Guccio Gucci S.p.A.
Leadership History
7 leaders · 1995 to present
Francesca Bellettini is the CEO of Gucci, in the role since 2025. The first chief executive was Domenico De Sole, from 1995.
| Name | Role | From | To | Years in role |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Francesca Bellettini | President and Chief Executive Officer | 2025 | Present | 1 |
| Demna | Artistic Director | 2025 | Present | 1 |
| Stefano Cantino | Chief Executive Officer | 2025 | 2025 | < 1 |
| Jean-François Palus | President and Chief Executive Officer | 2023 | 2024 | 1 |
| Marco Bizzarri | President and Chief Executive Officer | 2015 | 2023 | 8 |
| Patrizio di Marco | Chief Executive Officer | 2009 | 2014 | 5 |
| Domenico De Sole | Chief Executive Officer | 1995 | 2004 | 9 |
Gucci is one of the best-known names in luxury and the commercial heart of Kering. It designs and sells handbags, leather goods, shoes, ready-to-wear, jewelry and accessories, mainly through its own boutiques and website. After a record run under Alessandro Michele, sales fell by more than 40% between 2022 and 2025, and Kering replaced most of the brand's leadership. As of October 2026, CEO Francesca Bellettini and artistic director Demna are leading a turnaround that showed early improvement in the second quarter of 2026. The company is headquartered in Florence, Italy.
President and Chief Executive Officer
2025 – Present
1 year (current)
As Kering's deputy CEO, Bellettini stepped in to aggressively overhaul Gucci's management following the abrupt departure of Marco Bizzarri.
She managed the massive operational transition away from maximalism, restructuring the brand's executive ranks to stabilize plummeting sales in the critical Chinese market.
Artistic Director
2025 – Present
1 year (current)
Demna (as Balenciaga's creative director) collaborated closely with Gucci for the 'Hacker Project' collection, seamlessly blending the iconography of Kering's two biggest houses.
His creative disruption heavily influenced Gucci's willingness to engage in high-profile, unorthodox collaborations during the Alessandro Michele era.
Chief Executive Officer
2025 – 2025
0 years
Cantino was brought in from Louis Vuitton to enforce strict operational discipline and rebuild Gucci's brand elevation strategy.
He leads the critical brand communications overhaul, attempting to regain traction among ultra-high-net-worth clients following years of trend-chasing.
President and Chief Executive Officer
2023 – 2024
1 year
Palus served as a transitional CEO for Gucci, managing the high-stakes creative handover to Sabato De Sarno.
As a long-time Kering executive, he temporarily stabilized the brand's organizational structure before passing leadership to Stefano Cantino.
President and Chief Executive Officer
2015 – 2023
8 years
Bizzarri made the bold, unorthodox decision to promote unknown accessory designer Alessandro Michele to creative director in 2015.
As CEO, his partnership with Michele completely revitalized the brand, nearly tripling Gucci's revenue to €10 billion through a wildly successful maximalist aesthetic before sales eventually cooled.
Chief Executive Officer
2009 – 2014
5 years
Di Marco aggressively cut down the use of the iconic 'GG' canvas logo, pushing the brand toward higher-margin, logo-less leather goods to combat brand fatigue.
He successfully elevated Gucci's exclusivity during the aftermath of the 2008 financial crisis, driving massive sales growth in China before stepping down in 2014.
Chief Executive Officer
1995 – 2004
9 years
De Sole partnered with Tom Ford to aggressively reposition Gucci as a highly provocative, modern fashion house, saving it from near bankruptcy in the 1990s.
As CEO, he orchestrated the massive legal defense against a hostile takeover attempt by LVMH, ultimately securing Gucci's independence and facilitating its acquisition by PPR (now Kering).
Gucci's main challenge is restoring brand desire after three years of falling sales. Revenue dropped 23% in 2024 and 22% in 2025 as reported, and recurring operating margin fell from 21.0% in 2024 to 16.1% in 2025. Mainland China was still weak in mid-2026, the Middle East conflict hit Kering's retail traffic in 2026, and frequent leadership changes (three CEOs and two creative directors between 2023 and 2025) have tested consistency.
Modern Gucci CEOs include Domenico De Sole (1995-2004), Robert Polet (Gucci Group, 2004-2011), Patrizio di Marco (2009-2014), Marco Bizzarri (2015-2023), Jean-François Palus (2023-2024), Stefano Cantino (2025) and Francesca Bellettini (since September 2025).
then-CEO Domenico De Sole and Creative Director Tom Ford executed one of the greatest turnarounds in corporate history, taking Gucci from near-bankruptcy in 1993 to a multi-billion-dollar luxury leader, reclaiming licensed franchises, launching provocative collections, and repelling a hostile takeover by LVMH.
Marco Bizzarri took office in 2015 and promoted Alessandro Michele to Creative Director. Together, they fostered a culture of creative freedom, streamlined retail logistics, engaged youth culture, and more than doubled Gucci's annual revenues to nearly $11.3 billion (€10 billion) with industry-leading profit margins.
After sales started falling, Kering replaced Marco Bizzarri with Jean-François Palus in 2023, named Stefano Cantino CEO in early 2025, and then appointed former Saint Laurent CEO Francesca Bellettini in September 2025 under new Kering CEO Luca de Meo.
Decades of internal family lawsuits, tax evasion controversies, and financial mismanagement culminated in Maurizio Gucci selling the family's remaining 50% stake in Gucci to Bahrain-based investment fund Investcorp in 1993, ending 72 years of direct family control.
In 1999, LVMH's Bernard Arnault attempted a creeping hostile takeover of Gucci. then-CEO Domenico De Sole thwarted LVMH by forming a white-knight alliance with François Pinault's Pinault-Printemps-Redoute (PPR, now Kering), which acquired a controlling 42% stake in Gucci that became the foundation of Kering luxury group.
Francesca Bellettini is President and CEO of Gucci. She took the role in September 2025 and reports to Kering CEO Luca de Meo.
Jean-François Palus is currently running Gucci. He was sent in directly by Kering's billionaire owner to fix the brand after a massive sales slump. He replaced Marco Bizzarri, the legendary CEO who, alongside designer Alessandro Michele, had previously quadrupled Gucci's revenue during a massive creative boom in the late 2010s.
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