The Business of Fashion
Agenda-setting intelligence, analysis and advice for the global fashion community.
Agenda-setting intelligence, analysis and advice for the global fashion community.
Riccardo Bellini, the former Diesel and Maison Margiela executive who has served as Chloé's chief executive since late 2019, will exit the brand at the end of December, parent company Richemont said in a statement Wednesday.
Laurent Malecaze, currently chief executive of Chloé owner Richemont’s British menswear brand Dunhill, will take over the role. Malecaze previously worked at US retailer The Webster (as chief operating officer, then CEO) before joining Richemont to help create its AZ Factory venture with designer Alber Elbaz, who passed away in April 2021. He moved to Dunhill in 2022.
Bellini presided over Chloé during a period of creative and commercial turbulence as the brand struggled to reinvigorate demand for its top-priced boho-chic propositions amid fierce competition from logo-driven megabrands, while also navigating the pandemic.
He worked alongside Louis Vuitton-alum Natacha Ramsay-Levi for a year before bringing on Uruguay-born, US-based designer Gabriela Hearst. Alongside Hearst, Bellini sought to modernise and elevate the brand, emphasising sustainability through initiatives like earning B-Corp certification, while also pushing more intricate, artisanal products and phasing out the “See by Chloé” diffusion line.
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Hearst left the brand in September, replaced by Chemena Kamali, previously Saint Laurent’s design director for women’s ready-to-wear, who is expected to supercharge Chloé's feminine, Parisienne codes.
Bellini’s decision to exit the brand was made “in full collaboration with the group to allow a proper completion of his mission and a smooth onboarding and start of the new creative director,” Richemont said.
While market sources said Bellini is leaving for another opportunity, BoF could not yet confirm where the executive is headed.
Kamali, a former design director at Saint Laurent, had previously been tapped to lead a parallel studio at Chloé as the brand prepared for Gabriela Hearst’s exit.
The designer’s last show for the Richemont-owned house will be on September 28. No successor has been named.
Robert Williams is Luxury Editor at the Business of Fashion. He is based in Paris and drives BoF’s coverage of the dynamic luxury fashion sector.
The group’s flagship Prada brand grew more slowly but remained resilient in the face of a sector-wide slowdown, with retail sales up 7 percent.
The guidance was issued as the French group released first-quarter sales that confirmed forecasts for a slowdown. Weak demand in China and poor performance at flagship Gucci are weighing on the group.
Consumers face less, not more, choice if handbag brands can't scale up to compete with LVMH, argues Andrea Felsted.
As the French luxury group attempts to get back on track, investors, former insiders and industry observers say the group needs a far more drastic overhaul than it has planned, reports Bloomberg.