Luxury fashion house Gucci has parted ways with creative director Alessandro Michele. This was announced by the French fashion group Kering, which owns Gucci, and thus confirmed the corresponding media reports.

The 49-year-old Roman spoke of "different ideas" in the message. The trade magazine "Women's Wear Daily" had previously reported that Michele and Kering boss François-Henri Pinault had different views on the creative future of Gucci.

Michele has been chief designer at Gucci since January 2015. In the almost eight years since then, he has played a key role in developing the brand "with his pioneering creativity while remaining true to the house's renowned code," the statement said. It was initially unclear who would succeed Michele.