Mar 22, 2019
2 minutes
Bottega Veneta appoints new CEO for Europe
Mar 22, 2019
Bottega Veneta is bringing in an Adidas executive to lead its European team. Massimiliano Brunazzo has been named as the new CEO of the Kering-owned brand's Europe, the Middle East and Africa (EMEA) zone, as confirmed to FashionNetwork.com by the company. A matter of weeks ago, the executive was still based at Adidas' German headquarters, where he served as general manager of concept to consumer sports BUs and "Heartbeat Sports" – the sportswear giant's name for major sports in certain markets – but has now returned to Milan.
The Italian luxury house's CEO Claus-Dietrich Lahrs has therefore chosen a successor for Marc LeMat, who was recruited in mid-2017 and left the company in February, tasking Brunazzo with leading a zone which saw its fair share of struggles last year. In 2018, Bottega Veneta saw its revenue drop 3% to 1.11 billion euros, 82% of which was accounted for by its company-owned store network. However, sales in the brand's stores in Western Europe fared particularly badly, falling 12% compared to 2017. In Kering's annual results presentation, the group highlighted that the brand had suffered from a decline in tourist spending.
Brunazzo will therefore be looking to turn the brand's business around in Europe, implementing the new strategy previously announced by the label and following the creative lead of Daniel Lee. The executive spent two years at Adidas, having previously worked at Hugo Boss from 2011 to 2016, heading up the brand's Southern Europe zone. Prior to this, he had already spent five years at Adidas, having cut his teeth in the sportswear industry at Oberalp and Mistral.
On an interesting side note, Lahrs, who has led Bottega Veneta since 2016, met both Marc LeMat and Brunazzo during his tenure as CEO at Hugo Boss, which lasted from 2008 to 2016. This is also the second time that Brunazzo is following in LeMat's footsteps, having already succeeded him as head of the German label's French subsidiary in 2015.
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