In the space of a week, Kering has confirmed designer exits at Saint Laurent and at McQueen. On Thursday it has to explain both to investors. And somebody on that call is going to ask who's actually designing the clothes. This is Fashion Business Daily. Today: McQueen parts with Seán McGirr, luxury's busiest reporting week leans on an American shopper who may be running out of steam, and US apparel tariffs creep back up to 22.7 percent.
Laure Guilbault, writing in Vogue:
Kering doesn’t break down sales of individual houses except Gucci, but according to Bernstein estimates, the house generated less than €200 million in 2025, down sharply from a peak of €850 million during the post-pandemic luxury boom in 2022/2023.
Under two hundred million, down from a peak of eight-fifty. And last Thursday Kering said McGirr is out after three years. Three years, and the industry basically graded him on a debut warehouse show the buyers never warmed to. Two flags on those figures. The 200 and the 850 are Bernstein's estimates, because Kering only reports Gucci on its own. What the company has confirmed is the exit, a statement from CEO Luca de Meo promising a bold new direction, and the plan he set out in April: half as many McQueen stores by the end of this year as at the end of 2025. McQueen closed 20 of them in the first half. De Meo's own diagnosis was that Kering kept opening shops and making accessible product for a house that's niche and avant-garde by nature. Back to tailoring, gowns, occasion wear. Honestly, that's the right call on product. But who did he think would carry that pivot, if not the designer? BoF's Robert Williams frames it as a clear-out. Vaccarello's Saint Laurent exit, which we covered on October 12, then McQueen days later. Over at PVH, Calvin Klein announced Veronica Leoni's departure after four seasons. And at Balenciaga, BoF cites industry sources saying Pierpaolo Piccioli is on his way out. That last one is sourced reporting, not an announcement. De Meo likes to say the creative director is the team captain, not the coach. Which is a polite way of describing a middle manager with a runway. The real cost is time. Every change restarts the clock: the search, the debut, then product reaching stores. BoF notes Kering shares are down 70 percent from their 2021 peak, and Saint Laurent now makes up a third of group operating profit. McQueen says new creative leadership is coming soon, debuting in London. On Thursday's call I'd like a timeline more than a philosophy.
Eric Sylvers, writing in The Business of Fashion:
Uncertainty has also crept into the US market in recent weeks. Luxury spending fell in each month of the third quarter, according to credit card data from Citi.
Some context. Last Wednesday we walked through LVMH's quarter, with fashion and leather goods down 5 percent and China doing the damage. BoF adds that LVMH's China sales fell by double digits. That left America as the industry's lifeline, and Citi's card data has it slipping every month of the quarter. So this week is the stress test. Ferragamo on Tuesday, Moncler on Wednesday, and then Thursday is a pileup: Hermès, Kering, Prada and Zegna. How much each one depends on America varies a lot. Per BoF, Ferragamo gets roughly a third of revenue from the US, Zegna and Kering about a quarter, Hermès and Prada under a fifth. The forecasts are all analyst estimates. HSBC sees Hermès growing 5 percent after nearly 7 last quarter, and Gucci organic sales down around 5. Analysts expect retail growth of 7 percent at Miu Miu and 4 at Prada. Hermès is the one I'm watching. Barclays says Birkins and Kellys got easier to find in China over the summer. A Birkin you can just walk in and buy stops being a Birkin. UBS already cut the stock to sell, partly because the bags are so available on resale. There was one counterpoint last Thursday. Investing.com reports Brunello Cucinelli raised its 2026 outlook to 12 percent growth at constant exchange rates, after third-quarter revenue of 374.2 million euros, up 13.5 percent. The Americas grew 20 percent. Those are the company's own numbers. Twenty percent in the Americas, and not a logo in sight. So wealthy Americans are still spending. They want cashmere, not monograms. One brand with 1.12 billion euros in nine-month sales is not a trend, Joey. Its own stores drove it, retail up 19 percent at constant rates, against 4 percent for wholesale. Thursday will tell us whether Cucinelli is the exception.
Grace Kim, writing in Softgoods Report:
US apparel imports in August 2026 rose 0.2 percent in value year over year but fell 6.3 percent in quantity. Pricing, not unit volume, is rising. Lu said fashion firms are cutting SKU counts and adopting AI forecasting tools to target imports they expect to move through the holiday season.
Paying a little more for a lot fewer units. That's the tariff era in two numbers. The headline figure comes from Sheng Lu at the University of Delaware: the average US apparel tariff rate rose to 22.7 percent in August, up from 21.5 in July. Rates had been easing since the Supreme Court took apart the reciprocal tariffs on February 20. Then, on July 24, Section 301 duties of 10 to 12.5 percent kicked in on 60 trading partners, following a forced-labor investigation. And the country swings are wild. China up 2.3 percent. India down 31. Canada up 32.8 percent by value, because buyers pulled high-end outerwear forward before 50 percent tariffs landed on August 22. And Brazil, a footwear alternative to Asia, now faces a 38 percent average rate. That's higher than China. Lu thinks the trend could keep going for months. It's also why we keep separating refunds from costs. A refund on duties the court struck down is a one-time boost to the numbers. Section 301 duties come back every quarter. And when sourcing lurches like that, the factory floors lose the orders first. Indian suppliers told Sourcing Journal they plan to pivot toward Europe and their home market rather than wait out Washington.
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Ferragamo gets the week going tomorrow. The main event is Thursday: Hermès, Kering, Prada and Zegna, and whether Kering puts a name to Saint Laurent or McQueen. Every source is linked in the show notes. Fashion Business Daily is part of the Lantern Podcasts family. Catch you tomorrow.