François-Henri Pinault, CEO of Kering, "understands" the anger of the "yellow vests"

The French businessman, at the head of the luxury group owning Gucci, Yves Saint Laurent or Balenciaga, believes that the protesters' demands on purchasing power are justified.

"If we oppose the ecological transition, which is an absolute necessity, to the purchasing power, it is doomed to failure." François-Henri Pinault, head of Kering, the second largest luxury group in the world (after LVMH), was invited to RTL on Wednesday (November 28th) to mark the 10th anniversary of the Kering Foundation for Women's Rights. He was also questioned about the movement of "yellow vests". "I was surprised by the magnitude of the movement, but I understand", said the husband of Salma Hayek (from 12 mn in the video below).

"We can not make this transition at the expense of the purchasing power of the most modest," he says. "I understand that people react like that"insists the son of François Pinault, founder of the group (formerly Pinault-Printemps-Redoute). "We are already in a country where inequalities are high, if inequality increases and you have no prospects of progressing socially, that your purchasing power, mechanically, drops, it is unbearable", insists François-Henri Pinault.

Emmanuel Macron? "I trust him"

However, he believes that the "ecological transition" must not be called into question. After the announcements of Emmanuel Macron, to whom he says "to trust", François-Henri Pinault welcomes this "opening dialogue".

The CEO of Kering deplores the violence that accompanied the demonstrations in Paris Saturday, saying they "were not the fact of yellow vests". Moreover, "some stores of the avenue Montaigne (where are located many luxury shops, Ed) were affected by the demonstrations".