On Monday, SMCP, a French fashion group controlled by Shandong Ruyi, announced the appointment of Isabelle Guichot as the new CEO to replace outgoing Daniel Lalonde.
SMCP is the parent company of French fashion brands such as Sandro, Maje and Claudie Pierlot. Isabelle Guichot has been the CEO of Maje since September 2017, and Maje is one of the most successful brands of SMCP. According to SMCP, Isabelle Guichot "successfully developed the brand and demonstrated her business and leadership skills".
Daniel Lalonde, the former group CEO, has resigned and will leave SMCP before October, "to ensure a smooth transition with Isabelle Guichot." Daniel Lalonde will be the CEO of Italian high-end home furnishing group Design Holding in October. Design Holding is controlled by Italian private equity funds Investindustrial and Carlyle Group, and owns Danish lamp brand Louis Poulsen, famous Italian home brands Flos, B&B Italia, Arclinea, Maxalto and A zucena.
Isabelle Guichot started her career in Cartier, a jewelry brand owned by Richemont, Switzerland. She has worked in Cartier for 13 years. Later, she served as CEO of several brands of Richemont and Kering, including Van Cleef & Arpels of Richemont and Lancel (sold by Richemont to Italian Piquadro Group in 2018); Balenciaga (Balenciaga) and Sergio Rossi of Kaiyun (sold by Kaiyun in 2015 and now belonging to Fosun Fashion Group).
Isabelle Guichot and the SMCP board are looking for the next leader in the Maje brand.
SMCP thanked Daniel Lalonde for his "great work in the past eight years and his solid leadership and commitment during the recent epidemic". SMCP said that it will continue to implement the "One Journey" plan, which was led by Daniel Lalonde in the past, aiming at "enhancing the brand appeal, expanding the physical business, strengthening the platform, and strengthening the commitment to sustainable development".
Zegna
Italian luxury goods group Ermenegildo Zegna Group (Dzheniya) announced the appointment of Francesca Di Pasquantonio as Director of Investor Relations.
Francesca Di Pasquantonio enjoys an outstanding reputation in the international financial community, especially in securities research. Francesca joined Merrill Lynch International Limited’s London headquarters in the early 1990s to engage in securities research, and then worked in the corporate finance department of Bahrain Bank of ING Group in the Netherlands, successively in Milan and London.
She then joined the Milan branch of BT Alex Brown investment bank in the United States, and then worked for Unicredit Banca Mobiliare, a subsidiary of Italian Yuxin Bank and headquartered in Milan. With rich experience, she was appointed managing director of Deutsche Bank and head of global luxury securities research department. She has been stationed in Milan and Mumbai, and is currently responsible for the overall planning of the global luxury securities research of Deutsche Bank in London.
She will join Dzheniya Group on September 1st, 2021.
Last month, Dzheniya announced its merger with a special purpose acquisition company, and plans to list on the new york Stock Exchange in the second half of this year. Initiated by European investment group Investindustrial, the company is a company listed on the New York Stock Exchange. (For details, see Gorgeous Annals: Depth | Why did Dzheniya, a century-old luxury menswear, go public through SPAC? )