OUR KEYNOTES

Laurent Claquin

President, Kering Americas

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Laurent Claquin is the Head of Kering Americas, a global luxury group developing an ensemble of luxury houses including Gucci, Saint Laurent, Balenciaga, Bottega Veneta, and Alexander McQueen, among others. In 2017, he was named Chief Executive Officer of Kering brand, Tomas Maier, in addition to his role leading Kering Americas.

 

Claquin has been with Kering, formerly known as PPR, since 2004 when he joined as an advisor to Francois-Henri Pinault at Groupe Artémis. Prior to being named Head of Kering Americas, he initiated and developed the Corporate Social Responsibility program at Kering. Previously, Claquin served as Kering’s Senior Vice President of Communication.

 

He began his career in 1994 as a consultant at Coopers & Lybrand and in 1997, left to pursue his passion for the arts by working at the Galerie Nationale du Jeu de Paume in Paris. Claquin is a graduate of the ESC Rennes School of Business in France and currently resides in New York City.

Sophie Marchessou

Partner, North America Leader of Fashion, Apparel, & Luxury at McKinsey & Co.

Sophie Marchessou is a Partner in the New Jersey Office of McKinsey & Company. She has been with the Firm 10 years and is a leader in McKinsey’s Apparel, Fashion and Luxury practice, with specific expertise in beauty, apparel and other consumer categories.

 

She also spends significant working with Private Equity clients in the space, on diligences as well as growth Strategies for portfolio companies.

 

Sophie manages McKinsey’s relationship with WWD and spoke at the WWD Beauty Summit in 2015.

 

She holds a masters degree from HEC (France) and an MBA from Harvard Business School. Prior to McKinsey, she worked at Louis Vuitton in North America in 2010 and co-founded an online styling platform, Keaton Row.