Valentino Names Greater China CEO
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MILAN — The house of Valentino has tapped Mitchell Bacha as chief executive officer for Greater China.
Bacha reports to Marco Giacometti, Valentino’s chief commercial officer, and succeeds Oliver Yang, who held the role of CEO Asia Pacific since 2008.
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Bacha, who is Australian, has extensive experience within the fashion and luxury industry throughout the Asian market. Over the last year, he was CEO Asia Pacific for Diesel.
Previously, he worked for the LVMH Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton Group as managing director for Celine China for five years, helping to boost the brand’s retail performance. Before that, he spent over eight years at Hugo Boss, where he held roles of increasing responsibility focused on retail and wholesale channels.
Bacha is tasked with helping to develop the next phase of the brand’s expansion, “overseeing its implementation across the markets allowing Valentino to powerfully grow within the Greater China region,” said the Rome-based company. He will support the company’s network extension, focusing on the retail channel, while continuing to strengthen brand awareness in the region and reinforcing its e-commerce presence.
There are 28 Valentino stores in Greater China and two openings are planned in China this year: One at Mall Center 66 in the city of Wuxi in May and one in Mall Deji in the city of Nanjing in August.
Valentino said it overcame the slowdown effects caused by the global COVID-19 pandemic, “especially crippling in the first half of the year 2020, with a solid growth in e-commerce sales and a brisk retail performance in mainland China.”
The Valentino online channel registered a 77 percent increase in e-commerce sales.
As reported, last year Valentino revenues were down 28 percent. In the 12 months ended Dec. 31, the couture house reported sales of 882 million euros, compared with 1.22 billion euros in 2019, reflecting the impact of travel restrictions and lockdowns.
Mainland China has increasingly been a focus for Valentino and its retail business in the area grew 44 percent compared to 2019.
Valentino, which is owned by the Qatar-based investment firm Mayhoola, has been boosting its C-suite under the lead of CEO Jacopo Venturini, named to the role last June and succeeding Stefano Sassi.
In January, Enzo Quarenghi joined Valentino as chief client officer and digital acquisition. This position is part of a new division spearheaded by Venturini, to whom Quarenghi reports.
The new role signaled Valentino’s increased focus on digital and an acceleration of its strategy to place customers at the center of its business, communication and marketing activities.
As reported, last October Valentino tapped Rosa Santamaria Maurizio as chief human resources officer — also a new role.
Last September, Valentino named Laurent Bergamo CEO, Americas. Bergamo reports to Giacometti, who arrived at the company last year.
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