French luxury group Kering announced Monday that it had appointed Luca de Meo, who helped drive automaker Renault out of crisis, its new chief executive as it tries to turn around the fortunes at its struggling flagship brand Gucci.

Francois-Henri Pinault's reported decision to hire Renault boss Luca de Meo is an audacious but necessary move to address the twin challenge of sagging sales and mounting debt at luxury group Kering ,

Reports of de Meo’s switch to Kering sent the luxury group’s shares up by nearly 12% on Monday, recording their biggest one-day percentage gain since November 2008.

Kering setzt bei seinem nächsten Vorstandsvorsitzenden auf den Noch-Renault-Chef. Der Italiener hat den französischen Automobilhersteller erfolgreich saniert und soll seine Fähigkeiten nun auch beim angeschlagenen Modelabel Gucci unter Beweis stellen.

Dakota Johnson is a longtime Gucci girl. She styled the brand's streetwear years before she became an ambassador in 2017. And even though her close friend Alessandro Michele left the creative director post in 2022, her loyalty to the Italian label hasn't faded. On June 4, the Fifty Shades of Grey actor proved her fidelity with a new Gucci tote bag.

François-Henri Pinault is stepping back as CEO of Kering, hoping Luca de Meo can pull Gucci and Saint Laurent’s parent company out of a slump.

European shares made cautious gains on Monday, with Gucci -owner Kering leading the pack following a leadership change. The news helped to break a five-day losing streak as investors pivot from the conflict in the Middle East. The pan-European STOXX 600 ended 0.4 per cent higher amid the developments.