However, Polet stressed that the Gucci brands should be the primary focus instead of the designer since the brand can far outlive the designer.

"The Gucci brand is a voice of authority in the market place, and the question is who's going to be that voice beyond the product?"

Doubling sales of the Gucci brand on Mr. Polet's timetable would be ambitious, considering past performance.

Pinault said in January that it would sell noncore assets to focus on luxury goods, including the Gucci brand, of which it owns 61 percent.

For example, following a nearly crippling attempt to widely licence their brand in the 1970s and 1980s, the Gucci brand is now largely sold in directly-owned stores.

The Gucci executives had already concluded that the value of the Gucci brand had already been mined nearly to its limits.

The process was accelerated when LVMH tried to buy us, but at a certain point, the Gucci brand will reach its maximum growth potential.

With an assured performance as the understudy filling a role originated by a beloved star, Mr. Ray made it clear that the Gucci brand remains secure.

Apart from the Gucci brand, which is still tremendously successful, there are question marks over all the other labels in the group.

"Did LVMH smell a maturation of the Gucci brand?"