Burberry chief executive officer Marco Gobbetti has announced his resignation from the British fashion brand. Gobbetti has been credited with reviving the brand. He has announced his resignation four years after joining the company. The announcement comes as a shock for many. He will officially say goodbye to the company, known for its trademark trench coats, at the end of the year. Shares of the company dropped more than 8 per cent following the news. Gobbetti has resigned to take over the top at Ferragamo in his native Italy. The luxury goods group is famous for shoes worn by famous Hollywood celebrities like Audrey Hepburn. Gobbetti has been leading the company since 2017. He had replaced Burberry veteran Christopher Bailey. He is famous for making several changes at the company. As a result, the shares have so far gained 37 per cent since his appointment.
Commenting on his decision, Gobbetti said that it was the right time for taking such a decision. “Burberry is set on a strong growth path and I feel it is the right time for me to resign from the top post,” he said. With the decision to join the Salvatore Ferragamo, the 62-year-old CEO has got an opportunity to return to Italy and work while being closer to his family members. Commenting on the development, Burberry chairman Gerry Murphy said that he is disappointed by the decision of Gobbetti but respects his desire to go closure to his family. “The board, including me, was disappointed with the development. But we have to respect his strong desire of returning to Italy. Gobbetti has worked abroad for almost 20 years,” Murphy said. Murphy added that the decision taken by Gobbetti during his 4 years of tenure had a transformative impact on the company. “He had a clearly defined purpose and used to develop a strategy accordingly. With the support of an outstanding team, he created a strong brand momentum.”
Before joining the company, Gobbetti worked as chairman and chief executive at luxury leather group Celine. He was associated with the company from 2008 to 2016. Earlier to this, he worked at Givenchy and Moschino. Under the leadership of Gobbetti, Burberry moved to new heights and was giving tough competition to rivals. Be it the launch of more expensive products or closing of stores that were not close enough to high spending shoppers of Burberry. He brought in creative chief Riccardo Tisci that helped him introduce a new range of collections. The fashion industry gave thumbs up to the menswear collection launched by Tisci last week. But the sales of Burberry were impacted pandemic because of the global coronavirus pandemic. Most of the big brands had to opt for new strategies to deal with the situation. However, the company last month said that sales saw an increase that resulted in the 32 per cent year on year increase in the fourth quarter store sales.
