While fixing French carmaker Renault SA, Chief Executive Officer Luca de Meo pursued a hobby that would feed into his next job as CEO of Kering SA: A taste for the finer things in life, particularly Swiss watches.

The Italian is set to leave Renault next month to become boss of Kering, the struggling owner of Gucci and Saint Laurent, from mid-September. While de Meo has spent his entire career in the car industry, he has been making discreet overtures to the luxury industry for some time, according to two people with knowledge of the situation.

The French luxury group that owns brands such as Gucci, Saint Lauren and Balenciaga, makes an out-of-the-box appointment to revive its flagging sales