Daniel Lalonde
Daniel Lalonde | |
|---|---|
| Born | 1963 (age 60–61)[1] Cornwall, Ontario, Canada |
| Nationality | Canadian |
| Alma mater | University of Waterloo, INSEAD Business School |
| Occupation | Business executive |
| Years active | 1990s-present |
| Employer | Design Holding (CEO)[2] |
| Board member of | INSEAD |
Daniel Lalonde (born 1963)[1] is a Canadian businessperson[3] known for heading brands such as Louis Vuitton, Ralph Lauren, SMCP Group, Nespresso[4] and Moët & Chandon. After starting his management career with companies such as Häagen-Dazs and Nespresso,[5] he spent ten years at LVMH as president and CEO of LVMH Watches & Jewelry North America, Louis Vuitton in North America, and Moët & Chandon globally.[6][4][7] After eight years as CEO of SMCP Group, he was named CEO of Design Holding.[2]
Early life and education
Daniel Lalonde was born in 1963[1] in Cornwall, Ontario.[5] Lalonde's mother worked as a nurse, while his father was a teacher.[1] Fluent in both English and French,[8] Lalonde spent his youth in Cornwall[5][4] and attended École secondaire catholique La Citadelle[4] with aspirations to become a professional hockey player.[5] He studied mathematics at the University of Waterloo in Waterloo, Ontario,[4][5] earning a Bachelor of Mathematics and graduating with honors.[6] After working in Toronto for a consulting firm,[4] he moved[3] to France to study business administration at the INSEAD Business School.[4] He graduated with a Master of Business Administration[5] in 1991.[6]
Career
Early consulting
Lalonde remained in Paris after graduating from INSEAD, initially working at a management consultancy firm[4][5] and at Rothschilds.[5] He "made a name for himself"[3] as managing director of Häagen-Dazs Europe's retail-store division, where he quickly "developed a network of 130 stores in 12 countries, tripling the business." In the mid-1990s,[5] helped launch Nestle's Nespresso brand in North America,[4] serving as Nespresso North America's president and CEO.[6][9] He also spent five years[5] as Nespresso's global chief operating officer (COO)[4][6] while based in Switzerland. According to The New York Sun, Lalonde is credited with "[raising] annual sales from $25 million in five countries to $360 million in 30 countries," with Nespresso reaching "the no. 1 position in global sales for four straight years" during his tenure.[5]
LVMH
In 2002, he was hired by LVMH (Louis Vuitton Moët Hennessy)[4][5][9] as president and CEO of LVMH Watches & Jewelry[3] in North America,[4][6][5] overseeing brands such as Christian Dior, Chaumet, Zenith, OMAS, and De Beers LV.[5] His first major task at LVMH was to improve lagging sales for the TAG Heuer watch brand;[3] Lalonde focused on "superaffluent" markets,[5] such as the golf community in North America,[3] and redesigned the company's customer service[5] and retail strategies.[3][5] He also recruited celebrities, such as Tiger Woods, Uma Thurman,[4][5] Maria Sharapova, and Brad Pitt to take part in watch campaigns photographed by Patrick Demarchelier, with Woods' recruitment as a brand ambassador reportedly leading to a 30% increase in sales. Under Lalonde, TAG Heuer's sales represented over "50% of the growth in the luxury watch market" in the United States in 2004 and, by 2005, TAG Heuer was rated as the No. 2 luxury watch brand.[5]
Lalonde served as president and CEO of Louis Vuitton North America[10][3][11][4] from 2006[10] to 2010,[10][3] then returned to France to become the global CEO for LVMH brands Moët and Dom Pérignon.[4] In 2010,[12] he became global CEO and president of Moët & Chandon[6][9][12][10] and, in July 2010, was named president and CEO of both Moët & Chandon and Dom Pérignon worldwide.[3]
Ralph Lauren
After ten years at LVMH,[4][6] Lalonde became president of Ralph Lauren International[11][6] in January 2012,[9][10] in what was a newly created position.[13] He announced his departure from Ralph Lauren in December 2013.[10]
SMCP
In May 2014,[11][14][15] he became the president[6] and chief executive officer of SMCP Group (Sandro - Maje - Claudie Pierlot),[9] an internationally expanding French luxury fashion company [16][7][17] in which he also became an investor.[4] During his first year of leading SMCP, Lalonde travelled extensively in Asia, the Middle East, the United States, and Europe,[18] with the company posting a 19.2 percent rise in sales for the first half of 2016.[16] Under Lalonde, SMCP became a publicly traded company on the Paris Stock Exchange in October 2017 with a valuation of US$2.5 billion at its IPO.[4] In June 2019, after having reported revenues of 1 billion euros for 2018; Lalonde announced that SMCP will acquire French menswear "Accessible Luxury" label De Fursac,[19] with international expansion planned for the brand.[20]
He departed SMCP and was appointed CEO of Design Holding, a group of high-end design companies, including B&B Italia, Flos, Louis Poulsen, and Arclinea in August 2021.[2]
Affiliations
Lalonde serves on the board of INSEAD, his alma mater,[6] and has lectured at institutions such as Harvard Business School and Columbia University.[8]
Personal life
Currently based[16] in Paris with his wife Yvonne[1] and their three children,[8] since the late 1990s Lalonde has traveled between New York, Paris,[4] and Toronto.[1] He has interests in vintage wine and oenology with private cellars in Paris, France.[8]
References
- ^ a b c d e f "Taste for luxury is a job requirement - There is no secret formula for how Daniel Lalonde rose to become president and CEO of Louis Vuitton North America", Bernadette Morra, The Toronto Star, October 9, 2008
- ^ a b c Halliday, Sandra (August 3, 2021). "SMCP's Daniel Lalonde to lead Design Holding". Fashion Network. Retrieved August 28, 2022.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j "Daniel Lalonde, Louis Vuitton, and the World of Luxury Brands", Jim Tobler, Montecristo Magazine, September 19, 2010
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s "Fashion-brand CEO born and raised in Cornwall" Archived 2018-03-17 at the Wayback Machine, Alan S. Hale, Cornwall Standard-Freeholder, October 26, 2017
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s "Daniel Lalonde Works His Marketing Magic for LVMH", Pranay Gupte, The New York Sun, May 16, 2005
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k "Daniel Lalonde, MBA'91J", INSEAD
- ^ a b "Sandro and Maje Parent Taps Daniel Lalonde as CEO", Miles Socha, Women's Wear Daily, April 8, 2014
- ^ a b c d "Daniel Lalonde - Champagne wasn’t always a bubbly", Anindita Ghose, Livemint Magazine, December 2, 2011
- ^ a b c d e "Daniel Lalonde", Bloomberg News
- ^ a b c d e f "Daniel Lalonde Steps Down As President Of Ralph Lauren International", Fashion Week Daily, December 9, 2013
- ^ a b c "Lalonde Named CEO of SMCP, Trinity Appoints Cohen, Barrato Exits Brioni, Wilts Back to Boss", Robin Mellery-Pratt, Business of Fashion, April 11, 2014
- ^ a b "New Man at Moet and Chandon Helm", Alan Lodge, The Drinks Business, January 9, 2012
- ^ "Ralph Lauren Names Daniel Lalonde As New President", Marc Karimzadeh, The Beverly Hills Courier
- ^ "Ralph Lauren international boss Daniel Lalonde departs for Sandro and Maje", Nick Johnstone, Drapers, 8 April 2014
- ^ "Daniel Lalonde Tapped for CEO of SMCP", FashionUnited, 08 April 2014
- ^ a b c "SMCP's Daniel Lalonde: Expect More Private Equity Transactions in 2017", Business of Fashion, January 4, 2017
- ^ "A new boss at the head of Sandro and Maje - Daniel Lalonde, a Canadian from Ralph Lauren and LVMH, takes the chair.", Les Échos, April 29, 2014
- ^ "Daniel Lalonde (SMCP): Everywhere, I have noticed the desirability of our brands", Anaïs Lerévérend, Fashion Network, April 2, 2015
- ^ "SMCP Bidding To Become The Leading Group In Accessible Luxury Following Its First Acquisition"; Forbes, June 26, 2019.
- ^ "French fashion group SMCP buys men's luxury brand De Fursac"; Reuters; June 25, 2019.