Christian Dior’s veteran chief executive Sidney Toledano will replace Pierre-Yves Roussel as head of the LVMH fashion group, amid a major senior reshuffle.
Roussel, who head of the group’s fashion arm, will relinquish his role to become special advisor to LVMH’s chief executive and chairman Bernard Arnault in January, assuming “new operational responsibilities” in the near future.
Meanwhile, Dior’s current boss Toledano, who has been at the head of the brand for nearly 20 years, will be succeeded by the chief executive of LVMH stablemate Fendi, Pietro Beccari.
Although Beccari’s successor has not yet been named, Arnault had hailed his appointment as “a new era” for Dior, adding that “he will be an excellent leader who will steer Dior towards ever greater success in the future”.
Toledano began his career at Dior in 1994 as director of leather goods, with Dior releasing its iconic Lady Dior handbag a year later under his direction. He was promoted to chief executive three years later.
Arnault added: “Sidney Toledano is the driving force behind the huge success of Christian Dior Couture across the world.
“Over the past 25 years, he has done an outstanding job of developing the exceptional House of Christian Dior Couture and of promoting its elegance and modernity through its highly talented team of designers.”
The news comes after LVMH consolidated its control of the Christian Dior brand in April, which brought its perfumes and beauty arms together under one roof with Christian Dior Couture. The latter had previously been independent of LVMH since a 1960s-era deal.
LVMH a business empire that owns Louis Vuitton, Marc Jacobs, Sephora, Givenchy, Fendi, Tag Heuer, Bulgari, Kenzo and various upmarket brands which also operate standalone retail stores across the globe.
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