LVMH has named two new CEOs at its leading fashion houses, with Ramon Ros taking over at Fendi and Charlotte Coupé appointed at Kenzo.

Both senior executives come from positions in LVMH’s flagship brand, Louis Vuitton. They will report to Sidney Toledano, senior advisor to the LVMH Group chairman and the conglomerate’s controlling shareholder, Bernard Arnault.

In a separate move, Daniel DiCiccio has been named president and CEO of Mainland China for Louis Vuitton, effective April 28, 2025. He will be based in Shanghai and report to David Ponzo, chief commercial officer of Louis Vuitton.

Ros’ new position takes effect on July 1, succeeding Pierre-Emmanuel Angeloglou, who joined Fendi in May 2024 but will become deputy CEO of Christian Dior Couture on April 15, as reported.
 
In November, the house’s creative director, Kim Jones, left Fendi. A successor to Jones has yet to be named. In the interim, Silvia Venturini Fendi has designed the runway collections of Fendi.

“Throughout his proven track record of success within LVMH, especially at Louis Vuitton, where, as president and CEO of Mainland China, Ros has been instrumental in developing the brand desirability, as well as building and nurturing a talented local team. Ramon’s deep expertise in luxury retailing, coupled with his passion for product excellence and collaborative leadership, will enable him to elevate the Roman maison to new heights, preserving Fendi’s unique history and commitment to artisanal craftsmanship,” LVMH said in a release Monday morning.

Ros began his career at Marks & Spencer in the UK before moving to Diesel and Tous, where he held various senior management positions in the headquarters. He joined the LVMH Group in 2013 as the managing director of Givenchy China and spent three years in Shanghai building up the business. In 2016, he was named international director of Givenchy, based in France. Since 2020, Ros has worked at Louis Vuitton in China. He is a graduate of the University of Barcelona and IESE.

While at Kenzo, LVMH predicted that Coupé “will capitalize on her extensive fashion experience and leadership to further expand brand desirability and continue the modernization and expansion of the French maison. Her genuine passion for product, deep fashion knowledge, and proven ability to collaborate with iconic and innovative creative directors, particularly at Louis Vuitton, where she managed the men’s ready-to-wear business unit, significantly contributed to the impressive growth of that category.”

Coupé starts her new job on May 1, succeeding Sylvain Blanc, who “after initiating a new chapter at Kenzo and laying the ground for its ambitious development… is leaving the group to pursue new projects.”

During his tenure, Blanc worked with Japanese designer Nigo, who also collaborated with Pharrell Williams to create men’s collections for Louis Vuitton.

Coupé began her career at Ralph Lauren in 2006, first in the customer service department, then in menswear merchandising. In 2013, she joined Lacoste as a senior product director for menswear before joining Louis Vuitton in 2016 as men’s ready-to-wear director. She holds a master’s degree from ISC Paris and another from the Sorbonne University.

Over at Vuitton, DiCiccio joins LVMH after an accomplished international career, where he spent 12 years in Asia, holding regional leadership positions across entertainment, fashion, and retail. Since 2018, Daniel has been leading global worldwide retail for Apple.

“His extensive expertise in retail and merchandising, passion for client experience, and deep knowledge of Asian markets and customers, alongside his extensive experience in talent development, will be instrumental to empowering our local teams and continuing Louis Vuitton’s growth in China,” LVMH said of DiCiccio.

DiCiccio began his career at Sony Music in New York City, eventually becoming president of Asia. He then moved to Coach as president and CEO of Japan/North Asia and later transitioned to Apple, overseeing business in Japan and Korea. He holds a Bachelor of Arts degree from Harvard University and has completed the AMP program at Harvard Business School.

Jacobs & Turner, the company that owns the Trespass outdoor brand, has filed its accounts for the year to last June and on a purely financial level, they don’t make happy reading. The company’s profit plummeted during the year despite revenue dipping by only a tiny amount. 

The firm designs, wholesale and retails its outdoor clothing and related goods and said that the financial year was a challenging one for the retail sector. It’s operating costs continued to rise and in the tough marketplace, sales were relatively flat. The US dollar also maintained a strong position for most of the year, impacting the cost of goods and freight. 

That said further growth for the business was achieved in strategic locations across Europe.

So let’s look at the numbers. Group turnover edged down marginally to £127.3 million from £127.4 million a year earlier. But retail sales stayed “strong across the year with some favourable weather conditions for the range”.  E-commerce continued to grow too and the firm expanded the range of marketplaces “to help facilitate future growth opportunities”.

Also good news was the fact that the gross margin increased to 36.9% from 30.9%. But pre-tax profit, as mentioned, dived. It went down to £1.3 million from £9.7 million. Net profit for the year was just over £300,000, a sharp comedown from the £7.6 million of the previous 12-month period.

The company, which was founded in 1983 and launched Trespass in 1984, is headquartered in Glasgow. It’s owned by the Khushi family and their dividends dropped to £400,000 for the year from £8.4 million in the prior year.

Luxury department store Harrods is always launching new initiatives to target consumers in its key markets and the latest is an exclusive multi-year strategic agreement with Visa, offering new co-branded card products for customers across the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC).

The agreement will extend the Harrods Rewards Programme to customers in Qatar and Kuwait through co-branded credit cards issued by Qatar National Bank and National Bank of Kuwait.

Cardholders will have the opportunity to earn Harrods Rewards points on their everyday purchases, “enhancing shopping experiences with the British luxury retailer”.

The seven-year deal with the payments giant marks “a significant expansion of its presence in the GCC luxury market”.

It will launch during the current quarter and is the first time Harrods’ co-brand credit card programme will be available in the GCC.

Cardholders will earn Harrods Rewards points for purchases across the British retailer’s extensive product portfolio, when spending in the cardholder’s home country and abroad, in addition to enjoying exclusive in-store benefits and cardmembers events.

Harrods MD Michael Ward called the deal “a key milestone in Harrods’ international growth strategy. This collaboration allows us to strengthen our connection with valued customers in the GCC, offering both loyal and new clientele in Qatar and Kuwait an enhanced rewards experience that reflects the excellence and personal service synonymous with Harrods. We look forward to expanding our offering in the future and bringing the Harrods experience even closer to our customers, wherever they are”.