Tiffany Taps Former Barneys CEO for Chief Brand Officer Role

New York—Tiffany & Co. looked to another New York retail icon to fill the newly created executive vice president and chief brand officer role—Barneys New York.

In an internal email to employees shared with National Jeweler Wednesday, CEO Alessandro Bogliolo announced the appointment of former Barneys New York CEO Daniella Vitale, which will be official Dec. 1.

Vitale will be responsible for the oversight and guidance of the jeweler’s global merchandising and marketing strategies.

Her career began in the merchandising sector, working with Ferragamo, Armani, Gucci and other luxury brands.

She was president and CEO of the Americas at Gucci before joining Barneys in 2010 as its chief merchandising officer and EVP of digital.

She was named chief operating officer in 2013 and, in 2017, took on the role of CEO.

Bogliolo described Vitale as a “brand leader” with a strong sense of product sensibility and a keen eye for data and analytics.

“In her time at Barneys, Daniella was an arbiter of what’s on-trend, and was successful in balancing her intuition for product and impeccable taste level with a strong focus on consumer analytics to understand and predict consumer behavior,” he wrote.

Vitale will report directly to Bogliolo while the senior merchandising officials will report to her.

Tiffany announced the creation of the role Monday in an 8-K filing alongside the departure of longtime executive Pamela Cloud, the retailer’s senior vice president and chief merchandising officer.

The management changes come at a time when reports have surfaced detailing the potential acquisition of Tiffany by luxury conglomerate LVMH Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton.

Tiffany confirmed last month it had received an unsolicited bid from LVMH for $120 per share, valuing the deal at approximately $14.5 billion, with reports following that Tiffany asked LVMH to up the offer.

Sources told Reuters Thursday the bid had been raised to $130 per share, prompting Tiffany to provide details about its assets and liabilities to LVMH.

The companies are still in the negotiation stage and no deal has been reached, the sources noted.