a small group of models bathed, inevitably, in red light, circulated wearing the new footwear and bags. Large red fabric rolls made into benches allowed one to enjoy a large video montage, including Jaden as a Wagnerian hero posed in front of gothic castles. Which is where we spotted founder Christian Louboutin, in a video stirring a large vat of red paint, before symbolically handing over a paintbrush to Jaden.
“It’s about craftmanship, extreme luxury, and highest level of design. That’s what Christian Louboutin is all about,” said Smith, describing the brand’s DNA.
Eyebrows were raised when Christian appointed Jaden to the position of creative director, as Parisian designers with two decades long CVs gritted their teeth that an untrained talent got such a coveted position. However, judging by this display, Jaden Smith has the chops, talent, and grace to be very effective in this role.
One suspects the gods of style and time are probably rather pleased.
Copyright © 2026 FashionNetwork.com All rights reserved.
Published
January 21, 2026
To coincide with Milan Fashion Week, the S|STYLE 2025- Denim Lab is setting up at Fondazione Sozzani for an edition devoted to the future of sustainable denim and water management in the textile industry. Led by the S|STYLE Sustainable Style platform, founded in 2020 by independent journalist and curator Giorgia Cantarini, this initiative forms part of an ongoing programme of research and experimentation into responsible innovations applied to contemporary fashion.
The exhibition, open to the public on September 27 and 28, features a site-specific art installation by Mariano Franzetti, crafted from recycled and regenerative denim. Conceived as an immersive experience, it brings fashion design, technological innovation and artistic expression into dialogue.
Water: a central issue in fashion sustainability
Developed in collaboration with Kering‘s Material Innovation Lab (MIL), the Denim Lab brings together a selection of young international designers invited to create a denim look using low-impact materials and processes. They benefit from technical support and access to textiles developed with innovative technologies aimed at significantly reducing water consumption, chemical use, and the carbon footprint of denim production.
This edition places water at its core, an essential issue for a fabric whose production has traditionally demanded substantial volumes of water, from cotton cultivation through to dyeing and finishing. Denim therefore serves as an emblematic testing ground, both familiar and closely associated with the environmental challenges facing the fashion industry.
The fabrics were developed by PureDenim Srl, a specialist in low-impact dyeing techniques, while treatments and finishes were applied by Tonello Srl, a recognised leader in sustainable washing and finishing technologies. The selected designers, from Europe, Asia, and Africa, each offer a distinctive interpretation of denim, blending formal exploration, textile innovation and reflection on the contemporary uses of clothing.
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Copyright © 2026 FashionNetwork.com All rights reserved.
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