Luca De Meo Infuses Gucci’s Financial Team with Renault Expertise in Kering Move

Luca de Meo is once again looking to Renault, the automotive group he came from when he was appointed CEO of Kering, to further shore up his own management team. On this occasion, the French luxury group has signed Gianluca de Ficchy, former CEO of Mobilize, a Renault unit, as CFO for Gucci.

As advanced by Bloomberg, De Ficchy will join Kering on December 1 and will report to Gucci president and CEO Francesca Belletini. Gucci’s former CFO, Alberto Valente, left the company in September last year after nearly 17 years with the company.

This is not the first time De Meo has turned to Renault to fish for talent for his team. After making his debut at the helm of Kering in September, the executive recruited Thomas Cuntz as head of talent development and people engagement. Cuntz had a 24-year career with the French automaker.

De Meo has already recruited Renault’s head of talent development and head of M&A

Kering also recently hired Philippine de Schonen, former head of mergers and acquisitions at Renault, where she spent more than four years, to lead the French luxury group’s investor relations area.

De Meo intends to turn the company around and strengthen its efficiency to reshape results. Among his financial objectives: to reduce debt and costs, which will involve “rationalizing, reorganizing and repositioning” some of his proposals. The first brand in its sights is Alexander McQueen, which has already announced layoffs at its London headquarters.

More specifically, Kering intends to reduce its network of stores, raise prices and reduce the group’s dependence on Gucci. This was published this November in the ReconKering document, which introduces the first detailed description of De Meo’s strategy for the group, although the full plan will be presented in the spring.

Over the past few quarters, Kering has seen its flagship Gucci drop double-digit sales while building up its debt. At this point, De Meo intends to bet more heavily on its Saint Laurent, Bottega Veneta and Balenciaga brands.