Sabato De Sarno Joins Icicle. Was Gucci Too Impatient?

Sabato De Sarno has a new job, and we have a reason to pay closer attention to Icicle. The Chinese luxury brand has appointed Gucci’s former creative director to oversee womenswear, menswear, accessories and eyewear. His first collection is expected for autumn/winter 2027, according to Vogue Business. For those of us who liked what he was doing at Gucci, this is welcome news. Some clothes deserve a longer life than the corporate patience that produced them.

At Notorious, we were rather fond of Sabato’s Gucci. The coats, the proportions, that delicious dark red. There was a woman inside those clothes whom we could recognise, and occasionally wanted to be. Apparently, this was insufficient entertainment.

FROM VALENTINO TO GUCCI: A VERY SHORT HONEYMOON

De Sarno arrived with a serious education in making clothes. He began at Prada in 2005, worked at Dolce & Gabbana, then joined Valentino in 2009. There, he rose to fashion director, overseeing the men’s and women’s collections. Gucci announced his appointment in January 2023; his first show followed that September.

His debut, Ancora, offered a long coat over tiny shorts and a white tank, platform horsebit loafers and a deep red Jackie bag. Crystal embellishment provided flashes of extravagance. We liked the balance: enough glamour to make you want to go out, enough clothes to imagine getting dressed.

Following Alessandro Michele’s richly populated Gucci universe was always going to be awkward. De Sarno cleared space around the wearer. To our eyes, the result felt grown-up, sensual and refreshingly easy to understand. A good coat should not require the director’s commentary.

By February 2025, he was out. His debut collection had only started reaching shops in early 2024. In practical terms, Gucci had given his new wardrobe roughly a year on the sales floor before ending the relationship.

The commercial problem was real. Gucci’s 2024 revenue fell 21% on a comparable basis. Loving the clothes does not oblige us to pretend otherwise. But a disappointing financial year is a verdict on a business, with its pricing, distribution and management, as well as its products. Treating it as a complete assessment of one designer’s ability is conveniently simple.

SABATO DE SARNO’S GUCCI LEGACY DID NOT LEAVE WITH HIM

Gucci Ancora S/S 2024

Rosso Ancora was his most immediately recognisable contribution: the rich burgundy he made central to his Gucci vocabulary. And it survived the change of creative director. British Vogue specifically noted the continuity in Demna’s spring/summer 2026 debut, pointing to the maroon shades in looks 6 and 20.

That is a more precise observation than saying Demna simply recycled Sabato’s collections. Gucci has an archive that belongs to the house, and a shared colour does not establish copied design. Still, the survival of that palette makes the idea of a clean creative break rather less convincing.

More broadly, De Sarno’s clothes deserve to be judged beyond the speed of his departure. The sharp outerwear, abbreviated hemlines and controlled sparkle were a coherent proposition. You could dislike it. We didn’t. We would quite happily have given him more time to develop it.

GUCCI HAS THE CELEBRITIES. THE COMEBACK IS STILL A WORK IN PROGRESS

Under Demna, Gucci has certainly regained a taste for production. The Tiger, the film introducing La Famiglia in September 2025, involved Spike Jonze, Halina Reijn, Demi Moore, Edward Norton and Keke Palmer. The credits alone could keep a small cinema busy.

It makes for a useful reminder that attracting attention and persuading someone to buy a handbag are separate tasks.

The latest figures require some honesty on our side, too. Gucci’s revenue fell 5% on a comparable basis in the first half of 2026, with the second-quarter decline narrowing to 2%. Kering reported growing traction for new collections. These are signs of improvement, although sales have yet to return to growth.

So no, we cannot declare that Demna’s strategy has achieved nothing. We can say that replacing Sabato and assembling a formidable celebrity cast has not yet completed Gucci’s recovery. If the new regime deserves time, it is reasonable to wonder why the previous one received so little.

WHAT IS ICICLE, THE “MAX MARA OF SHANGHAI”?

Icicle Fall 2026

Founded in Shanghai in 1997 by Ye Shouzeng and Shawna Tao, Icicle builds its wardrobe around natural materials including cashmere, wool, silk, linen and cotton. It established a Paris creative centre in 2013 and now has more than 200 stores, including flagships in Shanghai, Beijing and Paris.

The comparison with Max Mara, which has appeared in coverage of the brand, helps place it in a European reader’s wardrobe: refined clothes, an emphasis on fabric, and considerably less dependence on visible logos. Think of the pleasure of a beautiful coat that you keep reaching for once the novelty has worn off.

But “the Max Mara of Shanghai” should be an introduction, rather than the entire explanation. Icicle has its own Chinese cultural foundations and manufacturing expertise. Its stated philosophy centres on the relationship between people and nature, expressed through functional clothes for everyday life.

For De Sarno, this looks like a promising match. His attention to proportion and his appetite for a wearable wardrobe have somewhere logical to go. We would like to see what he does when restraint is already part of the house’s appeal.

There is, however, one final twist. In April 2026, Kering announced a partnership with Icicle’s parent, ICCF, and a planned minority stake in the group. Sabato’s next chapter therefore brings him back into the orbit of Gucci’s owner.

Fashion does enjoy an awkward seating plan. We hope this time he gets to stay long enough to finish the conversation.

Images courtesy of @Icicle and @Gucci