Gucci May name De Sole CEO Successor in January

French retail empire Pinault Printemps Redoute could name a successor to Gucci chief executive officer Domenico De Sole in the second half of January, an industry source said last Friday.

Talent scouts for the Florentine luxury group are hunting a new chief executive officer and two designers to replace Tom Ford after Mr. Ford and Mr. De Sole announced they would quit the empire, which they created from a near-bankrupt family firm, next April.

Francois-Henri Pinault, head of the Artemis holding company that controls PPR, is part of a committee headed by PPR chairman Serge Weinberg that has drawn up a list of 20 potential candidates for the top jobs at the company famed for its leather goods.

Executives said Mr. Ford’s replacements would not be named until after the autumn/winter 2004 collections are shown, which will occur in February and March. Giacomo Santucci, chief executive officer of the multibrand group’s Gucci unit, will stay on in his role.