Farfetch announces New Guards Group management changes

Farfetch, the global platform for the luxury fashion industry, has appointed Cristiano Fagnani to the role of CEO of Off-White. He also remains responsible for New Guards Group’s (NGG) Reebok business as CEO of NGG++. Stephanie Phair has also been appointed chair of NGG and NGG CEO, Davide De Giglio, along with his co-founder, executive director and Off-White CEO, Andrea Grilli, are stepping down from their roles. The existing leadership team for Palm Angels remains unchanged; with Stefano Robino as general manager and Francesco Ragazzi as founder and creative director. The leadership of the other NGG brands remains unchanged as well. Founded in 2015 and based in Milan, NGG manages the design, production and distribution for a range of global brands, including Palm Angels, Off-White and Reebok. It was acquired by Farfetch in 2019. Fagnani has over 20 years of industry experience, including as chief marketing officer for NGG where he worked closely with Off-White. Prior to joining NGG more than three years ago, he had a “highly successful” career at Nike, where he led energy marketing, brand experience and product collaborations. Meanwhile, Robino has more than two decades of experience in the luxury fashion industry, having held senior roles with brands including Ami, Tom Ford, Zegna and Lanvin, prior to joining NGG more than three years ago. Under Mr. Robino's leadership, the Palm Angels brand more than doubled its revenues from 2020 to 2022. Phair, who has been working closely with the NGG Group, including as a member of the operational boards for the NGG brands, will support the NGG leadership team toward achieving the goals set out for the business and foster the continued successful integration with the Farfetch Group. She maintains her role as group president, Farfetch. Previously, Phair also served on the board of directors for Moncler S.p.A., and was the chair of the British Fashion Council. José Neves, founder, CEO and chair of Farfetch, said: “New Guards has performed extremely well since 2019, and has continued to execute on its strategy with the recent launch of Reebok. “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. They leave with my fondest best wishes for their future endeavours. With a very experienced management team in Cristiano, Ib, Stefano and Francesco and the added benefit of Stephanie’s oversight, I am confident in the continued success of NGG.”