Mulberry Appoints Thierry Andretta As New CEO

After much anticipation, British luxury accessories brand Mulberry has named Thierry Andretta as its new chief executive after a yearlong search for a replacement for Bruno Guillon.

Andretta is a luxury-retail veteran having held senior roles at Lanvin, Moschino and LVMH Moet Hennessy Louis Vuitton SA. Most recently he served as the former CEO of Italian high-luxury jewelry brand Buccellati. He has worked as a nonexecutive director at Mulberry since June and was recently brought in as a consultant to help Mulberry with its plans to expand internationally.

Intermim CEO and Chairman Godfrey Davis said "I am delighted that Thierry has agreed to become chief executive, he has a wealth of fashion and luxury goods experience and an ability to drive our ambitious plans for international growth. In parallel with recruiting our new creative director, Johnny Coca, we undertook an extensive search and concluded that Thierry was the outstanding CEO candidate."

Mulberry has suffered a series of missteps in recent years, after Guillon's strategy of re-emphasizing the luxury nature of the brand by artificially inflating prices of its handbags failed to pay off and left its profits substantially below current market expectations.

"I am delighted to become chief executive after nearly a year as a non-executive director," said Andretta. "Mulberry is a truly authentic British brand with a unique manufacturing base in the UK. The brand has great international potential and I look forward to building the business with Godfrey, Johnny, the rest of the team and the board."

Andretta is due to begin next month on April 7, and will join Johnny Coca, creative director of the brand who was hired in November. Coca is slated to start in his new role on July 8 while Davis, currently chairman and interim CEO of Mulberry, will revert to the role of chairman on April 7.

With two former Céline executives on board Mulberry is looking to achieve its ambitious plans for international growth and turning things around.