Gucci doesn't belong in a mall.

Gucci 不屬於商場。

It belongs in a museum.

它屬於博物館。

♪ I could have my Gucci on ♪

♪我可以穿上我的古馳♪

♪ With your Gucci bag crew ♪

♪身邊圍繞著古馳娘子軍♪

♪ Gucci, Gucci, Gucci, please ♪

♪古馳，古馳，古馳♪

♪ Gucci, Gucci, please ♪

♪古馳，古馳，古馳♪

Gucci is that brand that makes people think they wanna live larger than life, and be sexy, and be adventurous, and be unconventional.

Gucci 是那種讓人們覺得他們想要過著豪華生活、性感、冒險和非傳統生活方式的品牌。

But behind the scenes, things have been a bit less glamorous.

但幕後情況卻有些不那麼光彩。

Still in shock from Gucci's dramatic slowdown.

仍然為 Gucci 的銷售額急劇放緩感到震驚。

Gucci sales falling 20% in Asia.

Gucci 在亞洲的銷售下降了20%。

A steep drop in sales at its flagship Gucci brand.

其旗艦品牌 Gucci 的銷售額急劇下降。

Clearly, Gucci isn't at the top of its game.

顯然，Gucci 並未處於行業領先地位。

So how did Gucci and the $50 billion conglomerate that owns it fall from high fashion to the discount rack?

那麼，Gucci 和擁有它的價值 500 億美元的企業集團是如何從高級時裝淪落到折扣店的呢？

While Gucci is an icon of Italian fashion, it's been owned by the French company Kering for the past two decades.

雖然 Gucci 是義大利時尚的象徵，但在過去的二十年裡，它一直由法國公司開雲集團 (Kering) 擁有。

Kering is a luxury conglomerate that is controlled by the Pinault family.

開雲集團是一家由皮諾家族控制的奢侈品集團。

Even though it is an established multi-brand luxury group, they have other storied brands like Yves Saint Laurent, and Bottega Veneta, and Balenciaga,

儘管它是一個成熟的多品牌奢侈品集團，他們還擁有 YSL、Bottega Veneta，以及 Balenciaga 等其他歷史悠久的品牌，

Gucci is really the mothership for the company.

Gucci 是公司的母船。

Kering was founded by Francois Pinault, who built the company through acquisitions over several decades.

開雲集團由法蘭索瓦·皮諾創立，他透過數十年的收購建立了公司。

He's now 87.

他現在已經 87 歲了。

And his son, Francois-Henri, has taken over.

他的兒子法蘭索瓦-昂希已經接任。

He's well-known because he hangs out quite a lot on the red carpets.

他的知名度很高，因為他經常在紅地毯上出現。

His wife is Salma Hayek, the actress and producer.

他的妻子是演員兼製片人莎瑪·海耶克。

Now Kering's big rival is LVMH, the owner of Louis Vuitton and Christian Dior, among others.

開雲集團最大的競爭對手是 LVMH 集團，路易威登和迪奧等品牌的所有者。

That company is run by Bernard Arnault.

該公司由貝爾納·阿爾諾掌管。

So there's a duopoly in the French fashion world, with LVMH under Arnault on one side, and Kering under Pinault on the other.

因此，法國時尚界形成了雙頭壟斷，一方面是阿爾諾領導下的 LVMH 集團，另一方面是皮諾領導下的開雲集團。

That rivalry really came to a head in the late '90s, when Arnault had set his sights on acquiring Gucci for LVMH.

這種競爭在1990 年代末達到頂峰，當時阿爾諾的目標是為 LVMH 收購 Gucci。

And that was the point when Tom Ford and Domenico de Sole were running Gucci as a public company.

就在那時，湯姆・福特和多梅尼科·多爾切開始經營 Gucci 作為一家上市公司。

And they didn't want Mr. Arnault to have it.

他們不希望阿爾諾先生擁有它。

And they ended up signing an agreement with Francois Pinault, the father, who was the white knight who came in.

他們最終與父親法蘭索瓦·皮諾簽署了一份協議，他的父親是當時的救星。

So initially, they bought a 40% stake in Gucci.

所以他們最初購買了 Gucci 40% 的股份。

And eventually, they bought the rest of it after a lot of acrimonious moves against LVMH.

最終，在與 LVMH 採取了一系列激烈的行動後，他們買下了剩餘的股份。

During that era, Kering was about the same size as LVMH.

那個時代，開雲集團的規模與 LVMH 集團差不多。

In the years since, they've had different trajectories.

此後的歲月裡，他們的軌跡各不相同。

With savvy deal making and management, LVMH's value has soared to 450 billion.

通過精明的交易和管理，LVMH 集團的價值已飆升至 4500 億美元。

While Kering's hasn't.

而開雲集團並沒有。

LVMH's market cap nowadays is about 10 times bigger than Kering's.

LVMH 如今的市值約為開雲集團的 10 倍。

Kering is very dependent on Gucci.

開雲集團非常依賴 Gucci。

Basically, about 50% of its sales come from Gucci, but more than 2/3 of operating profit come from Gucci.

基本上，約 50% 的銷售額來自 Gucci，但超過三分之二的營業利潤來自 Gucci。

So when Gucci is suffering, the whole company is suffering.

所以，當 Gucci 遭受苦難時，整個公司都在受苦。

At LVMH, it's slightly different.

在 LVMH 集團，情況略有不同。

Louis Vuitton generates about a quarter of total sales, but it's about half of total profitability.

路易威登的銷售額約佔總銷售額的四分之一，但約佔總利潤的一半。

The fact that LVMH is less dependent on one single brand provides more stability.

LVMH 對單一品牌的依賴程度較低，這提供了更多的穩定性。

Even so, Gucci and therefore Kering, has had a few successful years.

即便如此，Gucci 和開雲集團這幾年有取得過成功。

And that was largely down to one man, Alessandro Michele.

這主要歸功於一個人，亞歷山德羅·米凱萊。

In the years that followed the nomination of Alessandro Michele as creative director at Gucci, in 2015, the label did really, really well.

2015 年，亞歷山德羅·米凱萊被提名為 Gucci 創意總監後的幾年裡，該品牌的表現非常非常出色。

They kept putting out hit products.

他們不斷推出暢銷產品。

There was the Marmont bag in 2016, for instance, and the Dionysus bag.

2016 年有馬蒙包，還有酒神包。

And the Princetown slippers a year earlier.

還有前一年的普林斯頓穆勒鞋。

The furry slippers really became a hit product.

毛茸茸的穆勒鞋真的成了熱門產品。

They really resonated well with the younger generations.

他們確實在年輕一代中產生了很好的共鳴。

They were bohemian, they were maximalist, and they were chic.

有波西米亞風的、有極繁主義風的，而且很時髦。

And during that time, the market cap of Kering actually quadrupled.

在那段時間裡，開雲集團的市值其實翻了兩倍。

Sales at Gucci more than tripled.

Gucci 的銷售額增長了兩倍多。

But being a top fashion brand comes with problems.

但作為頂級時尚品牌問題也隨之而來。

Finding that right balance in the fashion industry to stay on top, and yet have your products be fresh, it's very difficult to hit.

在時尚界找到適當的平衡以保持領先地位，同時讓產品保持新鮮，這是非常困難的。

And it's very difficult to maintain over the long term.

而且很難長期維持。

The fashion retail Lyst publishes rankings on the world's most fashionable brands.

時尚零售商 Lyst 發佈全球最時尚品牌排行榜。

And Gucci has fallen down the rankings.

而 Gucci 的排名已經下滑。

Since 2022, the performance at Gucci, and therefore Kering, has really suffered.

自 2022 年以來，Gucci 以及開雲集團的業績確實受到了影響。

Sales have missed a number of times, and the stock price has really tumbled.

多次錯過銷售機會，股價一落千丈。

The success of Louis Vuitton has meanwhile helped turn Bernard Arnault into, at times, the richest person in the world.

同時，路易威登的成功也幫助貝爾納·阿爾諾有時成為世界上最富有的人。

And his was a very different strategy.

而他的策略則截然不同。

So I mean, in some ways Louis Vuitton has a more classic image and positioning.

我的意思是，在某些方面，路易威登具有更經典的形象和定位。

LVMH has been at this longer.

LVMH 集團在這方面的時間更長。

They are really total pros in this game.

在這場比賽中，他們真的是完全的行家。

There's a difference between luxury and fashion.

奢侈品和時尚是有區別的。

In fashion, for instance, you're relying on trends.

例如，在時尚界，你要依靠流行趨勢。

Whereas in luxury, you rely on timeless, on heritage products that basically stand the test of time.

而在奢侈品領域，你所依賴的是永恆的、基本上經得起時間考驗的經典產品。

That's what differentiates top-tier luxury brands such as Louis Vuitton and Hermès.

這就是路易威登和愛馬仕等頂級奢侈品牌的獨特之處。

A typical luxury product, for instance, is the Birkin bag by Hermès, which was created in the 1980s.

例如，典型的奢侈品是愛馬仕於 1980 年代推出的柏金包。

And that is still very much sought after.

而這仍然是人們所追求的。

You know, one single bag can cost more than 10,000 euros.

要知道，一個包的價格就超過 1 萬歐元。

With some of Michele's products, Gucci may have missed an opportunity.

對於米凱萊的一些產品，Gucci 可能錯失了一個機會。

According to company insiders, these products like the furry slippers, or the Marmont, or the Dionysus, they could have become one of those heritage, timeless products.

根據公司內部人士介紹，像是毛茸茸的穆勒鞋、馬蒙包或酒神包這些產品本可以成為那些經典的、永恆的產品之一。

But they didn't.

但他們沒有。

And the mistake was that basically they created many variations of these products.

錯誤在於，他們基本上創造了這些產品的許多變化版。

They were overexposed somehow.

他們不知為何曝光過度。

This was a reflection of the short-termism at Kering, basically trying to maximize sales and profits in the short term.

這反映了開雲集團的短期主義，基本上是試圖在短期內實現銷售額和利潤的最大化。

This is reflected in the company's share price.

這一點在公司股價中得到了體現。

For every dollar of profit that LVMH is expected to make, investors give it about $24 of value.

對於 LVMH 預計賺取的每一美元利潤，投資者認為其價值約為 24 美元。

For every dollar of profit at Kering, they only give it about $15.

開雲集團的每一美元利潤他們覺得只有 15 美元左右。

That's because they're more optimistic about LVMH's future business prospects, because it isn't quite as vulnerable to the whims of fashion.

這是因為他們對 LVMH 集團未來的商業前景更加樂觀，因為它不太容易受到時尚趨勢的影響。

So Pinault knows that Gucci basically needs to play more in the most exclusive luxury space.

皮諾知道，Gucci 基本上需要打入最奢侈的市場。

So in February, at the annual results, he says they're trying to basically lift the brand, and put it in the same category as some of its peers, like Hermès, Chanel, or Louis Vuitton.

因此，在二月的年度業績報告中，他表示他們正試圖從根本上提升品牌，並將其與愛馬仕、香奈兒或路易威登等一些同行歸為同一類別。

But the thing is, he's been saying that since 2006.

但問題是，他從 2006 年就開始這麼說了。

Some observers place the blame on Pinault himself.

一些觀察家將責任歸咎於皮諾本人。

At LVMH, for the most critical and most important decisions, they're taken by Bernard Arnault himself.

在 LVMH，最關鍵、最重要的決定都是由貝爾納·阿爾諾本人做出的。

At Kering, the management style is slightly different.

在開雲集團，管理風格略有不同。

People have described him being more hands off, as being a little bit more laissez faire, and as giving the brands more autonomy.

人們形容他更放任自流，更自由放任，並給予品牌更多自主權。

Critics cite the 2022 Balenciaga scandal as evidence of this.

批評者引用 2022 年 Balenciaga 醜聞作為證據。

The brand had to apologize after one of its ad campaigns was accused of sexualizing children.

在其一項廣告活動被指控性化兒童後，該品牌不得不道歉。

Still, in 2023, Pinault found another reason to lose focus.

儘管如此，皮諾在 2023 年找到了另一個失去注意力的原因。

In 2023, the Pinault family bought a majority stake in Creative Artist Agency.

2023年，皮諾家族收購了 Creative Artist Agency 的多數股權。

According to some luxury observers, that was seen as a distraction for Francois-Henri Pinault.

據一些奢侈品觀察人士稱，這被視為法蘭索瓦-昂希·皮諾的干擾。

Gucci parted ways with Michele in 2022 over a difference in creative vision.

2022 年，Gucci 因創意願景差異與米凱萊分道揚鑣。

And a few months later, in early 2023, they named a new designer, Sabato De Sarno.

幾個月後，也就是 2023 年初，他們任命了新的設計師薩巴托·德·薩爾諾。

He was a relatively unknown figure from Valentino.

他是瓦倫蒂諾中相對不為人知的人物。

At first, his designs seemed more staid than Michele's, playing into Pinault's plan to elevate the brand.

起初，他的設計似乎比米凱萊的更穩重，這符合皮諾提升品牌的計畫。

So Pinault wants Gucci basically to become a true luxury player.

所以皮諾希望 Gucci 基本上成為一個真正的奢侈品行家。

However, making that pivot takes time.

然而，做出這種轉變需要時間。

It's a marathon, at the end of the day.

說到底，這是一場馬拉松。

It's not a sprint.

這不是衝刺賽。