PARIS — Hoping to reverse a prolonged sales slump at Gucci, its marquee brand, the French luxury group Kering said on Wednesday that it had promoted Alessandro Michele, Gucci’s head of accessories, to creative director.
Mr. Michele, 42, replaces his former boss, Frida Giannini, who, along with the chief executive Patrizio di Marco, was asked to leave the Italian fashion house at the end of last year.
Though the appointment has been widely rumored within the industry in recent weeks, the choice of Mr. Michele, who is virtually unknown outside of Gucci and the accessories field, represents a gamble for Kering, which is betting that future sales will be driven by the power of the Gucci brand and accessories, as opposed to the drawing power of a star designer.
Luca Solca, a luxury analyst at Exane BNP Paribas in London, said Gucci had a lot of potential in the competitive luxury goods market. Leather goods, particularly shoes and handbags, have emerged as one of the fastest-growing categories in luxury.
“What Gucci needs is to inject the brand with new ideas and create a new buzz around it,” Mr. Solca said. “Handbags and leather goods are going to very important to bring novelty to the market and to give consumers new reasons to come back to Gucci stores.”
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“A lot has been done in the past few years in terms of recreating the credibility and craftsmanship and the heritage halo around Gucci,” Mr. Solca said. “The new chapter probably needs to focus on recreating an edgier feeling.”
While some analysts have suggested that Gucci might have done better to pick a more established ready-to-wear designer for the top job, others stressed that the brand was wise to play to its strengths.
“Gucci is primarily a leather goods brand, and where you need new ideas is leather goods,” Mr. Solca said. “I think that is the area that is becoming far more crowded with new entrants and putting brands like Gucci on their toes.”
Nicola Clark reported from Paris, and Vanessa Friedman from New York.
