Zadig and Voltaire names new managing director

French fashion brand Zadig and Voltaire has named former Céline director Jean-Jacques Guevel as managing director, as the label reveals it is looking to double its sales within the next three to five years.

Guevel, who has spent eight years as international director of Céline, as well as working at Louis Vuitton, St Dupont and LVMH’s fashion division, was chosen by the French fashion label’s founder and chief executive, Thierry Gillier, to lead the brand forward due to his experience in the luxury sector as well as his “retail vision”, which the brand said would “speed up the transformations that the brand is undergoing”.

“Zadig and Voltaire has established itself as a real Maison, not just a brand of the moment,” said Guevel. “With its unique character and positioning, it has created its own distinct, original profile.”

The new managing director appointment comes as the French fashion house recorded sales in 2016 of 350 million euro and has revealed that it plans to double its turnover within the next three to five years.

Currently the brand under the artistic direction of Cécilia Bönström has a rock chic Parisian aesthetic that has an androgynous and effortless style. It’s the “easy luxury” garments and accessories such as luxe T-shirts and knitwear that it is helping the brand to position itself between the luxury fashion houses and more accessible labels, said the brand.

Zadig and Voltaire looking to double sales as part of growth strategy

It’s strengths certainly lies in its knitwear, with the skull motif appears regularly in its designs, as knitted pieces accounts for 40 percent of its sales, and the brand is looking to continue with “innovation and creativity” to ensure that it remains a leader in knitted fashion, while also aspiring the same success across its trainers and leather goods, which it has started to make a name for itself and are areas that it states are “strong growth drivers”.

Zadig and Voltaire has more than 320 sales outlets worldwide, including standalone stores in the UK including numerous boutiques across London, as well as concessions in Harvey Nichols, Harrods, and Selfridges. As part of its growth strategy, the French brand has said that it will speed up its remodelling of its customer experience by offering “qualitative, omnichannel points of contact” alongside “more significant investments in e-commerce”.

Additionally, following its first ever “see now, buy now” catwalk show at New York Fashion Week in February, Zadig and Voltaire has its sights set on increasing its international sales, especially within the US and China. The brand already has a presence in the US, with 13 stores, and in July it will open its first flagship store on Broome Street in New York. This launch will follow the opening of another Parisian flagship on the Rue Cambon, which is scheduled to open in June.

Image: Jean-Jacques Guevel courtesy of Zadig and Voltaire