Louvet Brings Proven Record of Success Leading Major Global Brands
Ralph Lauren Will Continue as Executive Chairman and Chief Creative
Officer
NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--May 17, 2017--
Ralph Lauren Corporation (NYSE:RL) today announced that Patrice Louvet,
one of the most successful executives in the consumer products industry,
has been named President and Chief Executive Officer. His appointment
will become effective July 17, 2017, at which time he will also be
appointed to the Ralph Lauren Corporation Board of Directors. Mr. Louvet
will dual report to Ralph Lauren in his capacity as Executive Chairman
of the Board and to the Company’s Board of Directors.
Mr. Louvet most recently served as Group President, Global Beauty at
Procter & Gamble (P&G), a division of 12 brands with approximately $11.5
billion in revenues in 2016.
Ralph Lauren, Executive Chairman and Chief Creative Officer, said:
“Finding the right partner to work with me to take us forward in our
evolution has been my primary focus over the last several months and I
am thrilled that Patrice is joining our talented team. He’s an
enormously skilled business leader with a deep passion for the consumer
and a sophisticated understanding of building global brands. This,
combined with his collaborative working style, transformation experience
and intense focus on results, will put us in a stronger position as we
move toward the future.”
Patrice Louvet said: “Ralph is one of the world's greatest fashion icons
and someone I have admired for many years, and it's an incredible
opportunity to partner with him to continue to build on 50 years of
heritage and innovation. The brand holds tremendous potential around the
world and I could not be more excited to lead the next phase of
development for this great company with Ralph and the team.”
Mr. Louvet is a brand expert with more than 25 years of experience at
P&G. Over the course of his career he has overseen several different
multi-billion dollar, category-leading brands and has held numerous
management and leadership roles in Europe, Asia and North America. Mr.
Louvet has a proven track record of improving and growing major global
brands and streamlining and refocusing business units, as well as
diverse experience working across multiple distribution channels
inclusive of e-commerce, wholesale and directly-operated retail. Prior
to his current role at P&G, which he has served in since February 2015,
Mr. Louvet was Group President, Global Grooming (Gillette). He also
previously served as President of P&G’s Global Prestige business where
he oversaw a diverse portfolio of 23 fashion brands, including Gucci and
Hugo Boss. He currently serves on the board of directors of Bacardi
Limited, which he joined in July 2012. He graduated from École
supérieure de commerce de Paris and received his MBA from the University
of Illinois. Additionally, he served in the French Navy from 1987-1989
as Naval Officer, Admiral Aide de Camp.
The Company will further discuss its Fourth Quarter and Full Year Fiscal
2017 results on its earnings conference call on May 18, 2017 at 9:00
AM Eastern for analysts, investors and other interested parties.
ABOUT RALPH LAUREN CORPORATION
Ralph Lauren Corporation (NYSE:RL) is a global leader in the design,
marketing and distribution of premium lifestyle products in four
categories: apparel, home, accessories and fragrances. For 50 years,
Ralph Lauren's reputation and distinctive image have been consistently
developed across an expanding number of products, brands and
international markets. The Company's brand names, which include Ralph
Lauren Purple Label, Ralph Lauren Collection, Double RL, Polo Ralph
Lauren, Polo Ralph Lauren Children's, Ralph Lauren Home, Lauren Ralph
Lauren, RLX, American Living, Chaps and Club Monaco, constitute one of
the world's most widely recognized families of consumer brands. For more
information, go to http://investor.ralphlauren.com.
SPECIAL NOTE REGARDING FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS
This press release and oral statements made from time to time by
representatives of the Company contain certain "forward-looking
statements" within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation
Reform Act of 1995. Forward-looking statements include statements
regarding, among other things, our current expectations about the
Company's future results, performance or achievements and are indicated
by words or phrases such as "anticipate," "estimate," "expect,"
"project," "we believe" and similar words or phrases. These
forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks,
uncertainties and other factors which may cause actual results,
performance or achievements to be materially different from the future
results, performance or achievements expressed in or implied by such
forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements are based largely
on the Company's expectations and judgments and are subject to a number
of risks and uncertainties, many of which are unforeseeable and beyond
our control. The factors that could cause actual results to materially
differ include, among others: the loss of key personnel, including Mr.
Ralph Lauren, or other changes in our executive and senior management
team or to our operating structure, and our ability to effectively
transfer knowledge during periods of transition; the potential impact to
our business and future strategic direction resulting from our
transition to a new Chief Executive Officer; our ability to successfully
implement our long-term growth strategy, which entails evolving our
product, marketing, and shopping experience to increase desirability and
relevance, and evolving our operating model to enable sustainable,
profitable sales growth by significantly reducing supply chain lead
times, improving our sourcing, and executing a disciplined multi-channel
distribution and expansion strategy; the impact to our business
resulting from investments and other costs incurred in connection with
the execution of our long-term growth strategy, including
restructuring-related charges, which may be dilutive to our earnings in
the short term; our ability to achieve anticipated operating
enhancements, sales growth, and/or cost reductions from our
restructuring plans; the impact to our business resulting from potential
costs and obligations related to the early closure of our stores or
termination of our long-term, non-cancellable leases; our ability to
effectively manage inventory levels and the increasing pressure on our
margins in a highly promotional retail environment; our efforts to
successfully enhance, upgrade, and/or transition our global information
technology systems and ecommerce platform; our ability to secure our
facilities and systems and those of our third-party service providers
from, among other things, cybersecurity breaches, acts of vandalism,
computer viruses, or similar Internet or email events; a variety of
legal, regulatory, tax, political, and economic risks, including risks
related to the importation and exportation of products, tariffs, and
other trade barriers which our operations are currently subject to, or
may become subject to as a result of potential changes in legislation,
and other risks associated with our international operations, such as
compliance with the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act or violations of other
anti-bribery and corruption laws prohibiting improper payments, and the
burdens of complying with a variety of foreign laws and regulations,
including tax laws, trade and labor restrictions, and related laws that
may reduce the flexibility of our business; the impact to our business
resulting from the United Kingdom's decision to exit the European Union
and the uncertainty surrounding the terms and conditions of such a
withdrawal, as well as the related impact to global stock markets and
currency exchange rates; changes in our tax obligations and effective
tax rates due to a variety of factors, including potential changes in
tax laws and regulations, accounting rules, or the mix and level of
earnings by jurisdiction; our exposure to currency exchange rate
fluctuations from both a transactional and translational perspective;
the impact to our business resulting from increases in the costs of raw
materials, transportation, and labor; the impact to our business
resulting from changes in consumers' ability or preferences to purchase
premium lifestyle products that we offer for sale and our ability to
forecast consumer demand, which could result in either a build-up or
shortage of inventory; our ability to continue to maintain our brand
image and reputation and protect our trademarks; the impact of the
volatile state of the global economy, stock markets, and other global
economic conditions on us, our customers, our suppliers, and our vendors
and on our ability and their ability to access sources of liquidity; the
potential impact to our business resulting from the financial
difficulties of certain of our large wholesale customers, which may
result in consolidations, liquidations, restructurings, and other
ownership changes in the retail industry, as well as other changes in
the competitive marketplace, including the introduction of new products
or pricing changes by our competitors; the impact to our business of
events of unrest and instability that are currently taking place in
certain parts of the world, as well as from any terrorist action,
retaliation, and the threat of further action or retaliation; our
ability to continue to expand or grow our business internationally and
the impact of related changes in our customer, channel, and geographic
sales mix as a result; changes in the business of, and our relationships
with, major department store customers and licensing partners; our
intention to introduce new products or enter into or renew alliances and
exclusive relationships; our ability to access sources of liquidity to
provide for our cash needs, including our debt obligations, payment of
dividends, capital expenditures, and potential repurchases of our Class
A common stock; our ability to open new retail stores, concession shops,
and e-commerce sites in an effort to expand our direct-to-consumer
presence; the potential impact to the trading prices of our securities
if our Class A common stock share repurchase activity and/or cash
dividend payments differ from investors' expectations; our ability to
maintain our credit profile and ratings within the financial community;
our ability to make certain strategic acquisitions and successfully
integrate the acquired businesses into our existing operations; the
potential impact on our operations and on our suppliers and customers
resulting from natural or man-made disasters; and other risk factors
identified in the Company's Annual Report on Form 10-K, Form 10-Q and
Form 8-K reports filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The
Company undertakes no obligation to publicly update or revise any
forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information,
future events or otherwise.
View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20170517005595/en/
Source: Ralph Lauren Corporation
Ralph Lauren Corporation
Corporate Communications:
rl-press@ralphlauren.com,
212-205-5947
or
Investor Relations:
Evren Kopelman,
212-813-7862
