Lanvin has appointed Barbara Werschine as chief executive officer, the Chinese-owned Lanvin Group confirmed on May 28, 2026, installing the former Eric Bompard CEO at the helm of France’s oldest continually operating couture house as it works to reverse a steep sales decline. The Lanvin CEO 2026 announcement, broken exclusively by WWD, replaces Andy Lew, who had served as chief executive since July 2025 and most recently taken on interim CFO duties following the May resignation of finance chief Jiyang Han.
Werschine, previously deputy CEO at Lanvin since March 2026, inherits a brand that posted a €263 million net loss in fiscal 2025 on group revenue of €240.5 million, down 17.6 percent year-on-year. Her promotion was announced alongside two other CEO appointments inside Lanvin Group: Marco Pozzo at Wolford and Mandy West at St. John.
Werschine’s Career and Appointment
Werschine arrives at Lanvin with a résumé that traces the architecture of European luxury. She holds degrees from ESCP Business School and Harvard Business School and began her career as a strategy consultant at McKinsey. From there she moved into operating roles at Hermès, where she served as director of leather goods collections, the same product category currently being recalibrated across the sector following Givenchy’s recent leather goods leadership change.
Her subsequent posts at Zadig & Voltaire, Celine and Louis Vuitton positioned her across both the contemporary and grand luxe segments. She most recently spent four years as CEO of French cashmere house Eric Bompard before joining Lanvin.
“People want to go back to elegance and formalwear and Lanvin is very accurate for that,” Werschine told WWD. “I’m French, and Parisian, so I’m deeply attached to this brand.”
Outgoing CEO Andy Lew, in a statement, cited Werschine’s “vision of the luxury market and deep understanding of our industry’s challenges.”
Lanvin’s Financial Position
The appointment lands as Lanvin Group navigates the most strained balance sheet in its portfolio history. According to the Lanvin Group FY2025 annual results, group revenue fell to €240.5 million while the net loss widened to €263 million.
Performance across the portfolio was uneven:
- Lanvin brand: down roughly 30 percent to approximately €58 million
- Wolford: down 14 percent to €76 million
- Sergio Rossi: down 30 percent to €30 million
- St. John: down 1 percent to $78 million, the group’s best-performing label
The group closed 51 directly operated stores during the period, reducing its physical network from 225 to 174 locations, per the Lanvin Group strategic transformation announcement. As of the most recent disclosure, Lanvin Group held €28.3 million in cash against €325 million in short-term borrowings, with majority shareholder Fosun International having committed financial support for at least 36 months from December 31. The group divested Italian menswear maker Caruso on February 6, 2026 as part of broader portfolio optimization.
The decline stands in sharp relief against Ralph Lauren’s record FY2026 results, underscoring the bifurcation between luxury houses with established Americas momentum and those still rebuilding brand heat.
Strategic Priorities Under New Leadership
Werschine outlined three near-term commercial priorities for the Lanvin brand under her tenure.
The first is menswear expansion, timed to coincide with Lanvin’s 100th anniversary in the category, a milestone the house has yet to leverage commercially at scale. The second is lifestyle extension into home goods and fragrance, categories the brand previously underexploited. The third is a re-entry into the homewares segment.
At the group level, Lanvin’s executive team has committed to an asset-light expansion model, deeper home-market presence in France and Greater China, and what management describes as “creative renewal” across the portfolio brands. The group transformation program is expected to be “largely completed” in 2026.
Wider Lanvin Group Leadership Changes in 2026
Werschine’s appointment is the third CEO change announced inside Lanvin Group within the same news cycle. Marco Pozzo has been named CEO of Wolford, and Mandy West has been named CEO of St. John. The wave follows the March 2026 departure of deputy CEO Siddhartha Shukla and the May 2026 resignation of CFO Jiyang Han, with Lew having served as interim CFO from May 7.
The reshuffle mirrors a broader 2026 trend of luxury executive turnover. Recent appointments include Isabel Marant’s recent CEO appointment and Banana Republic’s new CEO. Board-level changes are also reshaping governance at houses including Burberry’s own leadership restructuring, indicating that pressure on luxury margins is now translating directly into C-suite turnover across the sector.
Lanvin Group has not disclosed a formal effective date for Werschine’s CEO transition or detailed compensation terms. The company said additional updates on the group transformation timeline will be issued with its next interim results.
