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The game of musical chairs among top designers continues, with Gucci creative director Sabato De Sarno departing the brand after just two years.
Gucci announced his exit on Thursday (February 6) morning, just two and a half weeks before the brand is set to open Milan Fashion Week with its Fall 2025 show. The new collection will be designed by Gucci’s in-house team, according to a statement.
De Sarno’s successor will be revealed “in due time,” the statement added.
Gucci’s recently appointed CEO, Stefano Cantino, commended the 42-year-old designer — who joined the brand in 2023 after serving as fashion director at Valentino — for honoring Gucci’s “craftsmanship and heritage” in his six collections.
Francesca Bellettini, deputy CEO of Gucci’s parent company, Kering, praised De Sarno for “further strengthening Gucci’s fundamentals.”
De Sarno was named creative director of the storied Italian fashion house after the surprise departure of Alessandro Michele, who powered brand sales and Kering’s earnings with gender-fluid, eclectic, and romantic designs that rewrote Gucci’s codes.
De Sarno’s tenure at Gucci focused on a return to classic silhouettes and wardrobe staples aimed at appealing to a broader audience. However, the approach fell short commercially with disappointing sales. Kering reported a 15 percent drop in third-quarter revenues to €3.8 billion, driven by a 26 percent plunge in Gucci’s revenue to €1.6 billion. Kering is set to announce its full-year earnings next week.
During his time at the helm, De Sarno made headlines by enlisting supermodel Kendall Jenner and her ex-boyfriend Bad Bunny as the faces of Gucci’s Valigeria campaign for the Savoy collection.
Gucci’s heritage as a luggage and leather goods maker founded more than 100 years ago in Florence has given successive creative directors the potential for great leeway to interpret the brand’s codes — starting with Tom Ford’s sexy silhouettes of the 1990s.
This isn’t the first time Gucci has undergone a dramatic late-season creative shift.
In January 2015, as the fashion crowd gathered for the menswear runway preview, the brand announced the departure of Frida Giannini. With just five days to prepare, Alessandro Michele and the Gucci team delivered a collection that introduced the now-iconic pussy bow blouse for men, signaling a bold new vision for the brand.
Ironically, Michele is now putting his stamp on the Rome-based design house Valentino as its creative director.
There’s been a lot of unexpected movement within the fashion industry over the past few months as lead designers at top houses have exited without word on where they’re going next.
A few weeks ago, John Galliano stepped down from his post at Maison Margiela after spending 10 years at the French fashion house. The 64-year-old British designer posted a lengthy goodbye message on his Instagram to express his gratitude to all those who worked alongside him throughout the years.
“To my atelier, my ‘A’ team — devout in belief and dedicated to style and technique — thank you. We relish in the importance of slow and ethical fashion and the influence it has on all our collections, the pyramidical way of working… Together, we are driven by beauty — the quest for balance, construction, and the lightness of a feather. Thank you,” he wrote.
Galliano did not reveal what his next move would be, but teased: “Everyone wants to know, and everyone wants to dream,” he said. “When the time is right, all will be revealed.”
Margiela welcomed Glenn Martens as its new creative director last week; however, Fendi, Helmut Lang, Proenza Schouler, and Moschino are all still without a designer.
For months, the future of Chanel was unknown after Virginie Viard left the brand in June 2024. Now, Matthieu Blazy, the previous creative director for Bottega Veneta, is set to take the helm with his debut collection releasing in October 2025.
Additional reporting from The Associated Press.
