Luxury, the maisons will tell you, is not like other industries. While lesser consumer goods makers can get ahead by trimming costs and undercutting rivals, high fashion hangs on creativity and desirability. So the efficiency-driven revival of Gucci parent Kering is something of a shocker.

Since former Renault executive Luca de Meo took the helm last September, Kering’s stock has risen by a fifth, far outperforming industry bellwether LVMH. He has fixed the balance sheet, selling Kering’s beauty brands to L’Oréal for €4bn and renegotiating its potential obligation to buy the 70 per cent of Valentino it does not yet own. He has taken an axe to costs, not least by closing underperforming stores.

As a result, Kering appears to have been able to cut the price of some products — Bernstein analysts estimate that the tag for the Mercato Tote Bag was reduced by 20 to 25 per cent in early May — to reduce sales declines, while still increasing the company’s operating margin.

Purists will argue that this strategy has a short runway. But reducing overheads and reinvesting the proceeds into lowering prices will attract a new cohort of buyers who previously found Gucci unattainably expensive. Over the long term, efficiency alone is not enough. But, in the meantime, the cost-conscious approach is positively avant-garde for an industry that tends to think itself above such things.