Dive Brief:
- Jil Sander CEO and OTB Group Chief Strategy Officer Serge Brunschwig exited the company on Thursday, according to an email from an OTB Group spokesperson.
- Brunschwig, who assumed both roles in February, left for personal reasons, according to the spokesperson. OTB CEO Ubaldo Minelli will take over Brunschwig’s responsibilities, including the role of CEO of Jil Sander.
- Minelli, who has been OTB’s CEO since 2018, was concurrently Jil Sander CEO from 2021, when OTB acquired the brand, to 2023 when Luca Lo Curzio became CEO.
Dive Insight:
Brunschwig, who succeeded Lo Curzio at Jil Sander, stepped into his roles at OTB and Jil Sander about three weeks before the brand’s co-creative directors, Lucie and Luke Meier, exited the brand. They had been in their roles since 2017 and were succeeded in March by former Bally creative director Simone Bellotti.
“Jil Sander remains fully committed to ensuring strategic and operational continuity, in alignment with its business objectives and the commitments made to clients, business partners, and stakeholders,” the spokesperson told Fashion Dive.
Prior to joining OTB, Brunschwig served in leadership roles over the years at LVMH, including as CEO and president of Fendi, president of Dior Homme, COO of Christian Dior Couture and CEO of Celine.
Meanwhile, Minelli has spent more than 25 years at OTB. From 2015 to 2020, he was CEO of Marni. Since 1998, he also has been CEO of OTB-owned Staff International. All CEOs at OTB report directly to him.
There have been two other major creative changes at OTB brands since the end of 2024.
In December, designer John Galliano announced he would leave Maison Margiela after 10 years with the label. He was succeeded by Glenn Martens at the end of January. Martens, formerly creative director of the now-shuttered brand Y/Project, is also creative director of OTB-owned denim label Diesel, a role he has held since 2020.
OTB also saw the departure of Marni creative director Francesco Risso, who left in June after nearly a decade at the brand. He was succeeded last month by Meryll Rogge, who previously worked at labels including Marc Jacobs and Dries Van Noten.
OTB, which reports annually, posted a fiscal 2024 net sales decrease of nearly 5% to 1.7 billion euros, or about $1.78 billion in February. OTB, which also owns Viktor&Rolf and Brave Kid, attributed the revenue decline to an industry-wide wholesale slowdown and said the company planned to focus on expanding its DTC channel.
