MatchesFashion.com names ex-Chanel CEO Chiquet to board

By

Godfrey Deeny

Published
Oct 29, 2018

MatchesFashion.com has named Maureen Chiquet to its board, the first significant move for the former Chanel executive since she was dismissed from the French luxury brand in 2016.

 
The global luxury shopping online company added that  Chiquet will join the board with Trevor Mather as non-executive directors, effective immediately.
 
Chiquet, 56, is a highly experienced executive with some 30 years of experience in retail including nine years as global CEO of Chanel. She first joined Chanel in 2003 as COO and president of its US operations. Prior to that she served spent 15 years at Gap Inc, where she helped to launch Old Navy, before becoming president of Banana Republic in 2002.

While an official release claimed that she left Chanel due to “strategic differences,” insiders said the nail in her coffin was the long fallout from, and mockery of, the bizarre and preposterous Brad Pitt No. 5 scent ad campaign she oversaw for Chanel, which was widely pilloried on social media.
 
Chiquet also serves on the board of directors of Canada Goose; is a trustee to the New York Academy of Art; a trustee of the Yale Corporation; and fellow of Yale University, where she received a Bachelor of Arts in literature.
 
"Today, luxury is defined not just by the products we buy but by intangible things like time, connection, and meaningful experiences. MatchesFashion.com, with its unique combination of exquisite curation, powerful editorial and personal service, excels in providing luxury customers everything they most want and desire,” said Chiquet in a release.
 
Trevor Mather is the chief executive of Auto Trader Group Plc, the UK’s largest digital automotive marketplace and the 12th largest website in the UK. Not exactly a luxury marque par excellence, though an Internet success, seeing as Auto Trader attracts circa 55 million monthly cross platform visits.
 
“Maureen will bring a deep understanding of the luxury world from both a customer and product perspective, as well as providing valuable insight into the development of brand identity," said Ulric Jerome, MatchesFashion.com CEO.