Breaking news: Christopher Bailey will relinquish his position as Chief Executive of Burberry as he moves to become President. In light of a fall in annual net profits, the British label has looked outside the house (namely to Celine) for a new CEO. Come 2017, Marco Gobetti, current chairman and CEO of the French luxury house, will join Burberry’s board. He will be working beside Bailey, who will then adopt the dual roles of President and Chief Creative Officer (don’t worry, he’s not leaving nor giving up having dual roles).
This move might be a reaction to Burberry’s relative financial gloom, where the label has opted for cost savings in a three-year programme totalling at least £100 million (that’s USD$130 million) in a classic fight-or-flight stance. In response, Burberry’s shares have risen 4.2% to 1.211 pence just on Monday.
“I am delighted that Marco will be joining us to work alongside Christopher in his new role as we embark upon the next chapter in our 160-year-old success story,” stated Burberry Chairman John Peace.
We’ll take this as a subtle statement that the act of performing double duty (as both CEO and Creative Director) so prevalent in the fashion industry isn’t without the formation of cracks (overachievers are people after all). Hopefully, this move will see better designs from Burberry, with Bailey now more freed up to fully utilise his creative talents. (You go, Glen Coco.)
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