Signaling the importance of retail excellence for luxury brands today, Lanvin Group’s new chief executive officer boasts extensive experience in luxury real estate, omnichannel platforms and hospitality.
On Friday, the publicly traded luxury company – home to Lanvin, Sergio Rossi, Wolford, St. John and Caruso – named Eric Chan its new CEO, and Huang Zhen, its new chairman, effective immediately.
The two men succeed Joann Cheng, the group’s founding chairman and CEO, who stepped down “to pursue new endeavors outside the group.”
Her next move could not immediately be learned.
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It is understood Lanvin Group will not significantly change course, leveraging Chan’s expertise as it continues to chart retail expansion across various geographies.
In a statement, the board of Lanvin Group expressed appreciation for Cheng’s dedication to the group and wished her “the best in her future career.”
Cheng called her six years at Lanvin Group “some of the most fulfilling of my career.”
“What started as an idea in 2017 has now become a listed company on the New York Stock Exchange with a solid track record of growth,” she commented, flagging that each of its five brands is “being reinvigorated with new leaders in place. “With the recent successful launch of the first Lanvin Lab collection, the appointment last week of the new CEO at Sergio Rossi and the imminent announcement of a new creative director at Lanvin, I am pleased to be stepping away from the group, with a clear creative direction set, and all the building blocks in place for the next phase of growth.”
(As reported, Sergio Rossi’s new CEO is fashion veteran Helen Wright, who has worked for Ralph Lauren, Fendi, Karl Lagerfeld, Anya Hindmarch and Belstaff.)
Chan is currently co-chairman of Greater Yuyuan Commercial Development Group and brings more than 30 years of experience across various industries. Greater Yuyuan, a Fosun-linked entity, was the developer for Yuyuan Garden Malls, a shopping area in Shanghai.
Chan previously held senior roles at Secoo Group, K11 Concepts, Wharf Group, CB Richard Ellis, Hong Kong MTR Corp. and Four Seasons Hotels & Resorts.
Lanvin Group highlighted Chan’s expertise in omnichannel shopping platforms, luxury commercial real estate projects, as well as offices and high-end hotels and resorts.
“His extensive real estate and consumer experience will be invaluable as we drive the next phase of the group’s growth and expand our footprint globally,” chairman Zhen said of Chan.
Lanvin Group is planning retail expansion for all its brands in North America, Europe, Asia and the Middle East. Flagship brand Lanvin, for example, currently operates only 32 boutiques worldwide.
Expressed as a percentage of first-half revenues, direct-to-consumer revenues accounted for 46.9 percent of the total at Lanvin, 67.1 percent at Wolford, 51 percent at Sergio Rossi, and 80.9 percent at St. John. Italian sartorial brand Caruso is a 100 percent wholesale-driven brand.
Zhen is a director of Fosun Group, which acquired Lanvin in 2018, and serves as executive director and executive president at Fosun International, which operates across health, tourism, manufacturing, consumer goods and services.
Chan said he is “delighted to be joining Lanvin Group at this exciting time in its development. We have great leaders across all our brands, a clear creative direction set for the coming years, and an exciting consumer engagement strategy spanning digital and retail.
“We see significant opportunities ahead to build out our international presence,” he added.
First-half revenues at Lanvin Group advanced 6.4 percent to 214.5 million euros, dented by a 10.8 percent dip at Lanvin, as reported. The company trumpeted growth across all channels and geographies, with Greater China advancing 13.9 percent, EMEA improving 5.3 percent, and North America inching up 2.6 percent.
Losses in the first half of 2023 widened to 40.9 million euros on the adjusted EBITDA line versus 35.5 million euros in the year-ago half, but the company said it’s on track to achieve breakeven in 2024.
Cheng was vice chief financial officer of Fosun International and executive president of Fosun Fashion Group when Fosun entered fashion and acquired a majority stake in Lanvin from Taiwanese media magnate Shaw-Lan Wang and Swiss businessman Ralph Bartel.
Cheng briefly served as interim CEO of Lanvin after it parted ways with its then-creative director Olivier Lapidus and general manager Nicolas Druz.
Two years later, Fosun Fashion Group changed its name to Lanvin Group, and brought on new investors, who brought the valuation of the Chinese fashion conglomerate to more than $1 billion.
“There’s a plan for every brand to come to China and grow,” Cheng told WWD at the time. “We still have 90 percent of sales coming from overseas markets. China only accounts for 10 percent of fashion revenues.”
This story was reported by WWD and originally appeared on WWD.com.
