Borbonese appoints Marie-Laure Lequain as CEO
Turin-based fashion house Borbonese has appointed Marie-Laure Lequain as chief executive officer (CEO).
Lequain is the first woman to hold the role in the company's history, Borbonese announced on Wednesday via LinkedIn. According to the company, she brings thirty years of experience in fashion and luxury, with expertise spanning product, merchandising and digital business development.
According to her LinkedIn profile, Lequain has been a member of Borbonese's board since September. Before that, she served as chief digital and merchandising officer at MCM Worldwide from 2023 to 2026, where she drove the expansion of the brand's own digital business. Prior to MCM, she worked as a senior consultant for The Level Group, including for Italian brand La DoubleJ, and taught at the Institut Français de la Mode in Paris in 2022.
Lequain spent most of her career at Gucci, where she worked from 2006 to 2022. She began by building up the brand's jewellery and watches division in Rome and, from 2011, established Gucci's first digital merchandising function. After serving as merchandising director for women's ready-to-wear, she became vice president digital in 2017. In that role, she oversaw the brand's digital transformation and e-commerce expansion and launched Gucci Vault, the online concept store for vintage and archive pieces. From 1997 to 2001, she was worldwide jewelry product manager at Bulgari.
The company said the appointment reflects its ambition to strengthen the brand's relevance and create new opportunities for growth. Innovation and experimentation have shaped Borbonese since its founding in Turin in 1910 and provide a strong foundation for a contemporary expression of its heritage, it added.
“Our work starts with people, their expertise and a careful understanding of what makes Borbonese unique to its customers,” said Lequain.
In September 2024, Borbonese appointed Stefano Ferro as CEO. Ferro succeeded Alessandro Pescara, who had led the company since March 2018.
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