Burberry Names Giorgio Belloli, Delphine Sonder to Newly-Created Roles
LONDON — Burberry is building its digital, marketing and product teams with the creation of two executive roles.
Giorgio Belloli has been named chief digital, customer and innovation officer, while Delphine Sonder will take up the role of chief merchandising officer, with immediate effect.
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Burberry said Belloli will be responsible for leading the global e-commerce, digital product and analytics teams, as well as a newly-formed innovation function.
Sonder will be in charge of merchandising and global planning across ready-to-wear and accessories, as well as product strategy. Both will report to Burberry chief executive officer Jonathan Akeroyd and join the executive committee.
Belloli and Sonder will be based at Burberry’s Horseferry House headquarters in London.
Belloli spent more than nine years at Farfetch, where he most recently served as chief commercial and sustainability officer.
He has previously held senior roles at Alexander McQueen, Chalayan and Prada.
Sonder is joining Burberry after nearly five years at Saint Laurent, where she was general merchandising director. She has also worked in senior roles at Louis Vuitton and Chloé.
Akeroyd said the appointments “reinforce our ambitions for this next phase, building on our strong legacy of innovation and strengthening the alignment between our commercial offering and our new creative vision. I look forward to working closely with them both to progress our strategic priorities and realize Burberry’s potential as ‘the’ modern British luxury brand.”
As reported in November, Akeroyd’s ambition is for revenue to grow to 4 billion pounds in the medium term, and 5 billion pounds in the long term, at constant exchange rates, and with good margin progression.
His vision includes “a refocus on Britishness” and doubling the sales of leather goods, shoes and women’s rtw. In addition, the plan is to grow outerwear by 50 percent in the medium term.
Akeroyd said he wants the brand to be “desirable and relatable,” with product sitting front and center, as well as a renewed focus on “femininity” and on underdeveloped categories such as footwear.
Last September, Akeroyd tapped Daniel Lee as chief creative officer. Lee will show his first collection Burberry, fall 2023, in February.
