The board of directors revealed Wednesday that St. John Knits‘ chief executive officer Andy Lew will become executive president of Lanvin Group, effective immediately.
The group’s current CEO Eric Chan, who took on his position following the 2023 departure of founding chairman and CEO Joann Cheng, will transition to the board as a director. Lew will continue to lead the management team at St. John Knits, where his role will not be replaced.
“I’m honored and excited to step into this role. Lanvin Group has been going through changes with the hiring of Paul Andrew at Sergio Rossi and Peter Copping showing his first collection for Lanvin in Paris next week. I’m excited to dig in with what used to be my sister companies and continue the evolution of the Group,” Lew told WWD.
The move comes at a critical time for the publicly traded luxury company — home to Lanvin, Sergio Rossi, Wolford, St. John and Caruso — which saw revenues decrease 20 percent year-over-year in 2024, including a 14 percent drop in revenue at St. John Knits.
Lanvin Group has brought in several creative leaders to shake things up amidst the luxury sector’s headwinds.
New Lanvin creative director Copping will make his debut on Jan. 26 during the men’s collections. Lanvin Group announced shoe designer Paul Andrew as the new creative director of Sergio Rossi, and appointed Regis Rimbert as the new CEO of Wolford over the summer.
There are plans to open a second Lanvin Group headquarters in Europe, which will be led by Lew, and be closer to the majority of the businesses than the company’s Shanghai home base.
Known as a straight shooter and a steady leader, Lew joined St. John Knits in May 2021, arriving with past executive experience from Brooks Brothers and Authentic Brands Group.
During his tenure, the Southern California apparel company founded by Marie Gray in 1962, which recently moved from Irvine to Anaheim, has continued to struggle with who its future customer is. Lew took the brand back to its core following the three-year term of creative director Zoe Turner who brought a more editorial, directional and European point of view to the clothing.
In 2022, industry veteran Enrico Chiarparin became executive vice president of design, and celebrity stylist Karla Welch a creative adviser on collections that marked an “evolution not a revolution,” as Lew put it. Chiarparin has left the company, and the brand is no longer hosting press presentations in New York, but St. John has continued to dress VIPs and celebrities, including Sheryl Lee Ralph for the 2025 Golden Globes.
Lew began taking on additional responsibilities as co-CEO of Lanvin Group last year, and moved to the East Coast in December, but plans to relocate to Europe in the coming months.
