British fashion house Burberry will now be led by two Italians after it appointed Riccardo Tisci as its new chief creative officer.
Tisci will replace longtime creative chief and former chief executive Christopher Bailey, who presented his final collection at the recent London Fashion Week.
Tisci will begin his tenure at the coveted role from March 12 and will be based at the luxury retailer’s London headquarters.
He joins the FTSE 100 firm after more than a decade at Givenchy, where he was creative director from 2005 to 2017.
Like Tisci, Burberry chief executive Marco Gobbetti is also originally from Italy and they previously worked together when the latter was president and chief executive of Givenchy from 2004 to 2008.
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“I am delighted that Riccardo is joining Burberry as chief creative officer,” Gobbetti said.
“Riccardo is one of the most talented designers of our time. His designs have an elegance that is contemporary and his skill in blending streetwear with high fashion is highly relevant to today’s luxury consumer.
“Riccardo’s creative vision will reinforce the ambitions we have for Burberry and position the brand firmly in luxury.”
A graduate of Central Saint Martins in London, Tisci has also collaborated with Nike since 2014 and previously held design roles at Puma, Antonio Berardi and Ruffo Research.
At Burberry, he will be responsbile for directing all collections and will present his first collection in September.
He is known for creating costumes for work by performance artist Marina Abramovic, designing stage outfits for world tours of Madonna, Beyoncé and Rihanna, as well as directing the artwork for the Watch the Throne album by Jay Z and Kanye West.
“I am honoured and delighted to be joining Burberry as its new chief creative officer and reuniting with Marco Gobbetti,” Tisco said.
“I have an enormous respect for Burberry’s British heritage and global appeal and I am excited about the potential of this exceptional brand.”
Bailey marked the end of his tenure at Burberry with a final, rainbow-themed collection unveiled at London Fashion Week last month.
He first joined Burberry in 2001 and has been credited as a driving force behind the brand’s revitalisation and success both as a high street retailer and fashion label.
He was promoted to the dual role of chief executive and chief creative officer in May 2014, a position he held for just over three years.
In July last year, he gave up his chief executive officer duties for Marco Gobbetti and transitioned to a dual role of president and chief creative officer.
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