Wednesday, May 18, 2011

Boucheron’s CEO to Step Down

Jean-Christophe Bedos
Jean-Christophe Bedos, president and CEO of Boucheron has announced his resignation, effective June 10. He led the Parisian luxury jewelry house for seven years. He will be replaced by LVMH executive, Pierre Bouissou, allowing for a smooth transition.

Boucheron is a subsidiary of PPR, the Paris-based retail conglomerate.

“We are glad to welcome Pierre to Boucheron and PPR,” said Alexis Babeau, deputy CEO of PPR Luxury activities. “With Pierre I am confident we have someone with the skills and experience necessary to build on the work done so far and accelerate the positive trends that have already been put in place. For the past seven years, Jean-Christophe Bedos has dedicated himself to returning Boucheron to a position of health and growth. Under his leadership, Boucheron was re-launched on the international stage as one of the world’s most prestigious jewelers. We thank Jean-Christophe for his significant contribution and wish him the very best as he now turns to new challenges. ”

Jean-Christophe Bedos added: "I am proud and delighted to have successfully achieved the objectives that had been set for Boucheron. After seven years, the time has come for me to pursue new challenges.”

Bedos was one of the first persons to appear on the Jewelry News Network. He spoke at the FT Business of Luxury Summit, discussing Boucheron’s leadership role in e-commerce and social media. Among luxury goods companies, Boucheron was a very early adapter to e-commerce, as it began selling its products on line in the late 1990s.

“The web to me … is like a street,” he told the luxury professionals at the conference. "You have the best. You have the worst. You have dirty streets. You have clean streets. You have affluent streets. You have down market streets. And when as much as a street could be, you can find everything. The question is not whether you should be on the street or not. The question is not whether you should be on the Web or not. The question is how you want to be there and how you want to be perceived there.”
Bouissou has extensive experience in brand management and development. He joins PPR from LVMH where he served most recently as managing director of Berluti, a bespoke shoemaker. Prior to Berluti, he served as business unit manager of the beauty and skincare products at Parfums Christian Dior.

Before joining LVMH, Bouissou held various marketing and development roles for Laboratoires Pierre Fabre and L’Oréal. He began his career as International Product Manager for Skincare at Unilever in Paris. A French national, Bouissou earned business degrees from Institut D’Administration des Entreprises (IAE) in Nice and ISA/ HEC (École des Hautes Études Commerciales) in Paris.

PPR owns and operates global brands in several markets distributed in more than 120 countries. In addition to Boucheron, the brands in its luxury group are Gucci, Bottega Veneta, Yves Saint Laurent, Balenciaga, Sergio Rossi, Alexander McQueen and Stella McCartney.