Gucci names Valérie Leberichel new head of restructured comms team

As was anticipated when Gucci published its most recent quarterly results, the Italian luxury label has made a series of senior executive appointments. The Kering group’s flagship label, which promoted its deputy managing director Stefano Cantino to the role of CEO a few weeks ago, has restructured its communications department by hiring three new executives, including Valérie Leberichel, well-known for her extensive luxury industry experience.

Leberichel knows Cantino well: he was at Prada between 1997 and 2018, while she worked for the Italian label from 2013 to 2022. Leberichel will join Gucci at the end of December as senior vice-president global communication, while Cantino is set to take overall charge of the label in January. Leberichel will also cover the role previously occupied by executive vice-president and brand director Alessio Vanetti, who recently left the Italian luxury label.

Leberichel was born in France and began her career in 1990 as head of PR at Jean-Louis Scherrer. In 1997, she joined Issey Miyake, first as press secretary and later taking charge of European communications for the Japanese designer.

In 2002, she joined the LVMH group for the first time, as head of international communication for Celine. In 2013, she moved to the Prada group in Italy, where she took charge of communication for Miu Miu. She later also oversaw communication in France for the Prada label. In April 2018, she returned to LVMH, this time at Givenchy, where she became vice-president in charge of global communication.

In her new role, Leberichel will have the delicate task of making Gucci appealing again, at a time when the label is struggling to get back on track. She will undoubtedly need to strengthen Gucci’s brand image and visibility via an incisive online marketing and communication strategy, aligning it with the label’s repositioning at the top end of the market, and with Creative Director Sabato De Sarno’s new vision.

Revamped communication team

Leberichel is joining Gucci while the label is hiring two other senior executives: Marcello Mastrogiacomo has been named vice-president of digital marketing and media, and Daniela Raganato is Gucci’s new head of global media. The three new appointments were reported by WWD, and were confirmed to FashionNetwork.com by Gucci. With Davide Buzzoni, who was appointed global communication director in September, Gucci’s senior management team for the communication department is now complete.

Mastrogiacomo comes from L’Oréal, where he most recently worked as senior vice-president communication, media and image for Armani Beauty. He previously worked at Dior Parfums as global head of digital, and more recently as head of global consumer engagement, having started his career at Procter & Gamble Prestige France. From there, he moved to Coty as head of global communication for prestige perfume brands, and then for Gucci Beauty.

Raganato started her career at BMW Italy, and subsequently worked for communication agencies such as Bitmama and Lbi. In 2012, she joined luxury label Valentino, where she rose through the ranks to the position of head of media planning, product and digital marketing.