Gucci is establishing a new structure for its business units, bringing in industry veterans Monica Ulmi and Marco Semeghini as senior advisers. They will work in Italy, between Milan and Florence, alongside artistic director Demna and president and CEO Francesca Bellettini.
The reorganization is intended to support Demna’s creative work while giving the company’s business units clearer responsibilities and closer collaboration. Fashion collections and core collections — the brand’s wardrobe staples — will be developed in parallel, with separate calendars, plans and decision-making processes. Both design teams will work from Demna’s vision.
The business units are divided into four categories: leather goods, women’s ready-to-wear, men’s ready-to-wear and shoes. Each has a dedicated lead reporting to chief product officer Marcello Costa. The units bring together merchandising, collection coordination and core collection design, working closely with product development. They will oversee each category from planning and scheduling through development, including icons, wardrobe pieces, drops and made-to-order requests adapted from runway shows.
Ulmi previously worked at Gucci from 1996 to 2008, first as leather goods merchandising director and later as merchandising director. She subsequently held roles at Salvatore Ferragamo and Versace, and has worked as an independent merchandising adviser since 2018.
Semeghini joined Gucci in 1996 after starting his career at Italian department store Rinascente. He held buying and merchandising positions at Gucci until 2005, then worked at Tom Ford and Canali. He has since been a consultant and taught fashion business and luxury marketing strategies, including at Istituto Marangoni and NYU in Florence.
The structure is designed to give each unit more ownership and accountability while keeping the house’s design, development and execution operations anchored in Italy.
Sources: WWD.