Kering has appointed Gianfranco D’Attis as the new chief executive officer of Alexander McQueen, effective June 3, placing the former Prada brand CEO at the helm of a house that has been in a state of commercial transition since the departure of longtime CEO Emmanuel Gintzburger in late 2024. The appointment ends months of speculation about who would steer the British luxury house through the next phase of its evolution, and signals Kering’s determination to treat McQueen as a priority brand within its reorganized portfolio.
The challenge awaiting him at Alexander McQueen is substantial. The house, which creative director Seán McGirr has been in the process of redefining since his appointment in late 2023, occupies a precarious position in the luxury market: too established to be considered emerging, yet not large enough to command the resources of Kering’s star brands like Gucci or Saint Laurent. Under Gintzburger, McQueen expanded its retail footprint and accessories offering but struggled to achieve the consistent revenue growth that Kering’s restructuring plan demands.
McQueen staff were informed of the appointment in an internal memo on Monday morning. D’Attis will report directly to Kering group deputy CEO Francesca Bellettini and is expected to divide his time between the maison’s London headquarters, its Paris atelier, and key retail markets. The fashion world will be watching the first collection that bears the imprint of his tenure — not for signs of revolution, but for evidence of a house finding its footing.
D’Attis brings more than twenty-five years of luxury experience to the role, most recently as CEO of Prada, where he oversaw a period of strategic consolidation that saw the brand navigate post-pandemic normalization without losing the momentum gained during the luxury boom. Before Prada, he held senior executive positions at LVMH-owned houses including Louis Vuitton, Celine, and Givenchy — a résumé that spans the full spectrum of European luxury, from megabrand scale to maison-level craft.
D’Attis’s mandate, according to sources familiar with the appointment, is threefold: accelerate McQueen’s accessories business — the profit engine that sustains ready-to-wear houses of its size; strengthen the brand’s presence in the United States and Asia, two markets where McQueen has historically underperformed relative to its peers; and provide the commercial stability that allows McGirr’s creative vision to develop without the constant pressure of turnaround expectations. The appointment of a CEO with D’Attis’s pedigree — someone who has operated at the scale of Prada — suggests Kering is not thinking of McQueen as a fixer-upper but as a growth asset.
