Designer Parfums announces leadership changes to tap market opportunities

UK-based Designer Parfums has announced leadership changes to support the development of new brands, geographical expansion, and streamlining of operations to create synergy across the business.

The move allows the company to align its structure with a strategy to capitalise on strategic acquisitions and tap additional market opportunities.

As part of the changes, Santiago Alvarez has been appointed chief operating officer. He most recently served as global commercial director for niche brands such as Penhaligon’s and L’Artisan Parfumeur after holding leadership roles at Puig.

Designer Parfums’ CEO Dilesh Mehta said: “Santiago understands global sales, go-to-market strategy, brand development and operations, and has a proven track record of capturing the growth potential of beauty brands in multiple distribution channels across diverse geographies.”

A second appointment saw Parag Vidyarthi become joint managing director after having advised Designer Parfums for several years. Most recently, he served as a strategic consultant to haircare brand Frédéric Fekkai.

Mehta added: “We are very proud of what our team has accomplished during these years, and their hard work and commitment makes us confident that this group of people, with the right leadership, can take on additional challenges.

“We are delighted to formally bring Arkesh into Designer Parfums, having led the acquisition of Playboy and Cerruti, to now oversee their integration into our business.”

Designer Parfums is also set to appoint Pascale Fontaine as global marketing director.

Fontaine has more than 20 years of experience in beauty brand building and licenses management in the categories of fragrances, makeup and body care. She began her career at Unilever and she has worked at Coty for the last 17 years, where she served as global vice-president of Adidas Fragrance and Body Care.

Designer Parfums has a portfolio of brands, including Ghost, Hawaiian Tropic, Jennifer Lopez, Manish Arora, Naomi Campbell, Playboy and Cerruti.