Kering

Kering is a major player in the fashion industry, specialising in the manufacture and design of clothing. The company is headquartered in Paris. Kering owns such world-renowned brands as Gucci, Balenciaga, Saint Laurent, Alexander McQueen, Bottega Veneta, Qeelin, Ulysse Nardin, Brioni, Boucheron, Pomellato, DoDo and Girard-Perregaux.

History

The company was originally named Pinault S.A. and was founded in 1963 by French entrepreneur François Pinault. Initially, the company was involved in logging and timber trading. However, over time, the company's activities began to expand rapidly.

In the 1980s, François Pinault began looking for new markets for his company, as it needed to expand. Therefore, the entrepreneur acquired small bankrupt companies operating in the furniture and household appliances manufacturing sectors.

After acquiring these companies, François Pinault invested in them, and they quickly began to turn a profit. The French government, which wanted to preserve jobs, helped in this by providing the entrepreneur with tax breaks and other incentives.

The revival of bankrupt companies brought François Pinault considerable income. Taking advantage of this, in the 1990s, the French entrepreneur decided to enter a new market for himself, the fashion market.

In the late 1990s, Pinault S.A. acquired a controlling stake in such world-famous fashion brands as Gucci, Boucheron, Balenciaga, Alexander McQueen, and Bottega Veneta. These major acquisitions made François Pinault's company one of the major players in the fashion market.

The luxury segment began to generate significant profits, so Pinault S.A. decided to focus on this area. François Pinault's son, who became the holding company's CEO in 2003, played a major role in this decision. It was after his son joined the management team that active transformations began in the company and a rebranding was carried out. The company began to be called Kering.

In the 2000s and 2010s, the company continued to buy many well-known fashion houses and other luxury brands and became the largest holding company operating in this area. During this period, such well-known brands as Brioni, Valentino, Ulysse Nardin, Pomellato and several others were acquired.

In the late 2000s and 2010s, the Kering group also began to introduce new environmental standards in its business. First and foremost, this concerns the principle of animal-friendly, which implies a more respectful attitude towards animals in business activities.

For example, in 2021, the company announced that it would stop using real fur in the collections of all its brands.

Since 2008, the company has also been supporting the Kering Foundation.

The main objective of this foundation is to combat violence against women and empower women in the modern economy and society.

The name Kering itself comes from the Breton language and is a slightly modified form of the word ‘caring’, which can be translated as ‘care’.

In Forbes magazine's 2024 ranking of the 2000 largest public companies (Forbes Global 2000), Kering ranked as follows:

• By sales – 601;
• By assets – 806;
• By profit – 321;
• By market capitalisation – 415.

As of the end of 2024, Kering had 1,813 stores worldwide. The breakdown by region is as follows:

• Southeast Asia (excluding Japan) – 708 stores;
• Japan – 241 stores;
• Western Europe – 379 stores;
• North America – 329 stores;
• Rest of the world – 156 stores.

Over the past two years, the number of Kering stores worldwide has increased, as at the end of 2022 there were 1,659 stores.

Who owns Kering?

At present, ownership of the Kering holding company is distributed as follows:

• 2% of shares – Groupe Artémis (a company owned by the family of founder François Pinault);
• 7% of shares – institutional investors;
• 2% of shares – private investors.

In addition, 0.2% of shares are held by Kering employees, and 0.7% are treasury shares.

Kering Annual Report and Results

In February 2025, Kering published its report on its performance in 2024, which is as follows:

In 2024, a decline in revenue, as well as net and operating profits, was observed for the transnational corporation Kering. Despite this, the company remains stable and profitable, as it is one of the largest holding companies in the field of design, production and sale of clothing, footwear and accessories.

This is because Kering owns a large number of well-known global fashion brands. The company operates successfully in Western Europe, Southeast Asia and the United States.

Indeed, 2024 was one of the most unsuccessful years in recent history for Kering. Almost all of the fashion houses owned by the company reported a decline in profits.

The only exception was the Bottega Veneta brand, which managed to demonstrate a 4% increase in sales.

As a result of this decline in profits, the company's board of directors decided to adjust its policy. A course was set to uphold ‘eternal values.’ Kering named the following as the main principles of its future activities:

• Focus on high-quality products that are virtually unaffected by time and current fashion trends.
• The company has decided to abandon various experiments, radical rebranding and spontaneous changes.
• The company will no longer seek to offer customers products at affordable prices. Kering previously used these principles to attract young customers.
• Great attention will be paid to the company's own sales channels.
• Sales through partners (wholesale networks, outlets, resellers) will be reduced.

Following the principles listed above, the multinational corporation Kering aims to significantly increase its sales in the next few years.

Kering brands

Kering brands owns a large number of world-renowned fashion brands, including Gucci, Brioni, Boucheron, Yves Saint Laurent, Girard-Perregaux, Balenciaga, Alexander McQueen, Pomellato, Ulysse Nardin, Dodo Jewelry, and Qeelin.

Kering shares

Average price of Kering shares over the last 5 years:

Investors trust Kering because it essentially owns key brands in the fashion world. This is because the holding company not only controls a significant share of the market, but also largely shapes consumer preferences. The high level of investor confidence is also reflected in Kering's share price.

Nevertheless, Kering's share price sometimes falls, but then, as a rule, it rises again over time. For example, in March 2025, the company's shares fell by 11.2%. This was caused by Demna Gvasalia leaving his position as creative director at Balenciaga and taking up a similar role at Gucci.

Although both brands belong to Kering, this reshuffle led to a fall in the share price.

The market capitalisation of the multinational corporation Kering is over $50 billion, and it employs around 50,000 people.

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