Richemont Removes CEO Role

Fashion´s famous revolving doors are not limited to creative directors right now - major changes on the executive side of fashion houses have been making headlines of late, and luxury conglomerate Richemont is currently in the spotlight.

The company has announced that chief executive officer, Richard Lepeu, and chief financial officer, Gary Saage, will both step down from their roles when they retire next year, while eight additional directors will also step down, reports Bloomberg. Richemont, which owns fashion houses including Chloé, Cartier, Piaget, Shanghai Tang and Alaia, recently announced a drop in profits of watches and leather goods, which is said to have prompted the shake-up.

“One individual cannot be held responsible, it’s unfair,” said chairman Johann Rupert, who revealed that moving forward the CEO position will be abolished. “We will never have a similar CEO again. Now it’s time for us to start looking at another generation."

The group isn't the only fashion company which has looked to restructure its managing board. This year, Burberry appointed Marco Gobbetti, formerly of Céline, as CEO to support Christopher Bailey in his role of chief creative officer and president, while former Versace CEO Gian Giacomo Ferraris was appointed at Roberto Cavlli - prompting a well-publicised overhaul - leaving the vacant position at Versace for Jonathan Akeroyd - formerly of Alexander McQueen to fill.