SMCP appoints new CEO of De Fursac

By

Anaïs Lerévérend

Published
Oct 23, 2019

De Fursac has a new CEO. As of 19 November, the menswear brand recently acquired by SMCP will be led by Elina Kousourna. She succeeds Edmond Cohen, who has held the position since acquiring the house in 1990.

The man who has led the brand founded in 1973 for close to 30 years will not, however, be leaving it completely, and is stepping into a new role as president of De Fursac's supervisory committee.

His successor as CEO of the brand, which reported 41.4 million euros in revenues in 2018, is not a new face at SMCP. Greek-born Kousourna most recently served as strategy, digital and development director at the Paris-based group, which brings together the Sandro, Maje and Claudie Pierlot brands, and is owned by Chinese textiles and apparel company Shandong Rui. Having played an important role in the group's IPO in 2017, she will now be taking the reins of the fourth brand to be acquired by the company, a position in which she will work alongside the label's current creative director Alix Le Naour. 

Prior to joining SMCP, Kousourna began her career at L'Oréal Greece, before moving to Boston Consulting Group. 

The 35-year-old executive will now be tasked with integrating De Fursac into SMCP and, above all, with piloting the ambitious international expansion plans that the company has for the menswear brand. 

In order to replace Kousourna in her former role at SMCP, the company's CEO Daniel Lalonde and its shareholders have opted to promote from within. The group's current chief digital and innovation officer, Flavien d'Audiffret, will therefore be adding strategy and development to his list of responsibilities at the company, whose sales totalled over 1 billion euros last year.