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Rethinking Gucci

Aug 13 2007

Back to: Gucci Unzipped

Pinault
Pinault Hayek
Yves St. Laurent
Bernard Arnault
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Replacing Father
François-Henri Pinault (right) with his father François. Until recently, the younger Pinault prompted whispers that he was too mild to follow in his fiery father's footsteps. But lately, he has shown his own talent for attracting attention, not all of it welcome.
Romancing Salma
The divorced C.E.O. poses with fiancée Salma Hayek. In early March, he and the actress revealed they were expecting a child and planning to marry; the relationship had been so discreet that even his siblings hadn't known about it until mid-February.
Hands-on C.E.O.
François-Henri Pinault sits to the right of Jessica Biel at an Yves. Saint Laurent show in early March. The YSL line is now designed by Stefano Pilati, a 41-year-old Italian who worked under Tom Ford at Gucci. Last year, it brought in $260 million; breakeven is $400 million. Pinault will not name a year, much less a quarter, when he expects to reach that goal.
Longtime Rival
For more than a decade, clocking the bitter feud between François Pinault and the 58-year-old chief of LVMH, Bernard Arnault, has been one of Europe's most popular spectator sports. Arnault kept PPR in court for two and a half years over the Gucci deal, accusing the senior Pinault of secretly paying off designer Tom Ford and lawyer Domenico De Sole with stock options. The charges were never proved.