A SPLASH OF COLOUR LIFTS GUCCI SALES 45PC

GUCCI’S eccentric and colourful overhaul has helped put a rocket under sales at the luxury fashion house, with consumers flocking to snap up clashing prints, kitsch knitwear and 1970s style coats.

The Italian fashion label said sales soared 44.6pc to £5.5bn last year, helping lift revenues at owner Kering by 30pc to £13.8bn.

Gucci’s designer Alessandro Michele has been credited with breathing life back into the once-struggling brand and returning it to profitability since he joined in 2015. Kering, which also owns Stella McCartney and Balenciaga, said sales at Yves Saint Laurent also delivered ‘spectacular growth’, growing by 25.3pc year-on-year to £1.3bn.

Chinese consumers delivered the biggest sales growth for Kering as purchases made by customers in Asia Pacific jumped almost 33pc.

And online sales at the Paris-based giant, which also owns Puma, surged by more than 70pc year-on-year.

François-Henri Pinault, chairman and chief executive of the luxury goods group, said: ‘Kering delivered a phenomenal year in 2017.’