NEW RECRUIT: Celine has appointed Emilie Leblanc its new global communications director, effective Monday.
She reports to Séverine Merle, chief executive officer of Celine, and joins the company’s executive committee.
Leblanc joins the fashion house, controlled by LVMH Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton, from Saint Laurent, where she was most recently associate chief marketing officer.
Leblanc has spent most of her career at YSL, logging 10 years as head of global marketing and international advertising between 2006 and 2016.
After a year as international marketing director at LVMH-owned jeweler Repossi, she returned in 2017 to Saint Laurent, controlled by Kering, as worldwide marketing and media director. She was subsequently promoted twice.
Earlier in her career, she was an advertising sales executive at French magazine publisher Editions Jalou between 2004 and 2006, her LinkedIn profile shows.
Leblanc joins Celine as the house is transitioning to a new creative director.
Michael Rider, formerly creative director at Polo Ralph Lauren, is slated to join Celine early in 2025, succeeding Hedi Slimane, who parted ways with the French house last month after a fruitful seven-year collaboration.
It is understood LVMH wishes to build on Celine’s current momentum, and not stray too far from the winning template Slimane had forged, riffing on French bourgeois codes with sly winks to grunge and other alternative music scenes.
According to sources, Celine ranks alongside Loewe as one of the fastest-growing brands at LVMH Fashion Group, with revenues in the ballpark of 2.5 billion euros.