LVMH's Dior Recruits Miu Miu CEO as Managing Director

FILE PHOTO: A logo of fashion house Dior is seen outside a shop in Paris, France, April 15, 2024. REUTERS/Manon Cruz/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: A logo of fashion house Dior is seen outside a shop in Paris, France, April 15, 2024. REUTERS/Manon Cruz/File Photo
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LVMH's Dior Recruits Miu Miu CEO as Managing Director

FILE PHOTO: A logo of fashion house Dior is seen outside a shop in Paris, France, April 15, 2024. REUTERS/Manon Cruz/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: A logo of fashion house Dior is seen outside a shop in Paris, France, April 15, 2024. REUTERS/Manon Cruz/File Photo

Christian Dior Couture has recruited Benedetta Petruzzo, the CEO of Prada's fast growing Miu Miu label, as its managing director, the LVMH-owned brand said on Tuesday.
The move comes over a year and a half after Delphine Arnault, the eldest child of LVMH boss Bernard Arnault, took the helm at Dior and as it grapples with the fallout of a judicial probe in Italy into working conditions at subcontractors.
Petruzzo will be responsible for product teams at Dior, including supply chain teams, reporting to Delphine Arnault, LVMH said on LinkedIn. Her recruitment, effective Oct. 15, was first reported by trade publication WWD, according to Reuters.
Petruzzo replaces Charles Delapalme, a rising star at LVMH who has also held prominent positions at the group's Fendi and Louis Vuitton labels. "Important new responsibilities" for Delapalme will be announced at a later date, LVMH said.
Petruzzo, a former Bain consultant, worked at Kering's eyewear business for five years before joining Prada as general manager of Miu Miu in February 2020.
Prada has outshone luxury rivals during the recent downturn, including in China, where shoppers are pulling back on high end purchases amid a property crisis. It has seen soaring growth at Miu Miu, whose creative director is Miuccia Prada.
LVMH in July pledged to speed up its supply chain strategy and strengthen audits and controls while increasing control over production at Dior, LVMH's second largest label after Louis Vuitton, following the probe in Italy, made public in June.
That investigation prompted Italy's competition authority to look into whether fashion labels Armani and Dior had misled consumers, while Europe's top asset manager Amundi and other investors asked LVMH to take stronger steps to monitor its suppliers' treatment of workers.
All five of Bernard Arnault's children hold important management positions in the sprawling luxury empire.



Abercrombie & Fitch Lifts Sales Forecast on Trendy Apparel Demand; Lofty Expectations Hit Shares

A hiring sign is displayed in front of Abercrombie & Fitch at the Tysons Corner Center mall on August 22, 2024 in Tysons, Virginia. (Getty Images via AFP)
A hiring sign is displayed in front of Abercrombie & Fitch at the Tysons Corner Center mall on August 22, 2024 in Tysons, Virginia. (Getty Images via AFP)
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Abercrombie & Fitch Lifts Sales Forecast on Trendy Apparel Demand; Lofty Expectations Hit Shares

A hiring sign is displayed in front of Abercrombie & Fitch at the Tysons Corner Center mall on August 22, 2024 in Tysons, Virginia. (Getty Images via AFP)
A hiring sign is displayed in front of Abercrombie & Fitch at the Tysons Corner Center mall on August 22, 2024 in Tysons, Virginia. (Getty Images via AFP)

Abercrombie & Fitch raised its annual sales target on Wednesday after reporting better-than-expected quarterly revenue, but shares of the company fell 14% as investors expected a bigger forecast bump from the high-flying retailer.

The stock has surged about 89% so far this year after nearly quadrupling in 2023.

"While the market may have been looking for a stronger guidance lift for the year, given momentum across the business, we see a beat and raise as impressive given a moderating top line outlook in response to a choppy macro environment across many of Abercrombie's specialty retail peers," said Dana Telsey, analyst at Telsey Advisory Group.

Abercrombie has been revamping its merchandise with new styles, featuring dressier apparel and cargo pants while tapping into growing demand for wide-legged jeans, helping it draw in fashion-savvy shoppers.

Retailers ranging from department store chains Macy's to home improvement chain Home Depot struck a cautious note and trimmed their annual sales forecasts, blaming weak discretionary demand. Strong results from Target and Walmart showed shoppers were looking for bargains amid budget constraints.

Sales at the Abercrombie brand jumped 26% in the quarter ended Aug. 3, while its Hollister division reported a 17% rise due to better-than-expected back-to-school selling.

The company now expects net sales to rise between 12% and 13% in fiscal 2024, compared with its prior forecast of around 10% growth.

Abercrombie CEO Fran Horowitz said the forecast raise came despite "an increasingly uncertain environment".

The company saw benefits from lower promotions and lower cotton costs, which helped it improve its gross profit rate by 240 basis points to 64.9%. However, it expects pressure from freight costs in the back half of the year.

In the second quarter, it reported profit of $2.50 per share, beating an estimate of $2.22, according to LSEG data.

Net sales rose 21% to $1.13 billion in the second quarter, compared with analysts' estimate of $1.10 billion.