The Latest luxury industry appointments at Richemont, Burberry, Six Senses Resorts & Spas, Audemars Piguet, Givenchy, Cartier & Diet Coke

Kathleen Tayor is to leave the CEO post of Four Seasons hotels, after serving the Toronto-based hotelier since 1989. The company’s nine-member executive leadership team will assume management until a successor is found.

Over at Breitling, Franz La Rosee has stepped down, after serving as managing director of Breitling UK for the past 26 years. "I have enjoyed every one of those years and it has been my privilege to navigate the company through so many exciting, challenging and, sometimes stormy, seas,” he explained to Retail Jeweller.

Serge Jureidini has resigned as president of Lancôme in the U.S. to become president and chief executive officer of Arcade Marketing. Jimmy Choo co-creative director, Simon Holloway, has also departed, leaving Sandra Choi as the sole creative director of the Labelux brand.

Finally, Mario Grauso will step down from his presidency at Vera Wang Group, and instead work with the brand as a consultant.

Bernard Fornas, Co-CEO, Richemont

Compagnie Financiére Richemont SA has nominated Bernard Fornas – former CEO of Cartier – to the Board of Directors. The current joint deputy CEO will become Co-CEO alongside Richard Lepeu on April 1st, 2013, and remain a member of its Group Management Committee.

Source: Fox Business

Jean-Christophe Babin, CEO, Bulgari

LVMH have named Jean-Christophe Babin, who has led Tag Heuer since joining LVMH in 2000, as the new CEO at Bulgari. The appointment comes two months after Bulgari head Michael Burke was named successor to Louis Vuitton CEO Jordi Constans. Constans left a month after taking the post because of illness.

Source: Business Week

Carol Fairweather, CFO, Burberry

Burberry have announced a round of executive shake-ups, in which CFO Stacey Cartwright will step down to pursue other interests and be replaced by Carol Fairweather in July. Ms. Fairweather has been with the fashion group for six years, following service at News Corp’s British newspaper arm, News International.

Source: Reuters

John Smith, COO, Burberry

Burberry has also created a new COO role “to support the next phase of growth”, appointing media executive John Smith. Mr. Smith was most recently chief executive of BBC Worldwide, which sells content made by the British licence fee-funded broadcaster to other countries.

Source: Reuters

Laurent Feniou, Managing Director, Cartier UK

Laurent Feniou, a veteran banker at Rothschild in London has been hired as managing director of Cartier’s UK operations. Cartier has recently undergone a management overhaul that saw Stanislas de Quercize replace long-time Cartier chief Bernard Fomas at the end of 2012.

Source: Reuters

Riccardo Tisci, Creative Director, Givenchy

Givenchy creative designer, Riccardo Tisci, has extended his contract by three years with the LVMH-owned French house. Tisci joined Givenchy in 2005, which is now under the management leadership of former Prada executive Sebastian Suhl.

Source: WWD

Neil Jacobs, CEO, Six Senses Resorts & Spas

Pegasus Capital Advisors LP appointed Neil Jacobs, former president of Starwood Capital Group LLC’s hotel unit, to run its Six Senses Resorts & Spas division as it seeks to expand the ultra-luxury brand. Mr. Jacobs previously oversaw development of Starwood’s Baccarat and 1 Hotels brands.

Source: Bloomberg

Tara Ffrench-Mullen, Marketing & PR Director, Charlotte Olympia

Luxury footwear and accessory brand Charlotte Olympia has announced the appointment of Tara ffrench-Mullen as Global Marketing & PR Director, effective immediately. Tara previously worked in the PR and marketing team at L.K. Bennett.

Source: Fashion Monitor

François-Henry Bennahmias, CEO, Audemars Piguet

After serving as “general manager ad interim” since May 2012, François-Henry Bennahmias was recently made chief executive officer of the Audemars Piguet Group by the board of directors. The family-owned brand and previous CEO Phillipe Merk ended their collaboration last year due to “differences in company strategy.

Source: Watchtime

Marc Jacobs, Creative Director, Diet Coke

Marc Jacobs has been named Diet Coke’s new creative director for 2013, for which he has designed three cans, three bottles and three ad campaigns, each corresponding to a recent decade in fashion. One campaign features the designer himself stripping in a photo booth and posing in playful, pin-up-style ads.

Source: WWD