Gucci continues its senior management reshuffle. The leading label of luxury group Kering has told FashionNetwork.com it has promoted Francesco Falai to the post of chief people officer. He previously held the role of senior vice-president global people, retail and business functions. Falai will succeed current HR head Luca Bozzo on January 1, when Stefano Cantino will take charge of Gucci, replacing Jean-François Palus as CEO.

Falai has a degree in economics from the University of Florence and has studied at the SDA Bocconi business school in Milan. He started his career at Florentine leather goods producer Pelletteria Fontana, and later moved to Salvatore Ferragamo’s sales department. In 2005, he joined Prada, where he remained for 12 years, rising up the ranks until in 2012 he was named head of HR worldwide for the commercial and retail departments at Prada-owned footwear label Church’s. In 2017, Falai joined Gucci to oversee human resources worldwide for the retail and omnichannel functions, and gradually expanded his remit until the latest promotion.

Like Valérie Leberichel, who recently took charge of global communications at Gucci, Falai has previously crossed paths with the label’s new CEO Cantino, with whom Falai has worked at Prada, where Cantino spent the majority of his business career, between 1997 and 2018.

Falai’s mission in his new role will be “to lead Gucci’s HR strategy, inspiring excellence in execution and encouraging the organisation’s transformation and expansion. Falai will be working with stakeholders across the company to boost the staff’s contribution to the business,” said Gucci.

Falai’s appointment is the latest in a long series at Gucci. Besides promoting Cantino from deputy managing director to CEO, and hiring Leberichel, the label has recently hired other senior executives, like Marcello Mastrogiacomo, as vice-president of digital marketing and media, and Daniela Raganato, as global media director, while in September Davide Buzzoni was named global communications director.

In the summer, Gucci recruited Cayetano Fabry as head of sales. Last year, the label hired Massimo Vian, formerly COO of Prada, appointing him to the newly created post of head of industrial operations and the supply chain.