Post by Alisa T.

Luxury handbag sales are down nearly 10% from 2023 peaks, according to Bain & Company. That's roughly an $8 billion hole in annual spending. For Kering's two strongest performers, that number isn't abstract. In 2023, leather goods accounted for 71% of Saint Laurent's revenue and 77% of Bottega Veneta's. Both houses built their commercial strength on the category now under the most pressure. What's interesting is how differently they're responding. Saint Laurent, whose 2024 revenue fell 9%, just appointed Anouck Duranteau-Loeper as Deputy CEO effective July 1, specifically to oversee end-to-end product organization: studios, collection development, merchandising, and product operations. A deliberate structural reinforcement at a moment of category pressure. Bottega Veneta, Kering's rare 2024 bright spot with revenue up 4%, has had no Global CEO since March 31. Two significant organizational appointments have been made without anyone at the top to define what success looks like for either role. Same conglomerate. Same category vulnerability. Opposite organizational posture. Which house is better positioned to navigate what comes next is the more interesting question. Source: Kering 2024 Annual Results, February 2025. Kering 2023 Annual Results via Statista. Bain & Company via Wall Street Journal, June 2026. WWD, May 2026. Image Credit: Leitonmahillo, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons. #Kering #SaintLaurent #BottegaVeneta #LuxuryStrategy #BrandStrategy #OperationalExcellence #RetailStrategy #BusinessOfFashion #LuxuryFashion #LuxuryBusiness