Ermanno Piraes named chief brand officer of Delvaux

By

Godfrey Deeny

Published
Dec 22, 2021

Delvaux has named Ermanno Piraes to be its chief brand officer, in the latest major executive appointment at the Belgian luxury marque since its acquisition by Richemont this summer.

 
The move marks a return to Delvaux by Piraes, a highly experienced communications director, who had been a press director at Fendi prior to first joining Delvaux almost a decade ago.
 
Piraes’ appointment also comes three months after the return of Jean-Marc Loubier, who rejoined the Brussels-based luxury bag maker as CEO in September, after a two-year hiatus.

Piraes appointment was announced to staff in an internal memo, which explained he will be in based in Brussels, “and will be responsible for actions related to the expression of the brand and its products. He will be responsible for all Press, Public Relations, Events and Digital Communications activities.”
 
A graduate in Political Sciences from the University of Zurich and a former student of the Ecole du Louvre in Paris, Piraes “will work closely with the Creative, Product and Merchandising departments, as well as the international Business territories (including e-commerce),” the memo added.
 
Previously, Piraes had worked closely under Loubier, after Delvaux was acquired by Singapore-based Temasek in 2011, leading to a sustained period of growth, which saw annual sales rise from €18 million to over €120 million.
 
Founded in 1829, Delvaux is considered by some to be the oldest luxury leather goods house in the world, since it was the first to file a patent for leather handbags in 1908. Regarded as the Hermès of Belgium, noted for its superlative quality, durability and finish of its products, the marque has also been the official supplier to the Belgian royal court since 1883.
 
Richemont is the third largest conglomerate in the world, and the leading group when it comes to high-quality watches and jewelry – controlling such brands as Cartier, Van Cleef & Arpels, IWC, Patek Philippe and Jaeger-LeCoultre. In softer fashion luxury, Richemont controls Chloé and Maison Alaïa, alongside accessory brands like Dunhill and Montblanc.