Philippe Fortunato takes over as head of Richemont's fashion division

By

Dominique Muret

Published
Jun 17, 2020

After 20 years at LVMH, Philippe Fortunato has moved to rival Richemont. As confirmed by the company to FashionNetwork.com, from 1 September, the executive will lead the Swiss luxury group's fashion and accessories division as CEO. He succeeds Eric Vallat, who left in October 2019 in order to take over as CEO of Rémy Cointreau. 

Having graduated with a degree in business and finance, Fortunato began his career at the end of the 1980s. Following time spent at Chantelle and the Chalhoub group, he joined LVMH as managing director of the Asia-Pacific region for the Dior brand. This was the beginning of an intense career at the French luxury giant, which led to Fortunato serving as managing director of Fendi for eight years, and then as president and CEO of China, then Northern Asia, at Louis Vuitton. Finally he took over as CEO of Givenchy in 2014. 
 
He comes to Richemont at a particularly interesting time. In October, the Swiss conglomerate announced a partnership with designer Alber Elbaz through the creation of a joint venture called AZfashion, described as a "dynamic and innovative start-up, meant to turn dreams into reality."

It is a project that attests to Richemont's desire to invest in its fashion division, which includes brands such as Chloé and Alaïa. This business unit is the group's smallest, accounting for less than 15% of its total sales, with jewellery bringing in more than half of revenues, principally due to the Cartier and Van Cleef & Arpels brands, and watch sales. The world's second largest luxury group also owns the Dunhill, Montblanc, Serapian, Purdey and Peter Millar brands.