Aspesi Reorganizes, Former CEO Simona Clemenza Becomes President of DKNY Europe
MILAN — Aspesi is reorganizing its executive structure and the Italian brand’s former chief executive officer Simona Clemenza is joining the Donna Karan Co.
Based in Milan, Clemenza has been appointed president of DKNY Europe tasked with leading the international expansion of the brand in Europe — a key strategic priority for parent G-III Apparel Group. She reports to Jeff Goldfarb, executive vice president of G-III.
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Clemenza partnered with G-III earlier in her career, when she was vice president, global sales and licensing at Karl Lagerfeld B.V., for the establishment and development of Lagerfeld Paris in North America.
In an earnings call last month, Morris Goldfarb, chairman and CEO of G-III, spoke about the importance of the DKNY and Karl Lagerfeld businesses in light of the fact that licenses for Tommy Hilfiger and Calvin Klein’s women’s North American wholesale business will transition back to PVH Corp. by the end of 2027.
“Three of our recently acquired or launched brands — DKNY, Karl Lagerfeld Paris in North America and the remaining global Karl Lagerfeld business — have added $1 billion in annual sales to our business. We see even greater growth ahead with these businesses and the rest of our portfolio, including Donna Karan, Vilebrequin and Sonia Rykiel,” Goldfarb said.
In addition to her DKNY post, Clemenza is taking on the role of vice president of Aspesi, with the goal to support the board and the brand’s management in defining and executing its future strategy.
Concurrently, Aspesi has appointed Carlos Pellegrini vice president global sales and marketing, a new post for the company. His objective is to strengthen and accelerate the commercial and communication expansion and strategic development.
Pellegrini was previously commercial director of Missoni and has more than 15 years of experience in fashion in executive positions in companies including Karl Lagerfeld.
Savino Lionetti was named Aspesi’s general director to strengthen the company’s production and industrial operations. He first joined Aspesi in 2019 after working for 25 years at Fendi, Gucci and Calvin Klein.
Aspesi was founded in 1969 by Alberto Aspesi and has been controlled by private equity fund Armonia Sgr since 2017. Its collections are designed by creative director Lawrence Steele.
Clemenza joined Aspesi as CEO in September 2019, succeeding Fabio Gnocchi. She was previously CEO of Krizia from 2017 to 2018, vice president, global sales and licensing at Karl Lagerfeld B.V. from 2012 to 2017, and from 2006 to 2012 she was worldwide commercial director of Kenzo.
Aspesi is available at 16 monobrand stores and shops-in-shop and more than 600 points of sale worldwide world.
Under the lead of Clemenza, Aspesi kicked off a new direct-to-consumer strategy, opening for example a 2,153-square-foot flagship in Tokyo’s luxury Aoyama district, as well as a pop-up shop on the contemporary floor of the Ginza Six department store.
