Alessandro Michele Leaves Gucci to Embrace Style at Fendi
Since he was a child, Alessandro Michele had been immersed in the business of making other people’s dreams come true. Michele and his family ran the family business, Guwange, for several generations, and he’s been a Gucci housemaster for nearly 30 years. His responsibilities now include overseeing the company’s luxury design and fashion lines, as well as his work overseeing the fashion design and production of the Gucci stores.
Having grown up in the Gucci world, Michele now sees opportunities for a new business that will build on a legacy of innovation and timeless elegance. He’s partnering with fashion company Fendi, and the first sign of this new relationship is Michele’s leaving the Gucci housemaster job and taking on a new position as Fendi’s design director.
The transition is just the beginning of a major career change for Michele, who believes the next 15 years can play out in quite different ways. He’s the person who would have grown up in the business and who has been there for a long time; he’s the one who first got into fashion. And, yet, he’s now in a position to really step outside of Gucci. “I’m now a different person and I’m excited to see what that means.”
Michele first met Fendi in 1999, while he was serving as Gucci’s housemaster. Then, the Italian luxury house had an independent fashion house, Fendi, that was based on the concept of merging high-end fashion and design with the luxury consumer. Michele served as a general manager of Fendi from 2003 to 2009, and he was heavily involved in Fendi’s design and innovation. But, the Italian fashion house now wants Michele to expand Fendi’s high-end concept. “They’re expanding to a whole new level,” Michele says.
Fendi has taken a different approach with Michele and his career. The designer first worked with Gucci, then ran Fendi, and has now returned to the company for which he most admired: Gucci. Michele’s position at Fendi will place him in the executive suite of Fendi’s CEO, Antonio Macci�