The chief marketing officer for New Guards Group, Cristiano Fagnani, will be taking over the role of CEO at Off-White after the previous CEO of New Guards Group (NGG) and Off-White left the fashion label.
Yesterday, parent company Farfetch announced numerous changes in executive positions throughout New Guards Group. NGG co-founders, Davide De Giglio and Andrea Grilli, have left the label entirely; De Giglio also served as the CEO for NGG and Grilli as the CEO of Off-White.
Farfetch president, Stephanie Phair, is reportedly taking the place of De Giglio as chair of NGG, while Fagnani will take the role of CEO for Off-White. As well as gaining control of Virgil Abloh’s famous label, Fagnani will also manage a new partnership between Farfetch and Reebok.
The founder and CEO of Farfetch, José Neves, told reporters that NGG has performed very well since they acquired it in 2019. He said, “I would like to thank Davide and Andrea for their dedicated leadership over the past four years, and for building a very strong team of successors to continue driving the strategy and operations of NGG.”
These changes in leadership are allegedly due to a new partnership between Farfetch and Authentic Brands Group, a deal that Neves considers a “multi-hundred-million-dollar” opportunity for the company. The new partnership includes NGG’s partnership with Reebok, which puts NGG in control of Reebok branded retail stores, e-commerce operations, and wholesale distribution in Europe.
Despite the large amount of changes in leadership, Neves still has high hopes for the companies successes. He said, “With a very experienced management team and the added benefit of Stephanie’s oversight, I am confident in the continued success of NGG.”