There are plenty of luxury brands out there that are more than worthy of your hard-earned money, but while a lot of these are definitely up there in terms of quality, only a few are worthy enough to actually be owned by Kering themselves.
In case you didn’t know by now, Kering is one of the largest corporations specialized in luxury goods out there, they’re literally at the very top of the food chain and they’ve been up there for so long now that we don’t even comprehend how successful they’ve been over the years.
But how can we really explain to the uninitiated what Kering represents when there’s just so much to say? Well, to put it bluntly, Kering is one of those companies that keeps on giving, it is a leader in luxury that owns practically most of the top luxury brands out there including Gucci, Bottega Veneta and more.
So, in order to celebrate their success, we decided to take the time and bring you a comprehensive list of the top luxury brands that they currently own and flaunt their stuff with.
If we were to get into every single one then this article would be ten times larger, so for the sake of keeping things interesting we decided to focus solely on the most important brands that they currently own.
The choices on this list are also very much interchangeable with one another, meaning that just because we chose Gucci for example at the forefront of it all that doesn’t mean that they are the absolute best company that they own.
It’s all just a matter of presentation, so don’t take everything here word for word. But before we get into any of that let’s instead take the time and bring you a quick description of what Kering is and why they’re worthy of having a whole article based on them.
What is Kering?
Kering is often times forgotten about when people think of luxury brands and that is simply because they don’t involve themselves directly with the branding of each one of the companies that they own.
For example, when Gucci markets a new collection, they don’t usually find themselves plastering the Kering name all over it and for good reason too.
They finance it all, but the creative muscle behind all of the brand’s products rests on the shoulders of the company itself, not on the benefactor of it all.
Being one of the largest and most profitable luxury conglomerates out there, a lot of people would be quick to judge it as just another massive company that was supported from the very beginning by plenty of investors, but they’d be mistaken.
It was actually founded way back in 1963 by a man by the name of Francois Pinault, and it was never meant to be a luxury brand to begin with, it was actually specifically started as a wood and building materials company instead.
But alas, that didn’t last for long as they wanted to make a bigger profit at the end of the day so they started dipping their toes into the luxury goods niche.
Little by little, the company started bringing more revenue on the table, eventually reaching today’s market gross of €13.7 billion in total. Pinault himself is said to be worth as much as $49.5 billion right now, making him one of the richest people on this planet for sure.
Despite this however, Pinault himself has not had any direct contact with the brand in quite a few years now, as he let it all on the capable shoulders of his son, Francois-Henri Pinault. He has done a marvelous job so far; many would even argue that he made an even better job that his father because of one key factor.
That factor is his involvement with the gender rights movement, as he has been very vocal about his support over the years, even tailoring the brand’s image to mirror his actions.
Despite the fact that the brand itself is mostly known for owning Gucci, Balenciaga and Yves Saint Laurent, a lot of people seem to forget the fact that they have a lot more companies than that under their belt.
They became so powerful in fact that they pretty much already reached the point where they’re the sole rivals of LVMH, the current largest luxury conglomerate in the world.
Sources have stated that if things go their way, they are set to leave LVMH in the dust within the next couple of years, but alas, this is all just speculations for now.
What we can say for certain however is the fact that Kering have shown the world just how much profit can be made from investing in luxury brands, and many would even argue that they’ve helped rise companies from the dirt over the years, making them incredibly influential by stepping in every now and then.
But alas, now that we know just how utterly massive this brand is, how about we get right into the brands that they own just so we can really see how influential they really are at the end of the day. So, starting off our list we have the following:
1. Gucci
We already mentioned Gucci a bunch of times by now, but what we didn’t mention is just how much this acquisition has helped Gucci over the years. They were actually bought out by Kering back in 1999, and in case you didn’t keep up with Gucci over the years, you most likely don’t realize just how important of a year that was for Gucci.
Essentially, they took Gucci, a brand that was already very much so a titan in the industry, and they brought it all the way up to the top, to the point where most people couldn’t even picture a world without Gucci’s brand name plastered all over their clothes.
Gucci is currently led by none other than Alessandro Michele, and he is said to have worked a lot with Kering over the years, trying to bring the brand name to new heights by showcasing their love of the unnatural, and by trying to lead the market as opposed to just following everything that everyone else is doing.
2. Yves Saint Laurent
Let’s be honest here, Yves Saint Laurent is one of those designer brands that everyone out there sees at least once while going on a yacht or a cruise, and that is because it is one of the most reputable brand names in the niche.
It was also purchased way back in 1999 by Kering, and although they are mostly known for making fashion clothing for women, they’ve actually changed a lot since they were first purchased by Kering, to market products for men as well.
The brand is pretty much just synonymous with luxury and style, and we can bet everything we own that you at least heard of it before as it is just that influential to say the least.
Recently, they announced the fact that the world class actor Rami Malek will become their very new face during their Spring/Summer campaign and we can definitely see where they’re going with that choice.
3. Balenciaga
Quite possibly one of the most famous modern shoe brands out there, Balenciaga specializes in making those “dad shoes” that everyone absolutely fawns over these days and for good reason too.
There’s just no way that you can look at this brand’s shoes and not instantly have a sort of reaction from it. You either absolutely love them or you hate them with every fiber of your being.
For the most part however, people definitely have learned to love this brand more and more, and this has been made all the more apparent in the last couple of years as they’ve become amongst the largest names out there.
They were first bought out by Kering in 2001 and they continued to work alongside them since, becoming more influential as the years rolled on by.
4. Bottega Veneta
We’ve already mentioned Bottega Veneta and chances are you already know everything there is to know about it so we’ll just keep it short for now. They create a ton of different fashion items, and ever since they were first established back in 1996, they quickly became one of the leaders in the industry.
Their most sold item is by far the Pouch, as this has not only become the brand’s image but also one of the fastest selling bags in the world at the same time.
They were officially purchased by Kering as of 2001 and they’ve continued to work alongside Bottega Veneta since.
5. Alexander McQueen
Alexander McQueen was actually founded by the man that goes by the same name back in 1992 and although most people didn’t think much of it at first, they quickly became known as one of the most innovative designers of all time and they continued to do so many years afterwards too.
Despite the fact that the brand’s owner did suffer of depression, eventually committing suicide in 2010, his brand continues to inspire people to look better and feel better wearing their clothing out on the streets.
The brand was officially acquired by Kering as of 2001, and they’ve continued to sell some of the most insanely unique products we’ve ever seen out there.
6. Girard-Perregaux
This luxury watch brand right here, although not quite on the same level as the aforementioned names, is still pretty much one of the leaders in the industry as far as luxury brands go.
Girard-Perregaux is best known for the historic Tourbillon with three gold bridges which has won a lot of prizes over the years, including the gold metal during the 1889 International Exposition from Paris.
Overall, they market themselves towards the people that wish to relive the days of the 60s, as most of their products perfectly showcase the beauty of the vintage style, and they continued to do so even after they were acquisitioned by Kering themselves.
7. Boucheron
Boucheron is actually one of the oldest watch houses in the world, and that truly shows when it comes to their products since they’ve pretty much revolutionized the industry time and time again as the years rolled on by.
They were first founded way back in 1858 by Frederic Bourcheron, and they’ve amassed a ton of adoring clients all around the globe since.
They became a subsidiary of Kering as of 2000 and they’ve continued onwards with a lot of promise, recently celebrating their 160th anniversary over with the 500,000 followers they’ve garnered on Instagram.
8. Brioni
Commonly referred to as one of the absolute best tailored suit brands out there, Brioni have really shown the world just how much luxury can go into wearing a simple shirt and they have not stopped nor slowed down in the slightest since the day they were founded.
They are pretty much at the very top of the menswear industry out there, with them having their products sold off all around the globe as the most luxurious option on the market.
They even signed a contract with Brad Pitt last year, making him the face of the company for the Spring/Summer 2020 campaign.
9. Pomellato
If you live in the US then you most likely have heard of Pomellato every now and then, as they are still pretty affluent despite the fact that the great majority of their clients come from Europe.
But, if you actually do live in Europe, you most likely can’t get enough of this brand as it is by far one of the most influential jewelry companies out there.
As an Italian luxury company, people had pretty massive expectations from them, but thanks to a very dedicated team of experts in the field, they actually managed to surpass those expectations and get to the very top in no time.
It also helped that they were bought out by Kering in 2013, and under the guidance of the current CEO Sabina Belli they’ve shown a lot of promise to become one of the leaders in the rest of the world as well.
10. Dodo
Despite the fact that Dodo only really started off as a secondary brand to Pomellato, they have still managed to distance themselves from it by making a name for themselves in the industry with relative ease.
This was all thanks to the fact that they marketed themselves as their very own company, as opposed to riding off the profit that Pomellato has made over the years.
The name Dodo is also very affluent, as they chose it to represent the extinct species as a means of showcasing just how important it is to protect nature and preserve all of the animals out there that are currently struggling.
11. Lindberg
While definitely not as influential as some of the other picks on this list, Lindberg is also worth mentioning here as it is still a very amazing luxury company that nowhere near enough people talk about out there.
It is a Danish company that produces some of the absolute best eyewear in the field. They specialize in creating amazing frames and sunglasses, and they were amongst the first to use titanium wire to create their products.
They’ve done a very good job for themselves, as they won several design awards over the years, but the future is looking brighter than ever before since they’ve been recently bought out by Kering. The brand has promised a lot of stuff over the years and now they may finally have the funds to do it.
12. Qeelin
Qeelin might sound a bit unfamiliar to you if you have not been keeping up with the Chinese jewelry market, but to put it bluntly, they are amongst the top companies in the world around their niche and they’ve even managed to spread to Europe and the US in the recent years little by little.
They were first established back in 2004, and it took a while for them to get to where they are, but luckily, after they were bought out by Kering in 2012, they managed to rise to the very top of the leaderboard in no time.
13. Ulysse Nardin
Known for their insanely durable luxury watches, Ulysse Nardin have become a staple of the industry by literally being amongst the first to have ever been established out there.
They first came to be back in 1846, after a 23-year-old decided that he could do so much more for the industry than what the top companies were doing at the time.
He put his mind to it and before long he was on the front page of every magazine out there, even winning as many as 4,324 certificates of performance and 10 different gold medals over the years.
Conclusion
So, if you ever find yourself looking at any of these brands nowadays, just take a second and realize the fact that they’re all leaders of their industry thanks to the powerful brand conglomerate that is Kering.
While they definitely did a good job for themselves before Kering’s interference, let’s just say that it didn’t hurt them to have a couple more billion shilled out for their projects over the years.
Thank you for reading and we hope that this was an interesting bit of trivia that you can now use to sound more idiosyncratic with when you go out with your friends next time.
