Delphine Arnault, daughter of Bernard Arnault, has been appointed CEO of the Christian Dior house while Pietro Beccari, who held this position, will take the helm of the Louis Vuitton house, the world’s leading luxury brand, the LVMH group announced on Wednesday in a statement.
Delphine Arnault, 47, was until now deputy general manager of Louis Vuitton, responsible for overseeing all product activities since 2013, after having worked at Christian Dior for twelve years.
“The appointment of Delphine Arnault marks the continuation of a path of excellence in fashion and leather goods. Under his direction, the desirability of the products has progressed considerably, allowing the brand to fly from record to record. His sharp eye and his incomparable experience will be decisive assets in pursuing the development of Christian Dior,” said his father, quoted in the press release.
The five children of the businessman already work in the LVMH group: in addition to Delphine, Antoine, the eldest son, was appointed last December as general manager of the holding company Christian Dior SE, which controls the world number one in luxury LVMH , as well as vice-chairman of the board of directors of the holding company. He is also Managing Director of Berluti, Chairman of Loro Piana, Image and Environment Director of the LVMH group, and Director of LVMH.
Alexandre Arnault is for his part executive vice-president of the jeweler Tiffany. Frédéric is CEO of Tag Heuer and Jean is Director of Marketing and Watch Development for Louis Vuitton.
Regarding the appointment of Pietro Beccari, Bernard Arnault on Wednesday highlighted his “exceptional work over the past five years” at Dior. According to him, “there is no doubt that it will lead Louis Vuitton to even greater desirability and success”.
The billionaire also praised “the tremendous work” carried out by Michael Burke after ten years at the head of Louis Vuitton, which allowed the brand to “widen the gap with its competitors”.
“Beyond Louis Vuitton, he was able to successfully support the integration [du joaillier] Tiffany in the group”, added the billionaire quoted in the press release, specifying that Mr. Burke will take “new functions directly with” with him.
Bernard Arnault, 73, recently became the world’s leading fortune with his family ahead of Elon Musk, boss of Tesla, SpaceX and Twitter, according to the Forbes ranking.