Lancel finds its CEO

By

Florent Gilles

Published
Sep 10, 2012

The corporate saga at Lancel is over. The house has been searching for a new CEO since January and has now finally found one. 43-year-old Italian Fabrizio Cardinali will take over Lancel management following his six years in various positions at Dolce & Gabbana, most recently as worldwide director. Prior to that, Cardinali worked as a sales director at Diesel and Levi Strauss & Co. "Fabrizio brings business expertise, industry insight and a proven track record in global brand building, which will complement the creative direction established by Leonello Borghi," said Marty Wickstom, CEO of Richemont Fashion and Accessories. "But also the development of brands on an international scale, both complementary strengths to the artistic direction taken by Leonello Borghi (Lancel's CD, ed.)" 

Until now, 2012 has been a year of departures at Lancel. In October, Fabrizio Cardinali will be taking the post vacated by Eric Langlon, who left to head Sonia Rykiel last spring. That move interrupted the temporary assignment Langlon had accepted following the resignation of Marc Lelandais in January 2012, who meanwhile is president of Vivarte. 

During this period of obvious trouble, Lancel has pursued its business development plan, opening its first flagship store in Shanghai, China in April, a Kuala Lumpur store in May and a store in Paris at the Carrousel du Louvre in June. In the coming months, a store will open its doors in Antwerp and new points of sale will be launched in Russia and Asia.