Francesca Bellettini, the executive credited with driving Saint Laurent's revenue to €3.3 billion in 2022, is transitioning from her role as CEO to become Deputy CEO of parent company Kering, signaling a significant shift in the group's leadership structure. This promotion elevates a proven brand-builder to a broader strategic position within the luxury conglomerate. The move reshapes the immediate leadership landscape at one of Kering's most valuable fashion houses.
Saint Laurent is appointing a new deputy CEO, but this specific appointment forms part of a larger, quiet leadership overhaul unfolding across Kering's most valuable brands. The concurrent changes suggest a deliberate, group-level strategy rather than isolated brand adjustments. This broader reorganization impacts multiple key positions within the luxury giant.
Kering is positioning its key luxury houses for a new phase of growth and strategic direction under a refreshed leadership structure, with a focus on continuity at Saint Laurent while simultaneously addressing significant leadership challenges at Gucci. This strategy appears to prioritize centralized control and expertise dissemination across the portfolio.
- Anouck Duranteau-Loeper has been appointed as Deputy Chief Executive Officer of Saint Laurent, according to WWD.
- Her appointment at Saint Laurent as deputy chief executive was effective July 1, according to FashionNetwork USA.
- Francesca Bellettini, the current leader of Yves Saint Laurent, will become Deputy CEO of Kering, according to Luxury Tribune.
- Bellettini's promotion elevates her to oversee all Kering brands, reporting directly to the group's chairman and CEO, according to Vogue.
- The new Deputy CEO of Saint Laurent previously served as CEO of Paco Rabanne, according to The Impression.
- Anouck Duranteau-Loeper's role at Saint Laurent focuses on product and strategic development.
Kering's Broader Leadership Reshuffle
Kering’s strategic leadership shifts extend beyond Saint Laurent, impacting its major luxury houses concurrently. Yves Saint Laurent recorded revenue of €3.3 billion in 2022, a period under Francesca Bellettini's leadership, underscoring the brand's significant contribution to Kering's portfolio, according to Luxury Tribune. This financial success makes Bellettini's promotion to a group-level role a calculated move to disseminate her proven expertise.
Simultaneously, Marco Bizzarri will depart from Gucci on September 23, with Jean-François Palus assuming the role of CEO during the transition period, also according to Luxury Tribune. Parallel, high-stakes leadership changes at both Saint Laurent and Gucci suggest Kering is embarking on a unified, top-down strategic pivot for its core luxury portfolio. The group appears to prioritize a new era of centralized control and strategic alignment over maintaining immediate stability at individual brands.
By promoting Bellettini, the architect of Saint Laurent's substantial success, to a group-level Deputy CEO position, Kering effectively sacrifices direct, proven leadership at one of its strongest brands. This decision aims to inject that expertise into the broader Kering ecosystem, a move that carries inherent risk for Saint Laurent’s immediate trajectory while potentially promising broader, unified strategic impact across the group's diverse brands.
Kering's strategic moves do not merely represent a leadership reshuffling; they actively dismantle the highly successful, brand-centric leadership that propelled Saint Laurent to its €3.3 billion revenue. The promotion of Bellettini centralizes this talent at the group level, while the departure of Marco Bizzarri simultaneously creates a leadership vacuum at Gucci. This dual action suggests a deliberate strategy to consolidate control and expertise.
The absence of an explicit CEO replacement for Francesca Bellettini at Saint Laurent, alongside Anouck Duranteau-Loeper's appointment as Deputy CEO, implies a potential restructuring of Saint Laurent's top leadership rather than a direct handover. Kering is willing to disrupt established, successful structures. The group appears to be prioritizing the dissemination of Bellettini's proven brand-building expertise across its portfolio.
Kering's simultaneous leadership shake-up at Saint Laurent and Gucci, including the promotion of Saint Laurent's €3.3 billion revenue architect, Francesca Bellettini, to a group role, signals a bold, high-stakes gamble. This strategy favors centralized control over the proven autonomy that fueled their recent successes. The group implicitly accepts the risk of short-term instability at Saint Laurent for the promise of broader, unified strategic impact across its luxury brands.
By Q3 2026, Kering's leadership restructuring, particularly at Saint Laurent following Bellettini’s promotion and Duranteau-Loeper’s appointment, will face its first significant performance assessments as the new centralized strategy takes full effect. The market will closely monitor Saint Laurent's continued revenue growth, which stood at €3.3 billion in 2022, under its revised leadership framework.
