Editor’s Note
This article details the expanding role of Stéphane Bianchi at LVMH, following the integration of Bulgari into the group’s Watches & Jewelry division. It highlights the strategic consolidation of major brands under his leadership.
Stéphane Bianchi continues his ascent within LVMH. With the integration of heavyweight Bulgari into the Watches & Jewelry division, which now encompasses almost all luxury watch and jewelry brands, the manager’s scope of responsibilities has expanded. The Italian jeweler joins brands such as Chaumet, Fred, Tag Heuer, Hublot, and Zenith, whose activities the manager has overseen until now.
The appointment also marks “a streamlining of the group’s organization, which now brings together the activities of the watch and jewelry division under a single leadership,” LVMH added, noting that each brand will continue to be managed individually, while the group embeds its work “within a ‘hard luxury’ strategy and promotes the sharing of knowledge and resources to accelerate ongoing progress.”
Thus, Bulgari CEO Jean-Christophe Babin retains his position but will now report to Stéphane Bianchi, rather than to Deputy CEO Toni Belloni as before. Furthermore, the American jeweler Tiffany & Co, recently integrated into the luxury giant, will continue to be managed separately and outside the Watches and Jewelry division.
Stéphane Bianchi joined LVMH in 2018 to lead the group’s watch houses. There, he was directly responsible for Tag Heuer. He handed over this position to Frédéric Arnault, the fourth son of Bernard Arnault, last July, while the heads of the Hublot and Zenith brands reported to him. Two years later, he was promoted to head the entire division and took on responsibility for the French jewelry brands Chaumet and Fred.
Previously, the manager, who studied at the Institut d’études politiques de Paris and began his career at Arthur Andersen, worked primarily for the Yves Rocher group, notably for the brand Petit Bateau, where he was CEO from 2005 to 2009, and for Yves Rocher as CEO from 1998 to 2015. He is also a member of the board of directors of the Swiss group Maus Frères.
