For François-Henri Pinault, Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the French luxury group Kering, owner of the Brands Gucci, Yves Saint Laurent or Balenciaga, “it would be pointless to produce Italian Gucci bags in Texas”.
“We sell French culture, we sell Italian culture. It would be pointless for me to produce Italian Gucci bags in Texas,” said Pinault on Tuesday. When asked by Parliamentarians: Inside after calling from Emmanuel Macron to “economic patriotism” and “not the siren of Donald Trump succumbed”.
“That makes no sense for my customers: I cannot explain that. However, it makes sense to highlight the craftsmanship, be it the French or Italian, in my Saint Laurent or Gucci products,” added Pinault. He was listened to by the Senate investigation commission on state aid for companies.
“For me, this problem is not really a reality for the luxury goods industry,” he added. “What we do abroad are business openings. In view of the economic environment, we are more in the process of rationalizing our sales networks than expanding. So we are not faced with investment problems, neither in the United States nor in China,” he specified.
In January, his competitor Bernard Arnault, CEO of the world’s leading luxury goods group LVMH, caused controversy. He explained that the French tax measures provided for in the 2025 budget, in particular a surcharge for large companies, were “an incentive to relocate”. He returned from the United States, where he had taken part in the inauguration of Donald Trump in good position.
The LVMH group has three Louis Vuitton factories in the United States, including one in Texas. Kering employs 46,936 employees worldwide, including 4,731 in France and 13,278 in Italy. Six of the fourteen brands are Italian, including the Gucci brand brand, which is 44 percent of sales and two thirds of profitability.
In 2024, the group’s turnover reached 17.2 billion euros, with “France about five percent” of this sum, Pinault emphasized. Kering operates five production sites in France.
This article was used with digital tools translated.
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