Change is starting to come to Marc Jacobs.
Emily George was named global president of the business as of Nov. 1, while Eric Marechalle, who was Marc Jacobs’ chief executive officer for nine years, is exiting at the end of this month.
Marc Jacobs himself remains creative director, leading the vision of the brand, but the business superstructure he’s working with is starting to shift under the company’s ownership structure.
Fashion producer G-III Apparel Group and brand management expert WHP Global collectively bought the brand’s intellectual property from LVMH Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton in September, with each forking over $425 million.
G-III paid approximately another $75 million for the operating business, which George is now going to spearhead globally, directly overseeing the senior leadership team.
George is by no means coming in cold to the role.
She spent nearly two decades at Marc Jacobs in leadership roles across sales, retail and commercial operations, and joined G-III as president, direct-to-consumer, North America, with a focus on the brand earlier this month.
She was most recently president, Americas and global wholesale at Balmain.
While much will remain the same and Jacobs will continue to hold his regular runway shows, the new owners have new growth plans, like relaunching Marc by Marc Jacobs after more than a decade. WHP is exploring licensing opportunities for the brand.
Marechalle led Marc Jacobs through what G-III described as “an important period of evolution.”
Morris Goldfarb, chairman and CEO of G-III, said: “Eric has made important contributions to Marc Jacobs over the past nine years, strengthening the business and building a strong foundation for its future. We are grateful for his leadership and wish him all the best.
Goldfarb added that George “is an exceptional leader with extensive merchant-led experience across retail and wholesale, and a deep understanding of Marc Jacobs. Her longstanding connection to the brand makes her uniquely positioned to lead the business forward.”