McQueen To Make Cutting Edge Profits For Gucci

Enfant terrible Alexander McQueen is part of the Gucci strategy to buy up edgy young companies to try and rev up their growth. In a fast-paced fashion world and declining sales, the luxury group is aiming to create economies of scale and tap into a saleable creativity.

But is that strategy being put to a tough test with Gucci's gamble on McQueen. The company has struggled to turn around even established brands, including Yves Saint. Laurent, which it took control of in 1999. Now, 34 year-old McQueen must show that he can make clothes that people will buy at the same time he is preserving the eccentricity that originally attracted Gucci.

While retailers say there is a market for cutting-edge creativity, McQueen himself has cited he doesn't want to see two million people wearing the latest McQueen shoes or bag of the season. Creativity may be important, but Gucci is much more business orientated than a personal charity and McQueen's flamboyant runway collections now include a wider commercial collection to appeal to a bigger market.

And while Gucci is recovering from a sluggish world economy and the tourism slump, McQueen is attending budget meetings and studying weekly sales reports. It is obvious that McQueen's association with Gucci is much happier than his previous one with LVMH. Gucci allows him to be more experimental and both sides seem esteemed to compromise.