The Jing Take:

Gucci sales figures were shown to have plummeted in the latest financial report for Q1 in 2020 from Kering. Up until recently, Gucci had been on a seemingly unstoppable rise under the creative direction of Alessandro Michele. In reality, however, sales have been on a slight decline since late 2018. The appointment of Daniel Lee at Bottega Veneta, alongside other exciting power moves at luxury brands outside Kering’s group, such as Prada and Louis Vuitton, have further distracted Gucci’s target market.

As for Douyin, it’s an organic expansion of Gucci’s precocious China strategy that aims to build and diversity its online community. While other luxury brands like Valentino and Marc Jacobs have announced collection launches for the e-game, Animal Crossing (currently unavailable in China), Gucci is leading the pack by opting to tap into the popularity of video and livestreaming in China. The move further illustrates that Gucci is willing to change in order to retain — and increase — consumers. The verdict? It should be a hit among its biggest fans — Chinese millennials and Gen Zers who love short-video formats.

The Jing Take reports on a leading piece of news while presenting our editorial team’s analysis of its key implications for the luxury industry. In this recurring column, we analyze everything from product drops and mergers to heated debates that sprout up on Chinese social media.