Four designers to replace Ford

Serge Weinberg, chief executive of Pinault-Printemps-Redoute SA, today will name four designers to succeed Creative Director Tom Ford at Gucci Group NV. They are Stefano Pilati, Alessandra Facchinetti, Alfreda Giannini and John Ray, people familiar with the company said.

Weinberg’s decision to tap an unknown team to succeed Ford, 42, whose silk gowns, velvet suits and stiletto heels made the Florence-based company profitable over the last 10 years, would shift focus more on brands and away from star designers.

“The star is the brand,” Weinberg, 53, said in an interview. “Before becoming a star, Tom Ford worked inside Gucci for several years and was totally unknown. When Yves Saint Laurent presented his first collection for Christian Dior, nobody knew who he was. The notion that you can’t have talent if you are unknown is absurd.”

From Bloomberg News