MILAN — “Kering cuts but does not sew.”
This was the strike slogan chanted by the French group’s employees in Italy protesting against the prospective layoffs at the McQueen brand.
The participation of Kering Group employees in the strike planned for Wednesday in Scandicci, Tuscany, stood at between 70 and 100 percent of the total, according to Italian unions, reaching more than 1,000 people.
At the same time, hundreds of Kering employees also protested in Novara, in the Piedmont Italian region, and in Parabiago, a half-hour drive from Milan. All three towns are home to McQueen sites, plants and offices.
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Employees from the group’s brands including Gucci, Saint Laurent, Bottega Veneta, Balenciaga, Ginori 1735, and Brioni walked from the McQueen plant to the Kering Italia offices in Scandicci. Here, representatives from unions Filctem Cgil, Femca Cisl, Uiltec Uil lamented Kering’s “unacceptable behavior.”
The strike took place because of “the company’s refusal to discuss with unions ways to find solutions to redeploy workers or to resort to social safety nets, and the unavailability of CEO [Luca de] Meo to share the group’s reorganization plan with the unions and with investors,” the unions said jointly in a statement. They contended that Kering is “not seriously committed.”
“For us, today is only the beginning of a harsh confrontation to defend those whose work helped make Made in Italy great, enriching the brands. We protect the districts that historically express the best quality in the world in this sector,” concluded the unions.
Kering sent WWD its own statement, saying that “as already communicated several months ago, McQueen is going through a collective redundancy procedure affecting the brand’s activities in Italy,” and that “this difficult decision was taken previously and independently from the group’s ReconKering plan presented last April in Florence. Unfortunately, the decision could no longer be postponed and is consistent with the evolution of the house’s operating model and the strategic review of its global operations, aimed at restoring the business to sustainable profitability over the next years.”
Contrary to the unions’ statement, Kering said it “has always been committed to maintaining a sound and constructive social dialogue with its unions’ representatives.”
Kering’s strategy “continues to be presented to the group employees’ representatives during regular meetings according to a schedule that was planned and announced long ago. The next meeting is planned for early June.”
The statement concluded by saying that “every present and future decision will in no way diminish the group’s and the houses’ unwavering commitment to a high-quality Made in Italy, while continuing to prioritize the artisanal and manufacturing excellence of the Italian territory, which is and will remain a cornerstone of Kering’s strategy.”
An industry observer who asked for anonymity said “since 2023 the fashion industry has entered a phase of profound transformation, with Italian supply chains hit by volume contraction, requiring a structural rethink of the industrial model. The aggregation and consolidation of small and medium-sized manufacturing companies that compose the Italian supply chain is a natural and priority trend for Kering, achievable only through long-term collaborations with partners who share the vision of protecting Made in Italy.”
ReconKering, the strategic road map presented by de Meo last month during a Capital Markets Day in Florence, aimed at promoting clearer priorities, better accountability and faster decision-making.
It was articulated around three phases: completing a structural reset by the end of 2026, entering a rebuild phase of sustainable growth by the end of 2028, and reclaiming the group’s “leadership as the reference player in Next Luxury” by the end of 2030.
In fact, the observer underscored that ReconKering “is a growth plan” that relies on the group’s commitment to producing in Italy and whose goal is “to evolve toward a more integrated industrial model, capable of unlocking effective innovation and synergies for the benefit of the entire suppliers’ ecosystem. Kering’s management believes that with stronger industrial coordination across brands, the group will secure the right capabilities, the right partners, and the right scale for the future.”
Out of McQueen’s 181 employees, the layoffs are expected to total 54, of which 38 are in Novara.
During his speech last month, de Meo cautioned that Kering’s underperforming brands — which include McQueen, menswear company Brioni, porcelain maker Ginori 1735 and jeweler Pomellato — have two years to return to profitability.
“To be a luxury brand, you need to make money,” he said. “Otherwise, I eject them from the system.”
Over the years, McQueen incurred heavy losses by opening 135 stores worldwide and allowing itself to become excessively reliant on sneaker sales, which at one point represented 80 percent of its revenues, de Meo has said.
McQueen was acquired by Kering in 2000, when at the time it was called Gucci Group. The brand has struggled for years, even during the long tenure of its star designer Sarah Burton, who succeeded founder Lee Alexander McQueen after his death in 2010. The brand is now designed by Seán McGirr and led by CEO Gianfilippo Testa.