PARIS — Luxurious eyewear label Ahlem has recruited Enrico Sanavia as its first chief government officer.
That is the primary time the 10-year-old unbiased model has employed a CEO. The manager joined the corporate on Thursday and succeeds founder and artistic director Ahlem Manai-Platt, who will focus on artistic course and design.
Sanavia’s “distinctive observe report within the luxurious eyewear sector, coupled together with his deep understanding of shopper developments,” made him a becoming selection for a roadmap that features doubling the scale of the enterprise in three years, stated Manai-Platt.
He can be based mostly in New York Metropolis.
Ahlem Manai-Platt
Courtesy of Ahlem
Most just lately, the Italian native served as head of Thélios Americas, the U.S. subsidiary of the LVMH-owned eyewear producer, a task he held for seven years and which noticed him play a pivotal position in establishing a robust market presence, together with the launch of the corporate’s first direct subsidiary in Latin America. He additionally served as president of Vuarnet, the French eyewear label acquired by Thélios in 2023.
Previous to that, he spent eight years at Safilo, lastly as New York-based vp of name administration. A graduate of the Ca’ Foscari College of Venice in Italy, he reduce his enamel in advertising and marketing and technique at United Colours of Benetton.
For Manai-Platt, Sanavia’s appointment is a departure from the corporate’s first decade as a “very horizontal” group and indicators a readiness for the subsequent step of development.
“He’s coming to an organization that has construction, has operations prepared for him to really do his job correctly,” she instructed WWD in a joint interview. “If he got here right into a group that had no expertise, he can’t do magic. However now, he can develop the corporate in the fitting course, which is making all the things so robust and serve the target of constructing Ahlem probably the most recognizable luxurious eyewear model on the earth.”
Having adopted Ahlem’s improvement over time, the brand new government expressed enthusiasm at becoming a member of “a model with a novel positioning, that has constructed such a robust legacy.”
Sanavia stated its trifecta of a timeless type proposition, high quality product and present robust place in France, the U.S. and Japan had been stable property and fashioned the best springboard for the subsequent section of improvement.
His precedence can be additional solidifying the corporate’s place in its current markets, which additionally embrace South Korea and Northern Europe, due to elevated investments in pop-ups and visibility.
The Ahlem spring 2025 marketing campaign.
Courtesy of Ahlem
“The model consciousness is already international, however we nonetheless have vital luxurious markets that we’re not exploiting such because the Center East, Southeast Asia, Brazil and Mexico,” the CEO stated. “[They are] an awesome alternative that I need to focus on to scale up the enterprise.”
Based in 2014 in Los Angeles by Manai-Platt, Ahlem hit the 15-million-euro mark in gross sales for 2022 and presently counts 35 staff, together with a 11-strong group dealing with the in-house logistics facilities in France and the U.S. Its small-batch collections are manufactured in 4 factories in France.
Along with its 4 flagships — Los Angeles, San Francisco, New York and Paris — there are over 900 Ahlem retailers all over the world.
The corporate stated its prime three markets of the U.S., Japan and France now account for 50 % because the model has expanded to additional territories and grown by high-double-digit % yearly.
The bespoke service launched in 2024, the place shoppers can have one-of-a-kind frames developed from scratch by Manai-Platt and her design group, will even be additional expanded.
Already within the pipeline for 2025 are initiatives equivalent to a capsule assortment specializing in an progressive steel development approach and a collaboration with Crimson, the nonprofit group based by Bono and Bobby Shriver to assist the struggle in opposition to AIDS.
Launching in February, the Ahlem x (Crimson) limited-edition set features a customized cleansing fabric created in collaboration with Ghanaian artist Oheneba-Takyi Joshua.
