Top fashion execs leaving firm

Wednesday, Nov. 5, 2003 | 9:17 a.m.

PARIS -- The men who turned a creatively exhausted Gucci into one of the fashion world's most dynamic design houses said on Tuesday that they would leave the company, apparently unwilling to submit to the will of its French owner.

Pinault Printemps-Redoute, which took control of the Gucci Group two years ago, announced that it had been unable to reach a new contract agreement with Tom Ford, Gucci's designer since 1994, and Domenico De Sole, its chief executive, after months of negotiation. They will leave the company in April, though Ford will design men's and women's collections for Gucci and Saint Laurent through the fall 2004 season.

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