Sabato De Sarno is out at Gucci! After helming the house as artistic director for the past two years, picking up the reins after Alessandro Michele parted ways with the revered fashion house, De Sarno is now also set to leave, announced today on Thursday, February 6.

The designer was plucked from relative fashion obscurity, having worked alongside Pierpaolo Piccioli at Valentino for a long stretch, and brought to Gucci in 2023. His first collection, for SS24, was met with mixed reviews, with many critical of how ‘commercial’ it was in comparison to Michele’s mad, mish-mash aesthetic. 

However, the designer’s collections scored him fans in the likes of Paul Mescal, Daisy Edgar-Jones, and Debbie Harry, who performed at the 2024 British Fashion Awards in a special segment dedicated to the house. De Sarno also scored a massive coup when he managed to convince none other than Nan Goldin to shoot his 2025 Cruise campaign We Will Always Have London.

“I would like to express my deep gratitude to Sabato for his passion and dedication to Gucci. I sincerely appreciate how he honoured Gucci’s craftsmanship and heritage with such commitment,” said Gucci CEO Stefano Cantino of De Sarno’s departure.

Writing on Instagram, De Sarno wrote, “Any important project relies on the passion, the intelligence and heart of extraordinary people. To them I say: always look out for your joy. It is the true measure of whether you are true to yourself, whatever the opportunity, whatever the challenge. A thank you would not be enough maybe. But today my joy is for you.”

In stepping down, De Sarno is sure to send the fashion rumour mill into even more of a tailspin than it has been in recent months. Right now, whispers are being shared across social media that everyone from Hedi Slimane, to Marc Jacobs, to Simon Porte Jacquemus, to Maria Grazia Chiuri could be set to replace him. Watch this space, we guess.