Pronovias announces new CEO Marc Calabia to replace outgoing Amandine Ohayon

New owner, new CEO. Amandine Ohayon, who joined Pronovias in 2018 after the sale to BC Partners, has left the company with immediate effect. He will be replaced in September, after a transition period, by Marc Calabia, until now CEO of Springfield (owned by the Tendam group).

The replacement at the top of Pronovias had been a growing rumor in the sector since, at the end of last year, a pool of Pronovias’ creditors, led by Bain Capital, capitalized the debt and took control of the company. Ohayon “has decided to start a new professional cycle,” the company explains in a statement.

Calabia will join in September as the new CEO. Until then, the company will be piloted on an interim basis by Clement Kwanformer president of Yoox Net-a-Porter in the United States and advisor to Pronovias since October 2022, where “he has worked with Amandine in the transition,” according to the company.

Bain has built a board of luxury talent and has recruited new marketing and product directors

Marc Calabia has more than 25 years of experience in the fashion sector. The executive, with a degree in Advertising and Public Relations, was until now CEO of Springfield, a position he assumed in 2018.

Previously, was responsible for product and merchandising at Desigual for two yearsVice President of Sales for Southern Europe at Levi Strauss and General Manager of The Body Shop, then owned by L’Oréal.

Once he joins, Kwan will continue in the group as a strategic advisor, in a team made up of other advisors and board members such as Fabrizio Cardinali, CEO of Etro and former CEO of Dolce&Gabbana; Alberto Grignolo, who was CEO of Yoox and COO of Yoox Net-a-Porter for eighteen years, and Gianni Serazzi, Chairman of Pronovias Group and previously a director of Richemont.

Amandine Ohayon had joined Pronovias in 2018, after the sale of the group to BC Partners

In addition to these additions, which had already been announced, are other executive signings such as María Muntaner, as the new marketing director, and Gemma Ruiz, director of product and merchandising. The executive will assume the position left vacant last year by Gemma Andreu, who left the company after three years to join Desigual as marketing director.

María Muntaner comes from Thinking Mu, a company specialized in sustainable fashion where the executive was brand and marketing director. Muntaner is co-founder and director of several companies and, like Calabia, she also worked at Desigual, where she was director of brand and clients.

For his part, Gemma Ruiz will bring international experience thanks to her career as purchasing director y merchandising at Alshaya Group and Director of Purchasing and Product at Bestseller in China.

His signing marks the return of Ruiz to Pronovias, where he began his career in the supply area. In his career, he has also worked for companies such as Massimo Dutti and Desigual itself.

Calabia has more than two decades of experience in companies such as Desigual or Tendam

Sandro Patti, a partner at Bain Capital, highlighted in a statement the “solid leadership capacity” and Calabia’s “experience in the fashion industry”. “Pronovias is a leading group in the market with a bright future that we are looking forward to supporting”, adds the executive. “We are excited to work with Marc and his management team to continue growing Pronovias on a global scale. We also want to thank Amandine for her work ”.

“We want to take the opportunity to express our deepest gratitude to Amandine, who successfully weathered the biggest crisis suffered by the bridal fashion industryl, while transforming Pronovias into a modern and diverse organization, expanding its portfolio of luxury brands”, said Gianni Serazzi, president of the group.

“Her strong leadership, resilience and energy have been instrumental in taking the group to a brilliant new stage, with passion, vision and commitment. She has been a great captain during these years and we are sure that she will continue to leave her mark whatever path she takes”, he added. “We are very excited to welcome Marc, -added Serazzi-; that he will continue to consolidate the solid foundations laid by Amandine ”.

Gemma Ruiz assumes the direction of product and María Muntaner, that of marketing

Ohayon has led Pronovias through some complex years, in which he has first had to manage the integration of purchases promoted by BC Partners (Ladybird and Nicole) and later a pandemic that paralyzed the bridal business.

The context led the company to contract its billing and skyrocket its debt, a trend that seemed to have begun to reverse in 2022. “It has been a year of transition,” Ohayon said in an interview with Modaes in April.

The group closed the 2022 financial year with a turnover of 150 million euros and expects to reach a turnover of 200 million euros in the medium term. Liabilities, for their part, have been reduced by 70%, to 125 million euros.

Pronovias has its origins in El Suizo, a lace, embroidery and fabric shop founded by Alberto Palatchi Bienveniste in 1922. In 1964, with the incorporation of his son, Alberto Palatchi Ribera, the company changed its model and began to distribute prêt bridal fashion -à-porter.