By Gary Symons
TLL Editor in Chief
Prada is going through momentous changes as the renowned fashion house’s co-CEO’s and founders prepare to step down.
Miuccia Prada and her husband Patrizio Bertelli are stepping back from their day-to-day leadership roles as they prepare to transition the company to the next generation. The couple’s son, Lorenzo Bertelli, is expected to take on the leadership of Prada in a few years, but in the meantime, Prada has hired a CEO for both the fashion house Prada and for parent company the Prada Group.
The new CEO at Prada Group will be Andrea Guerra, after his appointment is confirmed by the board in January. As well, the company has just hired on Gianfranco D’Attis to lead its flagship Prada brand.
D’Attis and Guerra know each other well and have worked together for years. D’Attis was most recently the president of LVMH’s Christian Dior brand in the Americas, while Guerra was also hired from LVMH, and was the former head of Luxottica.
Reuters reported earlier that the fashion group was set to hire Guerra in a top management role to ease the transition from the founders to their son, completing a multigenerational dynesty for the family.
The fashion group, a Hong Kong listed company, was originally founded in Milan, Italy in 1913 by Miuccia Prada’s grandfather and his brother as a leather goods shop.
In 2017 Bertelli told the media the company planned to introduce son Lorenso as the company’s new CEO, but he and his wife recently said there would be a transition phase.
“This is a fundamental step we have decided to undertake, while completely engaged in the company, to contribute more to the evolution of the Prada Group and to ease the succession of Lorenzo Bertelli, the future leader of the group,” they said in a statement.
Lorenzo Bertelli currently manages the group’s marketing, communications and sustainability efforts, and holds a senior manage role.
If all goes to plan, the current CEO Patrizio Bertelli, 76, will be appointed chairman of the luxury company at the annual shareholder meeting next spring. He will replace Paolo Zannoni who will be recommended for the role of executive deputy chairman of the group and chairman of its parent company Prada Holding.
Current co-CEO Miuccia Prada, 73, will remain creative director of the Miu Miu and Prada brands – the latter together with Belgian designer Raf Simons – and will also stay on as a board member.
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