Alessandro Michele steps down as Gucci creative director

By COLLEEN BARRY
AP Fashion Writer

MILAN (AP) — Alessandro Michele is leaving his role as creative director of the Gucci, the fashion house announced Wednesday, bringing an end to an eight-year tenure that sharply redefined Gucci’s codes with romanticism and gender-fluidity, all the while powering revenues for the Kering parent.   Womenswear Daily reported Michele’s expected departure on Tuesday, citing sources that said Michele had failed to meet a request to “initiate a strong design shift,” and that the chairman of Gucci’s parent Kering, Francois-Henri Pinault, was looking for a change of pace.  Michele cited “different perspectives’’ as the reason for his departure, without elaborating.