Coming From Dunhill, Malecaze Succeeds Riccardo Bellini and Joins New Creative Director Chemena Kamali
Chloé has announced the appointment of new CEO Laurent Malecaze. Malecaze joins the Richemont-owned brand following his tenure as the CEO of Dunhill, where he worked since January 2022.
Malecaze said he’s “extremely honored to be leading such an iconic French luxury maison” and “thrilled to start this new chapter with the immensely talented Chemena Kamali.”
The new CEO succeeds Riccardo Bellini, who led Chloé for four years and is credited, in tandem with former creative director Gabriela Hearst, with revitalizing the brand’s business structure and pivoting towards a “purpose-based” model that focuses on sustainability, feminism, accountability, and creativity. He fast-tracked the company’s sustainability efforts by appointing Gabriela Hearst and achieving B Corp certification. He also led the appointment of new creative director Chemena Kamali, who is set to hold her runway debut for Fall 2024 in Paris in February. Under Bellini, Chloé experienced “a period of growth and strong results both financially and creatively,” according to Richemont.
“I am proud of four amazing years of business growth, transformation and successful results, the continuous elevation of the maison and the leadership and pioneering role that Chloé plays today in sustainability,” Bellini said in a statement, thanking his teams and Richemont for their “support and partnership.”
Malecaze’s appointment continues an impressive trajectory for the French industry leader; in 2020 he was the inaugural CEO of AZ Factory, the joint venture between the late fashion designer Alber Elbaz and Richemont. Staying within Richemont, Malecaze then moved to Dunhill in early 2022, and now steps up at Chloé. Kamali is also a Richemont veteran, as she’s worked at Chloé under Phoebe Philo and Claire Wright Keller, after which she moved to Saint Laurent.
The appointments reflect an increasing industry trend of internal promotion. Whereas previously it was not uncommon to bring in a new CEO or creative leader from a different company or conglomerate, the new appointments of the past year especially have seen the open positions go to long-time employees – in large part due to the complex growth of the industry and the sheer scale of corporate structures.