French sportswear brand Lacoste appointed Philippe Gautier as the company’s new executive vice-president of Finance. Most recently, he was the CFO and COO for the beauty and wellness website Waldencast.
Gautier has worked in finance for over 30 years, much of his career spent at fashion and luxury groups, notably SMCP and Kering, which he joined when the group was called PPR.
“I am delighted that Philippe Gautier has taken charge of Lacoste’s finance department, and I am convinced that he will be a major asset for our brand,” said Thierry Guibert, CEO of Lacoste and the MF Brands Group, which also owns Aigle, The Kooples, Gant, and more.
Gautier started his career working in banking and went on to join international groups, including Peugeot and Schneider Electric. In 2003, he moved to PPR and was involved in modernizing the Redcats, where he remained for over six years before joining Puma in 2009. In 2014, he moved back to Europe, becoming the CFO of Sergio Rossi in Milan.
In 2015, Gautier joined the SMCP group, working with the KKR group, which, at the time, put most of its weight behind French affordable luxury labels Sandro, Maje and Claudie Pierlot. Notably, he was involved in SMCP’s stock market listing in 2017 and later in the acquisition of De Fursac.
After a period as CFO of coffee specialist Selecta, he spent a year and a half working in London as the CFO and COO of Waldencast.
Gautier returns to Paris and assumes the role of executive vice president of Finance for Lacoste from Denis Lamoureux who has been in the position since 2017 and has been with the group since 2008.
In 2022, Lacoste reported a revenue of approximately $2.7 billion.
Images courtesy Lacoste, Philippe Gautier
