Gucci fashions new top team

ITALIAN luxury goods group Gucci is planning to promote a trio of its rising stars to fill the shoes of chief designer Tom Ford when he quits in April.

The chief designer's job is to be carved into three, with separate heads of womenswear, menswear and accessories, according to sources close to the company.

Favourite to head the women's fashion group, which includes the Yves Saint-Laurent label, is glamorous Italian designer Alessandra Facchinetti, 31, who was hired from leather goods rival Prada 18 months ago.

The design chief for menswear will probably be John Ray, according to reports. A head for the key accessories division, which includes Gucci luggage, has yet to he chosen. Gucci declined to comment.

The decision to split the role is reported to have been taken after award-winning British fashion designer Alexander McQueen, a rising star in the Gucci stable that also includes Stella McCartney, declined the top design job.

Gucci is also seeking a new chief executive after executive chairman Domenico de Sole and Tom Ford, the duo who built the group into a global luxury powerhouse, said in November that they would leave on 30 April after disagreeing over strategy with the company's new parent, French retailer Pinault Printemps Redoute.

But a three-man committee, chaired by PPR boss Serge Weinberg and set up to replace the top team, is clearly making progress. The group this week announced the appointment of Alexis Babeau as chief financial officer to replace Gucci's long-serving financial chief, Robert Singer, who also quits in April

Confirmation of the other appointments is expected in a fortnight, after the presentation of farewell spring fashion collections from Ford and de Sole. Frenchman Babeau, 39, joins from Finaref, formerly the financial services arm of PPR.

The appointment of a Frenchman and Weinberg trusty to the key financial role reflects PPR's growing grip over Gucci. With 67.6% of Gucci shares already under its control, PPR has announced it will bid for the rest at $85.52 a share on 1 April. The buyout capitalises Gucci at e6.9bn (£5bn).

Meanwhile, despite de Sole's quip that he will do whatever his wife tells him, there is still no indication of whether he will continue his business partnership with Ford elsewhere. The two are reported to have contemplated an offer of e250m for rival Italian fashion house Versace.