On a sunny day earlier this month , scores of suited men and women found themselves in a low-rise building on the outskirts of Florence, Italy, walking by bright hand-painted murals of birds of paradise, wildflowers and dreamy-eyed women wearing turbans, T-shirts and rhinestone-encrusted sunglasses.

The location? The new Gucci ArtLab. The occasion? An investor day for Kering, Gucci’s parent company, with Marco Bizzarri, the chief executive of Gucci, taking on a starring role in front of the assembled crowd. His topic: A master plan to make Gucci the largest luxury brand in the world.

“It’s not a question of if,” he said, “but when.”

The brand had just posted record annual sales of 6.2 billion euros, or about $7.1 billion, in 2017, a 45 percent increase from the prior year. Now it planned to reach €10 billion in annual sales and a 40 percent operating margin by 2019.

To do so, Kering, which has holdings in fine jewelry and watches as well as fashion, confirmed a wider strategy already underway to narrow its focus to five of its premium houses: Gucci, Saint Laurent, Balenciaga, Alexander McQueen and Bottega Veneta.