Emmanuel Goulin To Take the Helm Of L’Oréal Italia
● Effective July 1, Goulin will replace François-Xavier Fenart as president and CEO of the beauty giant’s Italian subsidiary.
MILAN — Emmanuel Goulin will succeed François-Xavier Fenart as president and chief executive officer of L’Oréal Italia.
Previously general manager of the company’s Luxe division in Italy, Goulin will officially take on the new role on July 1, but Fenart will continue to flank him as an adviser until the end of September.
Goulin joined L’Oréal in 2000 as product manager of Lancôme in the
U.K. Over the years, he rose through the ranks to hold international positions in the group with increasing responsibilities up to the role of general manager for travel retail Asia Pacific in 2016, where he contributed to the strong business growth making this area L’Oréal’s third branch after the U.S. and China.
Since his arrival in Italy last year, the executive has already initiated a number of changes, focused on value creation, streamlining and crossfunctional collaboration.
“Emmanuel is a strategic and modern leader, fostering collaboration and teamwork, and a true people developer. We are very confident that with his extensive experience and engaging personality, Emmanuel will continue to successfully lead the teams of L’Oréal Italia in their transformation journey,” Vianney Derville, the beauty giant’s president of Europe Zone, said in a statement.
Derville added that Fenart, who was appointed to the leading role in Italy in 2017 after piling more than 25 years of experience at L’Oréal, already initiated such a path contributing “to build strong teams and modernize the ways of working in the Italian subsidiary,” therefore leaving behind “a very solid legacy.”
“All the group joins me in congratulating François-Xavier for his amazing career in L’Oréal and his much-appreciated contribution in Italy, and in wishing him all the best for this new chapter of his life,” Derville concluded.
Fenart joined L’Oréal at the end of the 1980s in the consumer products division, covering positions of increasing responsibility in the commercial field. In 2001, he began his international career, becoming general manager of the consumer products division in Taiwan, and then moving to The Netherlands, Brazil and Spain as country manager.
In Italy, Fenart helped implementing key changes, including the modernization of the supply chain and the creation of the logistic hub in Villanterio, an hour- drive from Milan. These moves helped the acceleration of e- commerce and supported the subsidiary in regaining market share and top-line growth as well as resuming its profitability.
L’Oréal has a long-standing presence in Italy as the group has been operating in the country since 1908 and currently counts a workforce of almost 2,000 people.
As reported, L’Oréal Group reported sales of 32.28 billion euros last year, up 15.3 percent on a reported basis and a 16.1 percent increase like-for-like, compared with 2020.