Fashion’s c-suite earthquake: 12 power moves reshaping luxury, sport and beauty in 60 days

Boardrooms across Paris, Zürich and Sydney just coughed up their corner-office furniture. In a 48-hour cascade that started on 1 March and ends 2 May, a dozen iconic brands are swapping captains, co-founders are reclaiming the helm, and resale platforms are handing the keys to AI whisperers. Translation: the post-pandemic growth playbook is officially obsolete.

On hands the wheel back to its swiss inventors

Martin Hoffmann’s 13-year run ends 1 May. After steering On from glacier-trail cult to US$11 billion juggernaut, the former CFO will watch co-founders David Allemann and Caspar Coppetti reboot the brand as co-CEOs while still chairing the board. Scott Maguire, the quiet architect behind every Cloud mid-sole, slides into president-COO, now owning the full chain from lab to last-mile. Expect speed-laced product drops and a carbon-plated race to the $15 billion valuation Wall Street keeps whispering about.

Zimmermann lures moncler’s deal-maker

Australian floral-fantasy label Zimmermann poached Roberto Eggs from Remo Ruffini’s Moncler after a decade of puffer-powered expansion. Outgoing CEO Chris Olliver—who scaled Zimmermann from Sydney boutique to 58 stores—shifts to executive chair on 1 May, signalling a hand-off from antipodean charm to European rigour. Eggs arrives with a Rolodex full of Asian landlords and a reputation for turning runway heat into balance-sheet fire.

Vestiaire bets on an ai double-act

Second-hand platform Vestiaire Collective isn’t waiting for the resale bubble to burst. CEO Bernard Osta promoted Thomas Hézard—ex-BCG luxury strategist—to chief product officer and handed Rémi Bouchez the CTO keys. Their mandate: inject generative AI into every scroll, price-drop and authentication scan before competitors finish their sustainability slide decks.

Kering builds a digital war room

François-Henri Pinault lured Pierre Houlès from Renault’s data pits to become group chief digital, AI & IT officer. Houlès will report to Jean-Marc Duplaix—now pulling double duty as Kering COO and freshly minted CEO of Kering Jewelry, the new silo uniting Boucheron, Pomellato, Dodo and Qeelin. Translation: the conglomerate that once dismissed e-commerce as ‘soulless’ wants algorithmic pricing on every carat and calfskin by 2027.

Tag heuer taps its own talent pipeline

LVMH didn’t look far for Antoine Pin’s replacement: Béatrice Goasglas, Tag Heuer’s Americas president since 2021, climbs to global CEO on 1 May. Goasglas started as a Sephora CRM hire in 2007; now she must make Swiss chronographs seduce Gen-Z wrists weaned on Apple Ultras.

Wella installs a three-time ceo

beauty conglomerate Wella snagged Calvin McDonald from Lululemon’s stretchy empire to lead Clairol, OPI and ghd through post-private-equity life. McDonald’s remit: replicate the athleisure playbook—community, drops, direct-to-consumer fervour—inside the peroxide aisle.

The wool trade gets a wine guy

Bryan Fry traded grapes for fleece, leaving Pernod Ricard Winemakers to head Australian Wool Innovation. With merino prices spiking 30%—the sharpest jump since 1995—Fry must convince cash-strapped designers that sustainability narratives justify the premium.

Sneakerland’s new sales sheriff

Salomon’s mountaineering momentum gets a wholesale accelerator: Laura Stauth, ex-Vans SVP, now commands North American soft-goods sales. Expect Alpine Tech-Sin 5 GTX boots in every REI vestibule by holiday.

Valentino hires armani’s marketing brain

Liran Peterzil steps in as CMO after Yigit Turhan’s exit, tasked with translating Pierpaolo Piccioli’s Roman couture fantasy into TikTok gold.

Twelve moves, six weeks, zero nostalgia. The industry isn’t rotating chairs—it’s swapping entire engines while the plane is airborne. Fasten your seatbelts; the second-half numbers will tell who surfed and who slammed into the tarmac.