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.
The Italian luxury house has named Mitchell Bacha its chief executive officer for Greater China, according to a statement from Valentino.
Bacha will be in charge of Valentino’s retail channel and online business, as well as continuing to raise the brand’s profile and strengthen its e-commerce presence in China.
Valentino, along with many other European luxury brands, has focused on providing immersive brand experiences within the Chinese market since the pandemic, as the Chinese shoppers they would normally serve overseas stay home to shop.
In December 2020, the brand launched a major exhibition at Shanghai’s Power Station of Art it called “Resignify”.
ADVERTISEMENT
Before joining Valentino, Bacha was chief executive of Diesel Asia Pacific, and prior to that, Celine China’s managing director.
With consumers tightening their belts in China, the battle between global fast fashion brands and local high street giants has intensified.
Investors are bracing for a steep slowdown in luxury sales when luxury companies report their first quarter results, reflecting lacklustre Chinese demand.
The French beauty giant’s two latest deals are part of a wider M&A push by global players to capture a larger slice of the China market, targeting buzzy high-end brands that offer products with distinctive Chinese elements.
Post-Covid spend by US tourists in Europe has surged past 2019 levels. Chinese travellers, by contrast, have largely favoured domestic and regional destinations like Hong Kong, Singapore and Japan.