Anthony Vaccarello leaves Saint Laurent: what Kering confirmed and what it did not

Anthony Vaccarello is leaving Saint Laurent after a decade, and the house has not said who takes over. Kering confirmed the exit on October 9, 2026, with a statement that says the house "will soon announce its new creative direction" (in French: "La Maison annoncera prochainement sa nouvelle direction créative"). Here is what is confirmed, what is only reported, and why the timing lands in a hard quarter for the group.

What was announced

The statement came from Saint Laurent and Kering on Friday, October 9, 2026. It says Vaccarello, who has led the house's creative direction since 2016, is leaving, and credits him with helping strengthen the brand's identity and influence in fashion and culture over the past decade. Kering chief executive Luca de Meo thanked him, and Saint Laurent president and CEO Cédric Charbit praised work that, in the release's words, raised the house "au premier plan en matière de désirabilité et d'image," which means to the forefront of desirability and image.

The release names no successor. Reuters reports that Kering said the successor would be announced soon. The coverage we opened gives no reason for the departure, and nobody on the record has offered one. Vaccarello, 44, was appointed in 2016 to succeed Hedi Slimane, according to Reuters.

His last show was the spring 2027 presentation in Paris on September 29, 2026. The National says it was widely seen as his farewell, and Reuters describes gold dresses, gold trench coats and gold stilettos under giant gold chandeliers. So the announcement confirmed a reading the industry had already made from the runway.

The numbers behind the exit

Reuters reports that Saint Laurent reached well over 3 billion euros (about $3.37 billion) in annual sales in 2023 under Vaccarello, then lost traction. Kering told Reuters the house's gross revenue fell 9% in 2024 and 6% in 2025, and has largely stabilized this year. Those are Kering's own figures for its own brand, so read them as the company's framing, not an audit.

The group around it is struggling too. Reuters reports Kering shares are down 31% this year, and that the group is due to report third-quarter sales on October 22, 2026. That is less than two weeks after the announcement, so the first hard read on how Saint Laurent is trading without its designer's name on the next collection will come from a company with every reason to sound calm.

A pattern, not a one-off

Saint Laurent follows Gucci, Balenciaga and Bottega Veneta, which Reuters says all switched creative directors last year as de Meo works to overhaul the group. The National describes an 18-month overhaul aimed at reviving Kering's brands, with plans to expand Saint Laurent's menswear and jewelry. If you want the plain-language version of what a creative director actually controls, and why these moves reset a house's sales, our explainer on what a creative director does and who has moved recently covers it. For who owns which French house, see the ownership guide to French luxury houses.

Vaccarello's tenure is also remembered for more than clothes. Reuters notes he kept the brand's Parisian identity, staging shows against a lit-up Eiffel Tower, and that Saint Laurent expanded into film production, including "Emilia Pérez," which won at Cannes. A new designer inherits that cultural footprint along with the sales problem.

Who might replace him, and what is only a rumor

Reuters says industry speculation points to Chemena Kamali, currently creative director at Richemont-owned Chloé and previously womenswear design director at Saint Laurent. The same report says neither Chloé nor Richemont immediately responded to requests for comment. The National likewise mentions Kamali as a possible successor, and that Kering has not named a replacement.

Treat that as speculation until a company says otherwise. Names get floated in the days after any departure, and several are usually wrong. Nothing in the primary statement supports it, and we would not plan a story, a purchase or a stock view around it.

What the new designer is expected to fix

Barclays analysts wrote in a note quoted by Reuters: "The focus of the new designer will be in currently under-represented product categories." Reuters' account of the note points to menswear, leather goods and China and the wider Asian market, though that is the analysts' view, not Kering's plan.

The honest read is that a designer change is a bet, not a repair. A new creative director can reset the look in one season, but sales follow store traffic, pricing and product mix more slowly. The three swaps at Gucci, Balenciaga and Bottega Veneta last year have not yet produced a clean verdict in the numbers we opened, and Saint Laurent's own revenue stabilizing this year, per Kering, means the new person arrives with a floor under the numbers but little proof of upside.

What to watch next

Three dates and signals matter. First, the successor announcement, which the statement says is coming soon. Second, October 22, 2026, when Kering reports third-quarter sales and may say something about Saint Laurent's trend. Third, the first collection, which cannot arrive until the next calendar slot and will be judged against a decade of one designer's codes.

If you follow luxury as a shopper, the announcement itself changes no prices or products that we could find. If you follow it as an industry reader, the useful question is whether Kering names someone with menswear and leather credentials, since that is where the analysts say the gap sits.

Our take

Treat the exit as confirmed and everything else as open. The departure is real, dated and sourced to the company. The successor, the reason and the effect on sales are not. We would watch the October 22 sales report and the name that follows, and skip every unsourced shortlist until then.