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DALLAS, Nov 5, 2003/ FW/ --- Yesterday’s announcement by PPR & Gucci Group that both Domenico De Sole and Tom Ford, the driving force behind Gucci, are leaving the company by April 30, 2004 shook the fashion and retailing world.

Though rumors had been going around since February that they will not stay beyond the end of their contract in 2004, Domenico De Sole himself squelched the whisperings last April in an interview with two Italian publications - "La Repubblica" and "Il Corriere della Sera," in which he stated that he and Tom Ford would stay on board beyond 2004, as long as the company continues to embrace the independent management style they instituted.

(Photo above: Domenico De Sole and wife Eleanor leaving at the end of Stella McCartney show last October 2003 in Paris)

With the announcement and the follow-up conference call Wednesday, we know now, that negotiations between PPR, Gucci Group and Mssrs. De Sole and Ford had been going on for several months. It eventually failed.

The duo’s departure will not only leave a vacuum at PPR / Gucci in particular, and the fashion and retailing world in general.

Anna Wintour, Editor-in-Chief of Vogue told the New York Times, "It's not the best message to be sending to the fashion world. I think on every level the news is very sad — sad for the stores, sad for the press and sad for consumers."

Though both Domenico De Sole and Tom Ford have more than their fair share of detractors during their more than a decade run at Gucci, Anna Wintour’s comment is right on target.

Theirs was a fashion partnership that has never been seen before, and Gucci’s history and story will be one for the books.

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