Sabato De Sarno Exits Gucci After Two Years

Sabato De Sarno is parting ways with Gucci two years after he was appointed as creative director, the brand made this news public on Thursday. Its Autumn/Winter 2025 show during Milan Fashion Week on 25 February will be presented by the Gucci design studio.

De Sarno was appointed to the job in January 2023, bringing in a more minimalist style to the flashy Florence-based brand after he replaced Alessandro Michele. Michele left Gucci in November 2022 after a seven-year run.

It was high stakes and high-profile appointment for a designer more accustomed to working behind the scenes: a graduate of Milan’s Istituto Secoli, De Sarno was previously fashion director at Valentino, overseeing both men’s and women’s collections. Before joining Valentino in 2009, he worked at Dolce & Gabbana and Prada.

“I would like to express my deep gratitude to Sabato for his passion and dedication to Gucci. I sincerely appreciate how he honored Gucci’s craftmanship and heritage with such commitment,” said Stefano Cantino, who was appointed CEO of Gucci in October 2024, in a statement.

Francesca Belletini, deputy CEO of Kering, Gucci’s parent company, said: “I sincerely thank Sabato for his loyalty and professionalism. I am proud of the work that has been done to further strengthen Gucci’s fundamentals. Stefano and the new Artistic Direction will continue to build on this and to guide Gucci towards renewed fashion leadership and sustainable growth.”

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De Sarno was tasked with resetting Gucci, whose sales growth had been falling short of its peers.De Sarno’s reconfiguring of Gucci saw it rebrand to a softer take, which won over the likes of Paul Mescal and Andrew Garfield.

 “ I want people to fall in love with Gucci again,” he said during his first interview after being appointed. But despite hopes of turnaround, Gucci’s performance has been hit hard by the luxury slowdown, and its performance has steadily worsened over the past year.

Its sales slumped by 25% to €1.64 billion in the third quarter of 2024, dragging heavily on parent company Kering. This followed a 19% drop in the second quarter, and an 18% decrease in the first. (The brand is due to report its Q4 and full-year earnings on 11 February).

De Sarno’s exit joins a long list of designer shake-ups, including Kim Jones’ departure from Dior, Hedi Slimane from Celine, Matthieu Blazy from Bottega Veneta, John Galliano from Maison, Margiela and Virginie Viard from Chanel.