Sean Lehnhardt-Moore Replaces Delphine Ninous at Belstaff
The changes come in the wake of Belstaff's sale to Ineos last year.
LONDON — Delphine Ninous is leaving her post as Belstaff's creative director and will be replaced by Sean Lehnhardt-Moore, WWD has learned. An announcement is expected today. Ninous, who has left to pursue new opportunities, had been with the brand since 2014, joining as vice president of women's design. She was later promoted to creative director, overseeing the men's and women's collections and accessories, as well as special projects, including a collaboration with Liv Tyler.
British designer Lehnhardt-Moore will join Belstaff in June. He has held creative leadership positions at Calvin Klein, Ralph Lauren, Donna Karan and Bamford and led MA Men's Wear and Women's Wear programs at art and design universities in the U.K. and the U.S.
“Delphine leaves Belstaff with our sincere thanks for her valued contribution to the business over the past four years. We welcome Sean and his creative talent at a time of new and exciting momentum for the business,” said Helen Wright, the company's chief executive officer.
The changes come in the wake of Belstaff's sale last year to Ineos, whose owner Jim Ratcliffe was ranked as the richest man in Britain, according to The Sunday Times of London's annual list, which was published earlier in May.
Robin Hutson was named non-executive chairman.
According to the paper, Ratcliffe, a chemicals entrepreneur, amateur athlete and motorbike aficionado, has a fortune estimated at 21.05 billion pounds.
As reported earlier this year, Wright replaced Gavin Haig at the helm of the company. Ineos also named Sarah Doukas to the Belstaff board. Doukas is the founder and manager of Storm Management, the modeling agency.
Before joining Belstaff, Ninous was most design director at Paul & Joe and has held design posts at labels including Christian Lacroix, Isabel Marant, Comptoir de Contonniers and Diane von Furstenberg.