Why don't rich people buy GUCCI anymore?

Once upon a time, a single Dionysus bag from GUCCI could trigger a queuing frenzy. Nowadays, it seems to be trying to regain its market share by closing stores and cutting prices.

At the end of March, GUCCI's flagship store at IAPM Mall in Shanghai closed. Previously, the brand had already removed its iconic stores at Shanghai's Reel Mall and New World Daimaru Department Store. In just two years, it closed three stores in one city, accounting for one-third of the total number of its stores.

On the other hand, GUCCI stores in outlet malls are extremely popular and have become the "hotshots" among the queuing attractions. As long as you go to an outlet mall, most consumers will head straight to the GUCCI store first because they can find goods at 50% off or even 75% off there.

GUCCI outlet store | Photo by Wang Hanyi

Full - price stores can't sell well, while outlet stores are "scrambling like crazy". What on earth has happened to the once top - luxury brand GUCCI?

Why can't GUCCI sell well?

Kering Group's 2025 financial report shows that GUCCI's revenue plummeted by 22% year - on - year to 5.992 billion euros, and its operating profit was halved to 966 million euros.

This downward trend has continued for nearly three years. In 2024, GUCCI's revenue decreased by 23% compared with the previous year. In 2023, its revenue also declined by a single - digit percentage year - on - year.

For comparison, in 2022, GUCCI's annual sales had exceeded the 10 - billion - euro mark.

Some people say that this is the cold wave in the luxury goods industry, and all brands are having a hard time.

But the fact is that although Hermès, LV, and Chanel, which also belong to the top - luxury camp, have experienced performance fluctuations, they have not fallen into the quagmire of continuous decline. Only GUCCI has been on a continuous downward trend. Among the four major luxury brands, GUCCI is also the only one that has opened outlet discount stores, with as many as eight in China alone.

So, aside from the general environment, why is GUCCI having such a hard time?

Dr. Zhou Ting, an expert in luxury goods and the dean of the Yaoke Research Institute, pointed out that one reason is the frequent changes in style and the lack of a stable and inheritable brand aesthetics. "GUCCI's style has changed significantly under different designers, from Alessandro Michele's 'extreme maximalism' to Sabato De Sarno's 'simple and elegant' style. There is a lack of a stable core brand memory point, making it difficult for consumers to form a continuous brand identity."

Goods displayed in a GUCCI store | Photo by Wang Hanyi

The second reason is the lack of attractive blockbuster products. "In the past, it relied on blockbuster products such as the Dionysus bag and dad shoes to drive growth. However, in recent years, new products have lacked sufficient innovation, making it difficult to stimulate consumers' purchasing desire. As a result, old customers have been lost, and the appeal to new customers is insufficient," said Zhou Ting.

Going back ten years, the Dionysus bag in GUCCI's 2015 autumn - winter fashion show, the Sylvie in the 2016 spring - summer collection, and the GG Marmont in the 2016 autumn - winter women's fashion show were all super blockbusters.

GUCCI's 2015 autumn - winter Dionysus bag | Source: GUCCI WeChat official account

GUCCI's 2016 autumn - winter GG Marmont | Source: GUCCI WeChat official account

Ms. Yun, a typical GUCCI consumer, is one of the buyers of the Dionysus bag. However, since then, she has not purchased any more GUCCI bags. She believes that "in recent years, GUCCI has no topic - generating power and no blockbuster products."

"At the same time, the short life cycle of blockbuster products, the weakness of new products, the over - reliance on logos and prints, and the lack of low - key and high - end classic styles, which go against the 'logo - free' demand of the top - luxury customer group, are also problems with GUCCI," Zhou Ting added.

Does the consumption trend of logo - free and minimalist style really exist? GUCCI's competitor, LV, gave an answer with its "Black Warrior" product. The "Black Warrior" launched by LV in the summer of 2025 is a product that follows the low - key and luxurious style. It is an all - black version in the LV Carryall series. Although it is not an official limited - edition product, it has been out of stock on the official website for a long time, and customers need to make a reservation at the store, which is enough to show that it has caught the trend.

In addition, Gu Chuan, a senior consultant in the clothing industry and a former brand operator, told the Interesting Report that GUCCI's chaotic pricing has also destroyed its brand premium. "The over - use of the outlet channel has led to a large amount of products being circulated at discounted prices, weakening the scarcity and high - end feeling of products in the counters. Consumers are more inclined to buy in the discount channels, which affects the overall sales of the brand."

On the Xiaohongshu platform, in addition to some netizens being amazed at GUCCI's 75% discount, some people also asked for help: "I bought a GUCCI coat from the counter, and it went to the outlet before I even removed the tag. What should I do about the 8,500 - yuan loss?"

Source: Xiaohongshu

"This kind of channel management and pricing strategy is telling consumers that the counter price is inflated, and it helps them develop the habit of 'only consuming when there is a discount'," Gu Chuan believes. "Frequent discounts have also caused the brand's high - end image to plummet, falling into a vicious circle."

When the brand's tonality is diluted, consumers will doubt the "high - end" attribute of GUCCI. Under a post complaining about GUCCI's discounts, high - praised comments in the comment section include "As soon as you walk out of the GUCCI store, the value of the product is immediately halved. If you carry it for a while, it will be halved again" and "GUCCI is only suitable to be bought at the outlet."

Source: Xiaohongshu

GUCCI is not unaware of these problems. To stop the bleeding of its performance, GUCCI has taken a series of self - rescue measures.

Can GUCCI save itself?

First of all, there was a personnel change. In February 2025, Kering Group announced the end of its cooperation with creative director Sabato De Sarno. In the same year, it appointed Demna Gvasalia, the former creative director of Balenciaga, as the new artistic director.

At the same time, Kering Group also announced Francesca Bellettini as the new president and CEO of GUCCI, marking the beginning of a new era for GUCCI.

Secondly, in addition to the personnel reshuffle, GUCCI is also "cutting off its arm to survive". In 2025, Kering Group closed 75 stores globally, and plans to close another 100 in 2026. Luca de Meo revealed that "among the 75 closed stores, about 40% may belong to GUCCI, mainly outlet discount stores, but not all of them."

At the performance communication meeting, Kering Group CEO Luca de Meo also said that the number of GUCCI stores in Asia has reached saturation. Therefore, the store - closing plan will focus on South Korea, Japan, and some regions in China. "If we specifically consider 2026, I expect 40% of the store closures to occur in the Asian market."

As of February 10, the number of GUCCI stores globally is 497. Among them, there are 166 stores in the Asia - Pacific region (excluding Japan), accounting for more than 30%, making it the region with the largest number of GUCCI stores globally.

Source: Kering Group official website

In addition, price cuts have also become another important measure for GUCCI to boost its performance. In fact, since 2025, the management of Kering Group has repeatedly stated that they admit that GUCCI's previous pricing strategy deviated from market demand. "The 'inflationary power' in the industry in the past few years no longer exists, and the 'luxury fatigue' phenomenon has become a consensus in the industry. We have faced up to this market reality."

The management of Kering Group clearly stated at the performance communication meeting that there were indeed problems with the pricing of some of the brand's products. After re - sorting and optimizing the product structure, GUCCI's newly launched "La Famiglia" series has adjusted its pricing strategy to make it more competitive in the market, and this series has been recognized at the market level.

"La Famiglia" means "family" in Italian. This series was created by the new artistic director Demna. In this "family", in addition to a suitcase full of logos, there are 37 styles corresponding to 37 characters with different personalities and attitudes. From the 2026 spring - summer collection released by GUCCI, it can be found that this series emphasizes the use of GUCCI's old elements.

GUCCI's "La Famiglia" series | Source: Xiaohongshu @GUCCI

For example, the horsebit not only appears as an ornament on a pair of loafers but also appears with a very high frequency across multiple categories such as ready - to - wear, trousers, bags, and shoes. In addition, this series also re - examines the role of bamboo in GUCCI's design heritage and focuses on the GG letter combination.

In this regard, Demna publicly stated after taking office: "We are formulating a vision to tell the public what the essence of GUCCI is."

GUCCI's horsebit appears on various products | Source: Xiaohongshu @GUCCI

In other words, GUCCI is trying to awaken people's original memory of the brand through these visual features.

But will it work?

Kering Group CFO Armelle Poulou revealed that the performance of the Chinese customer group improved slightly in the fourth quarter, and the year - on - year decline narrowed to the "mid - teens". At the third - quarter performance communication meeting, Armelle Poulou also mentioned that "the handbag category showed signs of recovery. In the handbag field, as of the end of September 2025, more than 60% of handbag sales came from new products."

However, the management also admitted that although the new series has been highly praised, it takes time for new ideas to be commercially converted, and GUCCI is in a "transition period".

"Objectively speaking, GUCCI's self - rescue actions are effective, but in the long run, it is still difficult for GUCCI to turn things around," Zhou Ting pointed out. "GUCCI's previous series of operations have affected high - net - worth individuals' perception of the brand's high - end nature, and this consumption bias has basically become an irreversible situation in the short term."

Gu Chuan also believes that price cuts are "drinking poison to quench thirst". "Just like Victoria's Secret, Alexander Wang, and Charles & Keith, once a brand steps down from the altar by cutting prices, it can never go back."

Author: Wang Hanyi

Editor: Tennessee

On - duty editor: Jia Shihui

Source of the cover image: Xiaohongshu @GUCCI

This article is from the WeChat official account "Interesting Report". Author: Wang Hanyi. Republished by 36Kr with permission.