Louis Vuitton Moet Hennessy calls management shake-up

LUXURY group Louis Vuitton Moet Hennessy has had a management shake-up, months after taking full control of jewellery house Bulgari.

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MONTHS after taking full control of Italian jewellery house Bulgari, luxury group Louis Vuitton Moet Hennessy has had a management shake-up.

At $US5.2 billion ($5.19bn) LVMH inked the biggest deal in its history when it acquired a 51 per cent stake in Bulgari recently.

This week, LVMH announced the appointment of Michael Burke, CEO of luxury brand Fendi, to become Bulgari's chief executive.

When Burke took control of Fendi eight years ago, the company was failing and he made the ambitious move of appointing current Chanel head designer Karl Lagerfeld as creative director, at the same time implementing a new distribution model for its fur and leather products.

Burke has also been credited with fine-tuning the operations at Fendi, turning it from a family-run operation into the impressive global, and profitable, brand it is today.

He joined the LVMH stable in the 1980s, and has been chief operating officer for Christian Dior, president of Dior and president and CEO of Louis Vuitton North America.

Burke will start in his new role next February.

In other management news, Pietro Beccari, LV's executive vice-president for marketing and communications, has been named CEO of Fendi.

Beccari’s replacement at LV is yet to be announced.