PARIS — Beefing up its management ahead of an ambitious growth project, Repetto has announced the appointment of a duo of female executives on Tuesday.
The French ballet shoe label tapped 40-year-old Laurence Levy as chief executive officer, and Charlotte Gaucher-Holmann will serve as deputy CEO.
Levy, a graduate of French business school HEC, started her career as a strategy consultant at management consulting firm Oliver Wyman before joining multinational food corporation Danone’s corporate strategy department.
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She joined L’Oréal in 2012, where she held a variety of positions for the next decade in the group’s travel retail division, culminating in her appointment as global deputy general manager for Yves Saint Laurent Beauty.
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That’s where she met Gaucher-Holmann, who is the daughter of the company’s president Jean-Marc Gaucher, a former CEO of Reebok France who bought the ballet shoe specialist more than 20 years ago.
Before rejoining Repetto in January 2022 as its strategic director — she’d done a six-month stint in 2007 — Gaucher-Holmann, 36, spent more than 12 years at L’Oréal, in its luxury division as well as Lancôme and Yves Saint Laurent brands.
The duo have a number of topics on their plate, starting with further developing the U.S. market, which currently is the brand’s largest market to date.
The French company had previously started a U.S. push with the arrival of its CEO for the Americas Gilles Assor, who exited the post in 2020 when Repetto closed its U.S. operation and laid off staff and senior management in the early months of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Repetto also hopes to become a reference in athleisure, which it added in 2022, thanks to its connection to the world of ballet — its dance shoes remain a staple for amateur and professional dancers — and strengthen the attractiveness of its core footwear models.
The company counts some 200 employees, including 80 craftspeople in its production factory in Southwestern France.