Vivarte: Richard Simonin new CEO

By

Jean-Paul Leroy

Published
Oct 30, 2014

Now that the group's financial restructuring has been finalised and Marc Lelandais has been relieved of his duties, the new Board of Directors has announced its new makeup and the nomination of Richard Simonin as the new CEO of the specialised distribution group.

It doesn't come as a surprise since it was the next logical step following his presentation as a replacement in September.

The Board also announced the appointment of Pierre Trotot as Chairman and General Manager. He was already General Manager as of May 2014. Previously he was Chairman and Deputy General Manager of SFR.

Richard Simonin's background is well-known by those in the fashion industry. Richard Simonin has extensive experience in the sales sector in Europe. Before joining Vivarte, he was President and General Director of Limoni, the specialist Italian leader in high-end cosmetics and perfume retail sales which he joined in 2011. Previously he was a partner at Tamerlan Investment Partner after being the General Manager of Etam from 2005 to 2010 and Harrods Ltd from 2003 to 2005. He was a member of the Board of Directors and President of the Supervisory Board at Escada in Munich from 1999 to 2003 and the CEO of Escada Beauté group from 2000 to 2002.

From 1997 to 1999, he was the General Manager of La Redoute. In the LVMH group from 1992 to 1997, he was successively the CEO of Givenchy Couture and Kenzo. Richard Simonin started his career in 1975 by creating and managing Kit Voyages, before taking on management functions at Pimkie as of 1978 and Kappa Sport as of 1981.

The makeup of the new Board of Directors is also expressive of the company's expections for development. Its members of course include representatives of the key shareholders: Donald Bryden for Oaktree Luxembourg Flandre Anchor, Stuart Mathieso for Babson Flandre Limited, Kevin Lennon for Alcentra Flandre Limited… And Christian Pimont for GoldenTree Vivarte Governance SCS.