LVMH selective retailing head to retire

Christopher de Lapuente is believed to be retiring from his position as CEO and chairman of Selective Retailing at the luxury group LVMH. According to an internal memo seen by WWD, de Lapuente is scheduled to step down on October 31, after which he will also no longer be a member of LVMH’s executive committee.

It brings to an end an almost 20 year LVMH-based career for de Lapuente, who had first joined the group as CEO and board member of its international beauty retailer, Sephora. He served in this role for nearly 10 years before becoming chairman and CEO of LVMH Perfumes and Cosmetics and Sephora Worldwide.

He was then later appointed to LVMH Selective Retailing as chairman and CEO, a position in which he was responsible for overseeing DFS, Starboard & Onboard and LVMH fashion site 24S. Following his exit, the CEOs of Sephora, DFS and Le Bon Marché will instead report to Stéphane Bianchi, LVMH’s group managing director, WWD noted.

In the internal memo, LVMH chairman and CEO, Bernard Arnault, called de Lapuente an “exceptional leader”, stating that his contributions to the company had been “remarkable”. Arnault continued: “Chris has led Sephora to become the indisputable leader of prestige beauty worldwide. Sephora has become five-times bigger since Chris took the helm. He also established a culture of performance within the organisation, strengthening the pride of being a part of it.”

In his own statement, de Lapuente thanked Arnault, as well as his leaders and colleagues at both LVMH and P&G, where he had been before joining the luxury group. He concluded: “Now after 40 years of working at two of the world’s greatest brand-building groups, LVMH and P&G, it is time to move on to my next chapter, spending more time with my family, learning and discovering new life challenges.”