Dive Brief:
- Gianfranco Gianangeli, CEO of OTB-owned luxury French fashion house Maison Margiela since 2020, has resigned according to WWD.
- While no replacement has been publicly named, market sources told WWD Gianangeli will leave the position in the coming weeks, and a successor, not yet named, has already been identified and will take on the role later this year.
- This is the third executive shakeup to hit Italy-based OTB this year. Earlier this month, Italy-based OTB appointed a new CEO, Luca Lo Curzio, to its Jil Sander brand, effective June 1. In January, Eraldo Poletto, CEO of another OTB-owned brand, Diesel, left after only seven months.
Dive Insight:
OTB, which also owns Marni and Viktor&Rolf, did not respond immediately to request for comment but told WWD that Gianangeli’s departure was by mutual agreement.
Maison Margiela has always been a house that prided itself on its lack of transparency.
The avant garde luxury label, formerly called Martin Margiela, was founded by Belgian designer Martin Margiela in 1988. Margiela himself famously refused to be photographed or grant interviews.
In 2006, the house was purchased by OTB, which had previously taken a majority stake in the brand when it went public in 2002. Margiela quietly left in 2009, and the collections were designed in house by an unnamed team of creatives until Matthieu Blazy was revealed as the man behind the clothes in 2014.
That same year, controversial fashion figure John Galliano was appointed creative director, after being fired from LVMH-owned Dior in 2011 following a series of antisemitic remarks captured on video. Galliano’s contract at Margiela was renewed in 2018 after brand sales doubled during his first five years, and he remains creative director at house.
Gianangeli was a former Givenchy, Prada and Bottega Veneta executive who joined Margiela after a stint at his family’s knitwear brand. No news has been revealed regarding his next steps.
Chair Renzo Russo has said he wants to list OTB by next year.
