The luxury group Kering announced on Monday that it wanted to propose the appointment of three new independent directors to its board of directors: Chinese businesswoman Rachel Duan, former Italian Minister of Culture Giovanna Melandri and the president of Eutelsat Communications Dominique D’Hinnin.
These appointments will be proposed to shareholders during the group's general meeting on April 25 to compensate for the departures of Jean-François Palus, appointed CEO of Gucci, and Tidjane Thiam, who took the helm of the Democratic Party of Côte d at the end of December. Ivoire (PDCI), the country's main opposition party.
The term of actress and activist Emma Watson, star of Harry Potter, was also coming to an end.
If the new appointments are approved, the luxury giant's board of directors will include 55% women and six nationalities (American, British, Chinese, French, Italian and Turkish), according to a press release from the group.
Its independence rate will be 64%, it is added.
Rachel Duan has held various management positions at General Electric and is a director of several other large groups.
“She will bring (...) her excellent knowledge of the Asian market
,” indicates Kering in its press release.
Luxury suffers
The luxury market has suffered in recent months from a disappointing recovery in consumption in China and Kering, in the midst of a reorganization, recognized during its annual results that it had had a
“difficult”
year in 2023 , with profits down 17%. to 2.98 billion euros and sales down 4% to 19.57 billion euros.
His priority is to put Gucci, which accounts for more than half of Kering's turnover, back on track, as evidenced by the recent appointment of Jean-François Palus, deputy managing director of the group, at the head of the brand.
Italian-American Giovanna Melandri is presented by Kering as an economist specializing in culture and sustainable development, a key point for Kering's strategy.
A figure of the Italian left, she was notably Minister of Culture then of Youth and Sports in Italy before presiding for 10 years the MAXXI museum, a flagship institution of contemporary art in Rome.
Dominique D'Hinnin is chairman of the board of directors of Eutelsat Communications and was also financial director of the Lagardère group for 18 years.