MILAN — The Prada Group has a new chief executive officer.
After a shareholders meeting held on Thursday, Andrea Guerra was named CEO of the Italian luxury group, according to market sources in Milan. On Friday, an official confirmation will be communicated to the Hong Kong Stock Exchange, where Prada is publicly listed.
More from WWD At that meeting, Patrizio Bertelli, who shares the CEO role with his wife Miuccia Prada , was recommended as chairman of the group. As reported, he is expected to be confirmed in this role at the group’s general assembly this spring.
The changes are part of a newly revised organization and a future management handover at the Italian luxury company. Bertelli and Prada’s son Lorenzo Bertelli is expected to lead the group in a few years time.
Lorenzo Bertelli has increased his responsibilities and been a driver of change since joining the company in 2017. He was named group marketing director in 2019 and, additionally, head of corporate social responsibility in 2020. In May 2021, he joined as a director of the board.
Guerra will likely be in charge of a potential second listing in Milan for the group, whose shares have been trading in Hong Kong since 2011.
In November 2021, during the group’s Capital Markets Day, Patrizio Bertelli admitted: “We could explore a listing in Europe. That said, we don’t feel the need to now; we are OK this way.” He acknowledged “certain investors” do not consider channeling their investments in Hong Kong, but, “after all, we [the family] have 81 percent of the capital.”
A dual listing can help diversify the risks for investors in the wake of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, which has increased the volatility of global stock markets, and given the uncertainties related to the economic and political conditions in China.
As part of the succession plan, Miuccia Prada in December was confirmed as creative director of Miu Miu and Prada, the latter together with Belgian designer Raf Simons , and a board member. She is relinquishing her role as co-CEO.
In November, Simons shuttered his own namesake line after 27 years leading to speculation about a possible increased role at the Prada brand in the future.
Guerra was named CEO in early 2020 of the newly created LVMH Hospitality Excellence division, but in May he became a strategic and development senior adviser to the French group.
He left eyewear group Luxottica , where he’d become instrumental to the growth of the company, in September 2014 after 10 years working with founder Leonardo Del Vecchio.
After Luxottica, Guerra became a strategic adviser to former Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi and then joined Italian high-end food emporium Eataly as executive chairman in 2015.
The relationship between Patrizio Bertelli and Guerra is a long-standing one, as Luxottica started producing the Prada and Miu Miu eyewear collections in 2003.
In another development for the business, earlier this month Gianfranco D’Attis took on the role of CEO of the Prada brand, reporting to the group. Benedetta Petruzzo has been helming the Miu Miu brand as CEO.
D’Attis was previously president of Christian Dior Couture Americas. Earlier, he was international managing director of Jaeger-LeCoultre.
In the first six months of 2022, retail sales, which account for 90 percent of group revenue, rose 26 percent to 1.7 billion euros. Overall revenue for the period was up 22 percent to 1.9 billion euros.
Prada’s full-year results will be released on March 9. The annual general meeting will follow on April 27.
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