Riccardo Sciutto, CEO of Sergio Rossi, leaves the brand – WWD

MILAN — Italian luxury shoe brand Sergio Rossi has appointed Paul Kotrba as interim CEO to succeed Riccardo Sciutto.

Kotrba was most recently Chief Operating Officer at Wolford what how Sergio Rossiis controlled by Lanvin groupwhere he streamlined IT and operations, initiated a company-wide reorganization and defined a roadmap to achieve profitability that year.

Prior to Wolford, the Austrian was CEO of Seafolly, Australia’s largest premium swimwear brand controlled by L Catterton, and before that was responsible for global sales and business development at Donna Karan and DKNY in New York for over 15 years.

Kotrba described this as “an exciting time” in Sergio Rossi’s development. “I look forward to growing the business and brand presence globally, continuing to increase the quality of our distribution and engaging with customers to ensure they discover the rich heritage and exceptional quality of our truly authentic Italian luxury footwear brand.”

His role is to lead Sergio Rossi’s global retail and wholesale expansion strategies and guide e-commerce developments into new markets to further strengthen the brand’s leadership position in Japan and the rapidly expanding brand presence in Greater China support.

Sciutto joined Sergio Rossi from Hogan in February 2016 and has seen a number of changes within the company. He came shortly after the European investment house investment industrial took control Sergio Rossi in December 2015 by its previous owner, Kering. Fosun Group took control of the company in the summer of 2021; the parent company was renamed Lanvin group in October of the same year before its IPO in New York. In addition to Wolford and Sergio Rossi, the group also includes the Lanvin, St. John and Caruso brands.

Sciutto led a reorganization of Sergio Rossi’s structure, production and sales, as well as their digital transformation as Asia became the brand’s main market, driven by Japan and China. He modernized the manufacturing facility in Italy’s San Mauro Pascoli, a key footwear district in the country, repositioning the brand and giving the product a precise identity consistent with that of its namesake late founder. Sciutto has always been proud of the work he has done on Sergio Rossi’s archive of more than 7,000 pairs of shoes.

In January last year, Sciutto recruited Evangelie Smyrniotaki, known online as Style Heroine, from the digital creative field and appointed her artistic director who will be responsible for brand image and identity.

In December 2021, it was announced that the footwear brand was among the tenants of the Spiga 26 real estate project in Milan, which gave up its contract last year, a move in line with the new owner’s commitment to invest in store openings. Sergio Rossi has a worldwide distribution network of 63 branches.

Lanvin group debuted on the New York Stock Exchange in December and reported a 37 percent increase in sales for 2022, when sales were €422 million, boosted by the acquisition of Sergio Rossi.

As reported, Sergio Rossi’s turnover last year was 61.9 million euros.