Frida Giannini And Patrizio di Marco Part Ways With Gucci

Fashion's Power Couple, GUCCI's creative director Frida Giannini and CEO Patrizio di Marco have stepped down. The 93 year old Paris-based company announced Marco Bizzarri as CEO today in one of its biggest shakeups since 2004.

Di Marco, who was chief executive officer at the fashion house for six years, will depart on January 1 while Frida Giannini, who has served as creative director for nine years, will step down at the end of February after showing her autumn/winter 2015 collection at Milan Fashion Week. The brand said that a new creative director will be appointed "later on".

François-Henri Pinault, chairman and CEO of Kering, said in a statement today "I truly enjoyed working with Patrizio over those years, the great performances achieved by the Gucci brand during his tenure stand as a testament to his success. His strategic vision, passion, dedication and charisma were key to bring Gucci where it is today. I want to warmly thank him and wish him the very best in his future endeavours."

Pinault also thanked Frida for her extraordinary passion, dedication and contribution to the Gucci brand adding, "She has been the sole creative director of Gucci for close to a decade. This is a remarkable accomplishment, considering the level and breadth of responsibility of overviewing all the aspects related to product and image for such a global brand during such a long period of time. I am truly grateful to her for her achievements, creativity and the passion that she has always instilled in her work."

Di Marco joined Gucci in 2009 from Kering’s Bottega Veneta brand while Giannini had led Gucci’s creative team since 2006. The Gucci duo are also a couple in real life, and have one child together, daughter Greta.

In recent time Gucci's sales have been falling in the most recent quarter leaving the brand struggling as customers switch to labels they perceive to be more exclusive. Kering’s shares fell 1.2 percent in Paris trading, paring the gains this year to 2.2 percent and giving the company a market value of about 20 billion euros ($24.8 billion).