MILAN – Kering chief executive officer Luca de Meo is expected to meet Italian unions on Feb. 5 to discuss the future of the Alexander McQueen company in the country.
“To reach break even, in the shortest timeframe possible, the company has announced a restructuring plan that forecasts redundancies equal to one third of the total workforce and the reorganization of the production processes to reduce costs,” said unions Filctem Cgil, Femca Cisl and Uiltec Uil in a statement on Wednesday.
The unions and the representatives of McQueen, controlled by Kering, in Scandicci, Novara and Parabiago, “express strong concerns” about the future of production at the plants in those towns, the former in Tuscany and the latter two in northern Italy, therefore leading to a potential loss of jobs.
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In a statement, the unions said they “hope for clarity about the industrial plans” concerning the production districts and their supply chain, “trusting there is the intention to maintain correct industrial relations that will allow to tackle the difficult situation impacting all the group’s companies and their production districts.”
The statement follows a meeting held on Monday between the unions and McQueen’s management, which “illustrated a financial scenario relative to the 2022-2025 period that is extremely critical,” and which has caused what they described as “a situation of emergency.”
The sector is in crisis, continued the statement, and this “is causing a 60 percent decrease in revenue, a drastic drop in sales volumes and in the number of items produced, as well as a disalignment between operating costs and revenues.”
The unions underscored “the importance of utmost transparency on the industrial plan and on the relaunch strategies and ask for the activation of all the group’s synergies to contain as much as possible the social impact of the restructuring.”
Asked for a comment, McQueen did not provide details about the potential layoffs but in its statement it confirmed the company is “commencing a formal consultation process with unions in its Italian business,” and that this is aligned “with the strategic review of our global operations announced in November.”
The company said the process “is part of the group-wide effort to return the business to sustainable profitability over the next three years, setting the foundation for McQueen’s long-term future. We are committed to engaging in productive discussions with our employees and supporting them throughout this process and transition.”
Kering also responded by stating that the French group “fully supports McQueen in its ongoing strategic transformation,” which also waves away rumors about a potential sale of the brand at the moment. “We are confident that these measures will strengthen McQueen’s position in the global luxury market, enabling it to better align with its strategic objectives and operational needs.”
Having said in July that Kering had no plans to sell underperforming brands, Kering chief operating officer Jean-Marc Duplaix in October indicated a shift in strategy. “We will review, of course, in a very open manner, as we already always did, the relevance of the assets we have in the portfolio,” he said.
McQueen is wholly owned by Kering and one of the smallest brands in the portfolio, compared with Gucci and Saint Laurent, for example. It has struggled for years, even during the long tenure of its star designer Sarah Burton, who is now at the creative helm of Givenchy and was succeeded by Seán McGirr.
As reported, in October, McQueen launched a strategic review that could lead to the loss of 55 jobs, or 20 percent of the head office staff in London. At the time, McQueen confirmed it had entered into a consultation process, a precursor to layoffs in the U.K., with the members of staff affected.
Kering’s 2025 financial results are slated to be released on Feb. 10.
In the three months ended Sept. 30, Kering revenues totaled 3.42 billion euros, representing a 5 percent decline in comparable terms. This came on the heels of a 15 percent drop in organic sales in the prior quarter, and was markedly better than the 3.31 billion euros the market was expecting.
McQueen is under the “other houses” division, which also includes Balenciaga, Boucheron and Qeelin, and this reported a 1 percent gain in sales in the third quarter.
Kering is planning a capital markets day on April 16 in Florence, when de Meo is expected to lay out his plans and strategies. Since joining last September, he has moved fast, beginning to implement his turnaround plan, with the decision for example to sell Kering’s beauty division to L’Oréal for 4 billion euros in cash, in addition to granting the French beauty giant long-term fragrance and beauty licenses for some of its top brands. The partnership, hailed as a category game-changer, also includes a joint venture in the field of wellness.
In September, Mayhoola’s put options on Kering exercisable in 2026 and 2027 for its remaining 70 percent stake in Valentino were postponed to 2028 and 2029, respectively. Kering’s call option to acquire Mayhoola’s stake in 2028 was also deferred to 2029.
Kering has been cutting costs and curbing debt, which stood at 9.5 billion euros at the end of June, with plans to ramp up store closures, refinance real estate and dispose of noncore assets.
In December, Kering announced a joint venture agreement with private equity firm Ardian for its property at 715-717 Fifth Avenue in New York City, acquired in early 2024. Kering said Ardian will hold a 60 percent stake, with it retaining the balance. The transaction was valued at $900 million, with Kering netting $690 million.
Last January, Kering transferred three prestigious Paris properties to a joint venture with Ardian in a deal valued at 837 million euros. Ardian similarly took a 60 percent stake in that new entity, with Kering holding 40 percent.
