Armelle Poulou, Mélanie Flouquet join executive committee

On Tuesday, Kering announced that Mélanie Flouquet and Armelle Poulou have become members of the group’s executive committee, chaired by CEO François-Henri Pinault. Following the two senior managers’ appointment to the luxury group’s governing body, six of the executive committee’s 13 members are now women.

Two weeks after heralding forthcoming changes to its board of directors, the group that owns among others Gucci, Balenciaga and Saint Laurent, has introduced more women into its top leadership committee. Armelle Poulou was appointed group CFO at Kering six months ago. She joined Kering in 2019 as head of corporate finance, treasury and insurance, having previously worked in the finance department of multinational groups like Procter & Gamble, Hewlett Packard and EDF. Flouquet was appointed chief strategy officer at Kering in 2021, and was formerly the managing director in charge of the Luxury Goods Equity Research team at US bank JP Morgan.

Besides Pinault, Poulou and Floquet, Kering’s executive committee currently comprises Francesca Bellettini, deputy CEO in charge of brand development and president and CEO of Yves Saint Laurent; Jean-Marc Duplaix, deputy CEO in charge of operations and finance; Grégory Boutté, chief client and digital officer; Cédric Charbit, CEO of Balenciaga; Raffaella Cornaggia, managing director of Kering Beauty; Marie-Claire Daveu, chief sustainability and institutional affairs officer; Béatrice Lazat, chief people officer; Jean-François Palus, CEO of Gucci; Bartolomeo Rongone, CEO of Bottega Veneta; and Roberto Vedovotto, CEO of Kering Eyewear.