Gucci Said to Hire Maria Cristina Lomanto
● Lomanto will take on the new role of executive vice president, brand general manager.
MILAN — Maria Cristina Lomanto will join Gucci as executive vice president, brand general manager, WWD has learned.
This is a new role for the Italian luxury company.
Lomanto is brand manager at Roger Vivier and is expected to join Gucci on May 16, the date of the brand's upcoming men's and women's show. A new brand manager at the storied footwear label, controlled by the Tod's Group, has been chosen. The executive “will be presented as soon as possible in respect of existing privacy agreements,” the company said in a statement to WWD, adding that Lomanto will exit Roger Vivier on April 15.
Lomanto will be focused on coordinating collection and retail merchandising, visual merchandising, beauty and eyewear licensing and retail training and report to president and CEO Marco Bizzarri.
She joined Roger Vivier in the summer of 2019. Lomanto started her career at Jil Sander and then moved to Yves Saint Laurent in the wholesale department. Subsequently she held different positions within the Prada Group, including leather goods merchandising and marketing director of Prada and retail director of Prada France, finally becoming worldwide retail director and later general manager of Miu Miu.
Gucci is further reinforcing its organization and C-suite as Lomanto will be supported by Phillip Prado, currently senior vice president, merchandising and inventory planning Americas, who has been promoted to the role of global chief merchandising officer accessories. Davide Tosi was appointed global chief merchandising officer ready-to-wear, also reporting to Lomanto.
In 2021, Gucci revenues tallied 9.73 billion euros, just shy of its oft-stated goal of 10 billion euros. As reported, commenting on the group's third-quarter performance, François-Henri Pinault, chairman and CEO of Kering, said, “We have a very strong pipeline for this year again, and this will support the growth of Gucci.”
While Alessandro Michele's runway fireworks have helped propel the brand's growth in recent years, Pinault said historic codes, iconic handbags and craftsmanship are now being amplified and added to the mix for a “blend of heritage and innovation.”
He trumpeted strong consumer reaction to Gucci's Diana and Bamboo 1947 bags, and cited a “significantly higher” average selling price that kicked off with the Aria collection, which debuted a more elevated approach that will continue in 2022.
The Roger Vivier brand, designed by Gherardo Felloni, has been boosting the performance of its parent company. In 2021, the brand registered sales of 229.6 million euros, up 43.5 percent on 2020 and a 15.9 percent increase compared with 2019 at constant exchange.
Pinault said historic codes, iconic handbags and craftsmanship are now being amplified and added to the mix for a “blend of heritage
and innovation.”