CEOs & Fashion Houses

[Creative]

Hello!

Since fashion these days is almost more about CEOs than designers, I think it's not a bad idea to create a thread to gather the news about recent hirings, strategies, successes, flops, etc.

I will start with an obvious one:

Chanel
Alain Wertheimer - till Dec2021
Jan 2022 - Leena Nair

You can basically tell that there's no fashion understanding in her approach. I feel like Chanel started a very grey era since she joined. Is it just me? Is she in good terms with Bruno?

 

[kasper!]

TOM FORD

Domenico De Sole (stepped down with Tom in 2023)
Guillaume Jesel (promoted from TF Beaute)

 

[Creative]

Gucci

Patrizio di Marco
Marco Bizarri Jan2015 - Sept2024
Stefano Cantino Jan2025

 

[Creative]

TOM FORD

Domenico De Sole (stepped down with Tom in 2023)
Guillaume Jesel (promoted from TF Beaute)

It’s crazy how they made Tom Ford such a household name in such a short period of time. It must be one of the very few cases in recent history, right? That one and Off White maybe

 

[Creative]

Chloé

Riccardo Bellini Dec2019 - Dec2023 (4 years)
Laurent Malecaze Jan2024

 

[kasper!]

It’s crazy how they made Tom Ford such a household name in such a short period of time. It must be one of the very few cases in recent history, right? That one and Off White maybe

IMHO TF and The Row are the only two American luxury brands in this market. The reason is that he could success in such a short period is that he has solid foundation from menswear...which allows him to explore other fields. And Tom has a good business partner. Kering should have hired Domenico as a consultant lol

Marco Gobbetti
Celine : till 2016
Burberry : 2016- 2021 July
Ferragamo : 2021 - 2025

 

[Creative]

Dior
Sidney Toledano till end of 2017
Pietro Beccari 2018 - 2022 (beginning of 2023)
Delphine Arnault Feb2023

 

[Lola701]

^^
Sydney Toledano from 1998 to 2017. He joined Dior/LVMH in 1993 at the leather goods department and the first bag under his management was the Lady Dior.

It’s crazy how they made Tom Ford such a household name in such a short period of time. It must be one of the very few cases in recent history, right? That one and Off White maybe

Tom and Dom had 10 years of experience at Gucci and YSL. That’s why they didn’t made some of the same mistakes.
He used licenses in a clever way. He had enough money to set up his studio in London. They used licenses for the production and distribution of the menswear, fragrances and eyewear which can be difficult but with the right partners, it works. They only launched womenswear after 5 years and had a lot of stores through franchises.

For me Off White is not a good example of a household name.

However, I think Thom Browne is. And what they have achieved in such a short period is impressive.

Hello!

Since fashion these days is almost more about CEOs than designers, I think it's not a bad idea to create a thread to gather the news about recent hirings, strategies, successes, flops, etc.

I will start with an obvious one:

Chanel
Alain Wertheimer - till Dec2021
Jan 2022 - Leena Nair

You can basically tell that there's no fashion understanding in her approach. I feel like Chanel started a very grey era since she joined. Is it just me? Is she in good terms with Bruno?

Before Alain Weirtheimer, it was Maureen Chiquet. And again, she came from GAP.

 

[Lola701]

Louis Vuitton

Henry Racamier 1977 - 1989
Yves Carcelles 1990 - 2012
Michael Burke 2012 - 2023
Pietro Beccari 2023

 

[kasper!]

^Maureen Chiquet - CHANEL - 2007-2016

I remember Maureen Chiquet was very very close to a NYC jewelry designer called Eddie Borgo, which I found it odd. What did she want from him?

BOF

Business of Fashion Business of Fashion Business of Fashion Business of Fashion Business of Fashion Business of Fashion Business of Fashion Today, we introduce ‘Intersections,’ a new BoF series featuring unexpected pairings of fashion industry insiders. NEW YORK, United States — Eddie Borgo and...

www.eddieborgo.com

 

[Creative]

For me Off White is not a good example of a household name.

I think this brand will come to an end soon, and Tom Ford will stay, but almost every kid in the world wanted a pair of their sneakers or an ugly T-shirt from them…

I don’t remember a designer brand being that viral, not even Wang in his peak, no?

 

[proseccotabis]

IMHO TF and The Row are the only two American luxury brands in this market. The reason is that he could success in such a short period is that he has solid foundation from menswear...which allows him to explore other fields. And Tom has a good business partner. Kering should have hired Domenico as a consultant lol

Marco Gobbetti
Celine : till 2016
Burberry : 2016- 2021 July
Ferragamo : 2021 - 2025

Insane how Gobbetti has a fantastic track record in great and important brands and yet Ferragamo in his tenure was a car wreck lol what was it that went oh so wrong?

@Creative do we have any intel on the new Jil Sander CEO, Serge Brunschwig? Interested to discover what JS will turn into with him

 

[oioioi]

Insane how Gobbetti has a fantastic track record in great and important brands and yet Ferragamo in his tenure was a car wreck lol what was it that went oh so wrong?

@Creative do we have any intel on the new Jil Sander CEO, Serge Brunschwig? Interested to discover what JS will turn into with him

Celine and Givenchy successful yes, but Burberry and Ferragamo quite a mess.
The former two brands had professional, experienced management LVMH figures, both brands were also very much under the direction/creative control of their CD's. I did hear from a friend that Burberry management suite thought Gobbetti was behind the driving force behind Celine's big success, and the friend (who worked at Celine with PP) was saying well they'll soon realise it was very much PP's strong vision and relentlessness on design, distribution etc.
Ferragamo family is known to be difficult to work with, and think there is a lot of management level disagreements, it seems to be also unclear what they are expecting their brand to become stylistically and strategically market-wise.

 

[Lola701]

Insane how Gobbetti has a fantastic track record in great and important brands and yet Ferragamo in his tenure was a car wreck lol what was it that went oh so wrong?

@Creative do we have any intel on the new Jil Sander CEO, Serge Brunschwig? Interested to discover what JS will turn into with him

Serge Brunschwig comes from LVMH.
Him leaving LVMH is actually a surprise. He comes from Polytechnique (the same school as Bernard Arnault) and has made almost all his career at LVMH.

He was the CEO of Dior Homme, then took Fendi. He never had a strong highlight (unlike Pietro) and Fendi after Karl didn’t thrived so I guess the divorce wasn’t happy with LVMH.
From Sephora to Louis Vuitton and Celine, he had a bunch of executive roles at LVMH.

I feel like Pietro Beccari was his big competition in the group. While Michael Burke turned Fendi into a stable and profitable business (because LVMH overpaid to acquire them), it is Pietro Beccari who made Fendi reach the 1 billion club.

Yes Serge experienced the death of Karl and the pandemic but Loewe and Celine became bigger than Fendi during his tenure.

But he has the capacities to drive a business like Jil Sander.

 

[proseccotabis]

Serge Brunschwig comes from LVMH.
Him leaving LVMH is actually a surprise. He comes from Polytechnique (the same school as Bernard Arnault) and has made almost all his career at LVMH.

He was the CEO of Dior Homme, then took Fendi. He never had a strong highlight (unlike Pietro) and Fendi after Karl didn’t thrived so I guess the divorce wasn’t happy with LVMH.
From Sephora to Louis Vuitton and Celine, he had a bunch of executive roles at LVMH.

I feel like Pietro Beccari was his big competition in the group. While Michael Burke turned Fendi into a stable and profitable business (because LVMH overpaid to acquire them), it is Pietro Beccari who made Fendi reach the 1 billion club.

Yes Serge experienced the death of Karl and the pandemic but Loewe and Celine became bigger than Fendi during his tenure.

But he has the capacities to drive a business like Jil Sander.

This expands my interest in him as a CEO. HOW did OTB manage to get him? from LVMH of all places??

 

[Lola701]

This expands my interest in him as a CEO. HOW did OTB manage to get him? from LVMH of all places??

Oh there’s what I call, a magic in the informality of the business sometimes.
He was the CEO of Fendi, which is one of the top 5 brands of LVMH. He was showing in Milan and I guess that those people know each other or of each other…From Renzo Rosso to Remo Ruffini and others.

There’s a reality at LVMH: there aren’t a lot of places next to the sun. So when you are demoted from your position as the CEO of Fendi, what’s next?

I suspect that he was in talks with Rosso before and did the deal from the moment that he left LVMH. And now, he also has an executive position at OTB.

And the challenge is great. And from work/life balance, it may suits him well to still work in Italy.