MILAN — Aeffe has picked new leaders for its Moschino and Pollini brands.
The Italian manufacturer has appointed Thierry Andretta and Antonella Tomasetti chief executive officers of Moschino and Pollini, respectively, effective Jan. 1.
“We wanted to give more autonomy to each brand,” said Massimo Ferretti, chairman of Aeffe, which also controls the Alberta Ferretti business. “These appointments are an expression of our intention to expand these businesses and accelerate their growth,” Ferretti said. He praised Andretta, who was president of Replay U.S., as a “team man, an experienced manager who will know how to further develop the Moschino brand.”
The announcements came after Aeffe’s buyback this month of a 20 percent stake in the group from merchant bank Sanpaolo IMI — a move made to directly control management and strategies, effectively scrapping the idea of an initial public offering for the time being. Siblings Massimo and designer Alberta Ferretti now control 100 percent of the company, which also manufactures and distributes collections for Narciso Rodriguez and Jean Paul Gaultier.
Before working at Replay, Andretta had been ceo of high-end sportswear company Belfe, chairman of Emanuel Ungaro and Celine and, before that, vice president at Gucci Group in charge of its emerging brands division.
Moschino is expected to report sales of 70 million euros, or $89.7 million, in 2006. The brand also holds a licensing business of about 200 million euros, or $256.4 million. Dollar figures were converted from the euro at current exchange.
Ferretti said Andretta would help expand Moschino’s retail distribution; for example, boutiques are scheduled to open next year in New Delhi and Istanbul.
Tomasetti will take over at Pollini for Simone Badioli, who was the brand’s interim ceo. Tomasetti was appointed Moschino’s general manager in 2004, when Marco Gobbetti left his ceo position for Givenchy. She had been working as international sales director at Aeffe since 1993.
“She has 360-degree experience, from marketing to customer service, logistics and production,” Ferretti said. “Now that we’ve restructured Pollini, she will be able to accelerate its growth.”
Aeffe took control of accessories company Pollini in 2001 and developed it as a ready-to-wear collection, designed by Rifat Ozbek. Pollini stores are poised to open in St. Petersburg and Moscow next year. The company is expected to report sales of 65 million euros, or $83.3 million, in 2006, up 11 percent over the previous year.