Kering Launches Dedicated Jewelry Division, Names Jean-Marc Duplaix as CEO

Kering has formalized what its quarterly results have been quietly arguing for months: jewelry is the group's most reliable growth engine, and it deserves a dedicated home. The luxury conglomerate announced the creation of Kering Jewelry on March 16, a new entity that consolidates Boucheron, Pomellato, DoDo, and Qeelin under one organizational structure for the first time, alongside the group's manufacturing capabilities including Raselli Franco Group, an Italian manufacturer Kering began acquiring in stages last year.

Jean-Marc Duplaix takes the title of Chief Executive Officer of Kering Jewelry effective immediately, while retaining his existing role as Group Chief Operating Officer, where he oversees finance, mergers and acquisitions, investor relations, real estate, digital, and the general secretariat. The CEOs of all four jewelry houses now report directly to him, a structural change Kering says is designed to sharpen strategic alignment and accelerate decision-making across the portfolio.

CEO Luca de Meo framed the move in the language of creative ambition. "With Kering Jewelry, we are giving the group a powerful and cohesive platform capable of supporting our houses' ambitions in an area of expertise where creativity and excellence are inseparable," he said. "I am delighted with the appointment of Jean-Marc. His experience will be instrumental in unlocking the group's full potential in Jewelry."

The context behind that statement is harder to separate from Kering's broader difficulties. The group reported a third consecutive year of declining sales in 2025, with Gucci, its largest brand, weighing heavily on overall performance. WWD characterized the new jewelry unit as part of de Meo's effort to turn around the ailing group's fortunes. That framing is supported by the numbers: while Gucci continues its recovery, the jewelry portfolio was a genuine bright spot in Q4 2025, with Boucheron posting double-digit growth, Qeelin delivering solid gains, DoDo showing accelerating momentum, and Pomellato holding steady.

Alongside Kering Jewelry, de Meo also created a new Fashion and Leather Goods segment grouping Gucci, Saint Laurent, Bottega Veneta, Balenciaga, Alexander McQueen, and Brioni, a structure that mirrors how rival LVMH has long organized its business. Kering's move toward vertical integration in jewelry similarly echoes the approach of both LVMH and Richemont, which have treated jewelry as a core strategic pillar for years, investing in scale and supply chain control that Kering is now building in earnest.

Central to that production strategy is Raselli Franco Group, which Kering describes as bringing "exceptional savoir-faire and cutting-edge technologies" to the new division. The Italian manufacturer is currently being integrated into Kering Jewelry and is expected to play a central role in centralizing production management across the four houses.

Kering Jewelry is also intended to open new opportunities beyond the dedicated jewelry brands, with the group noting the platform could benefit its Fashion and Leather Goods houses as well. Whether Duplaix can steer four distinct creative identities, each with its own heritage and customer, while simultaneously running group operations from Paris is the structural question the coming quarters will answer.