Anybody who wants to be seen knows that Gucci is a hot brand this year. The Italian luxury brand has reached new markets and its sales have defied all odds.
With the help of A-listers and fashion lovers around the globe, Gucci has been a brand that’s featured on many best-dressed lists. From Rihanna at Coachella to Dakota Johnson on the Oscar’s red carpet, Gucci is a brand that we’re all lusting over.
French luxury group Kering delivered a record breaking 28.6 percent sales increase in its first-quarter for 2017. Gucci, a brand in the Kering family, saw its individual sales increase by 48.3 percent – its strongest increase in over two decades. Both of these sales increases beat market expectations. Analysts only expected Gucci to grow by 21.4 percent.
Group sales for Kering totaled $3.81 billion, in the three opening months of 2017. The parent brand reported a double-digit growth margin across all activities and geographic locations. This increase highlights an increase in luxury brand sales as signs of recovery in Chinese demands are evident.
While a lot of other established, luxury brands are facing decreasing sales results, Gucci is one of the few that are currently experiencing unprecedented increases in market value. Yves Saint Laurent is also another brand that outperformed this quarter.
Gucci’s success can be pinpointed down to Alessandro Michele and his redirection of the brand. Under the leadership of Michele and chief executive Marco Bizzarri, Gucci revamped its stores and took a new direction with their idea of a luxury aesthetic.
The brands adoption of vintage styles reminiscent of the 1970s and eccentric contemporary elements sets Gucci apart from most of its competitors. Customers are loving the new approach to design. The Dionysus bag, kangaroo fur loafers and Michele’s innovative collections are just some of Gucci’s more popular products that consumers can’t get enough of.
Finance executive Jean-Marc Duplaix said in a conference call that Gucci was “seeing a very strong appetite from the public for Michele’s collections” and that he predicts that Gucci’s growth would “normalise” during future quarters while still outshining the luxury brand market.
