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To celebrate the 100th anniversary of its signature pen, the Meisterst\u00fcck,<\/strong><\/b> created in 1924, Montblanc is treating itself to a luxury \u201cveteran\u201d…<\/strong><\/b><\/p>\n <\/p>\n Giorgio Sarn\u00e9, the new CEO<\/strong><\/b> of the Swiss house of writing instruments, has over 20 years’ experience<\/strong><\/b> in management positions in the ultra-high-end world.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n For the past four years, this graduate ofMilan’s Bocconi University and<\/strong><\/b> Paris’sHautes Etudes Commerciales (HEC)<\/strong><\/b> was President and CEO<\/strong><\/b> of the American shoe brand Stuart Weitzman, owned by the Tapestry Group.<\/strong><\/b><\/p>\n <\/p>\n Prior to joining the American luxury goods group, Giorgio Sarn\u00e9 held senior positions at Veuve Clicquot and TAG Heuer,<\/strong><\/b> two LVMH-owned<\/strong><\/b> brands.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n After champagne, watchmaking and fashion, he has now embarked on the adventure of luxury pens.<\/strong><\/b><\/p>\n<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Giorgio Sarn\u00e9, who takes up his responsibilities at Montblanc on November 15, replaces Philippe Fortunato, CEO of Richemont’s fashion and accessories division<\/strong><\/b>, who has held the position on an interim basis since Nicolas Baretzki<\/strong><\/b> stepped down at the end of 2022.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n After six years at the helm of Montblanc, Baretzki joined Christian Dior,<\/strong><\/b> where he was appointed deputy CEO in charge of commercial activities…<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Philippe Fortunato, said he was \u201cdelighted to welcome Giorgio to the Group as CEO of Montblanc\u201d and praised \u201chis great expertise in creating luxury brands<\/strong><\/b>, whether \u2018soft\u2019 or \u2018hard\u2019, comes at a pivotal time, as the House celebrates the 100th anniversary of the iconic Meisterst\u00fcck\u201d.<\/strong><\/b><\/p>\n <\/p>\n He is confident that \u201cunder Giorgio’s leadership, Montblanc will continue to share its 118-year history<\/strong><\/b> and rich heritage of writing culture, leather craftsmanship and watchmaking in new and unexpected ways\u201d.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n For his part, Giorgio Sarn\u00e9 \u201clooks forward to working closely with Montblanc’s talented teams to continue nurturing and celebrating the culture of writing<\/strong><\/b> around the world\u201d.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n This appointment comes at a time when the Richemont Group is not in the best of Olympic form.<\/strong><\/b><\/p>\n <\/p>\n After a record performance in 2023-24, the Swiss group marked time in its first quarter of<\/strong><\/b> the current financial year , ended June 30<\/strong><\/b>, dragged down by Chinese activity, wholesale sales and the watch division.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Sales fell by 1%<\/strong><\/b> on a reported basis (+1% at constant exchange rates), to 5.3 billion euros.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n However, the Group’s Fashion and Accessories division, which in addition to the Montblanc brand includes<\/strong><\/b> the Maisons Ala\u00efa, Chlo\u00e9, Delvaux, Dunhill, Delvaux et Peter Millar and Gianvito Rossi, stood out with an increase of 6%<\/strong><\/b> (both on a reported basis and at constant exchange rates) to 701 million euros. However,<\/strong><\/b>it represents only 13% of Group sales<\/strong><\/b>, far behind the historic Watch and Jewelry divisions (Cartier, Vacheron Constantin, Panerai, Jaeger-Lecoultre, Buccellati, Van Cleef & Arpels…).<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n In any case, Giorgio Sarn\u00e9’s appointment shows the limits of the inclusivity policy advocated by Johann Rupert at the end of 2016.<\/strong><\/b><\/p>\n <\/p>\n At the Annual General Meeting, the owner of the Richemont group had proclaimed thathe didn’t want to \u201csee as many white men with greying hair\u201d<\/strong><\/b>. This was the trigger for an aggiornamento within the company.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Last spring, in response to the company’s recent mediocre performance, the management team underwent yet another overhaul.<\/strong><\/b><\/p>\n <\/p>\n In addition to the replacement of Managing Director J\u00e9r\u00f4me Lambert by Nicolas Bos,<\/strong><\/b> previously Managing Director of Van Cleef & Arpels, three appointments were made<\/strong><\/b> to the company’s senior executive committee<\/strong><\/b>: Karlheinz Baumann, Group Operations Director, de Boet Brinkgreve, Managing Director of Laboratoire de Haute Parfumerie et Beaut\u00e9, and Swen Grundmann, Group Secretary General and Director of Corporate Affairs.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n On an operational level, St\u00e9phanie Martinez was appointed General Manager of Montblanc.<\/strong><\/b><\/p>\n <\/p>\n Following on from these recent appointments, Giorgio Sarn\u00e9’s appointment shows that it is still possible to be male, not a newcomer, and still be considered worthy of joining the top management of the Swiss group<\/strong><\/b>!<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \n<\/p>\n \t\t118 years old<\/h2>\n
Poor form for Richemont<\/h2>\n
The limits of the inclusivity policy…<\/h2>\n