William Pak and his wife Christin Chiu, respectively CEO and chair of the board of directors of Hong Kong-listed fashion group Esprit, resigned from their roles on December 19. Bradley Wright, currently executive director of the group, has taken charge of Esprit ad interim.
Esprit
Pak was named CEO in 2022, having previously collaborated with Esprit as company transformation consultant, then CEO ad interim, and later as COO. He was tasked with the mission of stemming the group’s nearly decade-long decline, notably by streamlining Esprit’s costly European store fleet. Especially in Germany, the country which accounted for half of Esprit’s business.
British executive Bradley Wright was named executive director and board member of Esprit Holdings Ltd at the end of 2021. As interim CEO, he will oversee the reorganisation of the group’s senior executive team, and especially an overhaul of Esprit’s European operations.
The executive director slots vacated by Pak and Chiu will be assumed by Jianyi Liu, formerly senior vice-president in charge of Esprit’s China operations, and by Li Hui, in charge of the group’s legal affairs in Asia.
These senior executive changes are occurring at the end of another troubled year for Esprit, whose revenue fell by 75% in H1. The group is relying on its licensing business to generate cash, in the wake of the insolvency proceedings for its German subsidiaries, which were triggered in 2024.
They were followed by the default of Esprit’s US subsidiary in October 2024, while its French business went into judicial liquidation in September of the same year. The group recorded heavy losses in fiscal 2024, with revenue dropping by 16% to €4.6 million.
