Fashion is all about relationships, but what if they don’t have to be made, they were born?
In recent months, the realization seems to have taken hold that Hollywood is not only a stronghold of good looks, but also of privilege. The debate that ignited on social media isn’t particularly groundbreaking, but it did lead to the introduction of a term that has since taken the world by storm – nepotism baby, or its snazzy, tweet-ready abbreviation, the “nepo baby.” .
The internet has become obsessed with famous “Nepo babies” — especially those with familiar features and even more familiar last names. Models with celebrity parents like Gigi and Bella Hadid, Kendall Jenner, and Cindy Crawford’s daughter Kaia Gerber have all had to publicly account for it. The fashion industry also has a brigade of young leaders whose names opened doors long before they even sat down at the negotiating table.
Nepo babies or the best successor?
While the Nepo-Babies debate is mostly based on their obvious privilege, it gets a little more complicated when it comes to fashion leadership. Were future CEOs born with the privileges or were they well prepared to take over the family business from an early age?
Especially when family members of company founders are still quite young – with less than 40 years of age already rising to the top of the company – this question seems to arise. When looking for an answer, a look at the often similar biographies of the offspring could provide information.
The Arnault Dynasty
Every empire needs successors, and Bernard Arnault, CEO of luxury conglomerate LVMH Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton, has five potential contenders for the throne. All five Arnault children, Delphine, Antoine, Alexandre, Frédéric and Jean, are currently involved in the family business, albeit in different roles.
“From an early age, our father always involved us very closely. He always told us about the group of companies, his work and his customers. We were consulted (…). I remember going to the fashion house Dior with him when I was ten years old,” recalls Delphine Arnault in Élodie Andriot’s book Patronnes – Tête-à-tête avec les numéros unes the tip) back. She herself was recently appointed Dior Couture Managing Director.
Alexandre Arnault
Bernard Arnault’s desire to integrate his children into the family business from an early age becomes even clearer when one examines the careers of his three youngest sons. Alexandre Arnault first made headlines when he was appointed co-CEO of German luggage company Rimowa, aged just 24, after LVMH acquired 80 percent of the company.
According to Business of Fashion, it was Alexandre who was not only the first to recognize the potential of the traditional brand from Cologne, but also sought out the owner Richard Morszeck. Today, at the age of 30, Alexandre is Executive Vice President of Product and Communication at Tiffany & Co, the conglomerate’s largest acquisition to date. Under his leadership, the luxury jeweler has worked with celebrities such as Jay-Z, Beyonce and Blackpink’s Rosé, and recently launched a much-talked-about sneaker collaboration with Nike – which Alexandre proudly strutted in at a New York Knicks basketball game.
Frederic Arnault
Not many can claim to be at the helm of a global luxury brand just two years after graduating from university. But for Frédéric Arnault, who graduated in applied and computational mathematics from the prestigious École Polytechnique in September 2018, this is a reality. According to his LinkedIn profile, the 28-year-old completed summer internships at the online group Facebook and the management consultancy McKinsey during his studies – the same company where his half-sister Delphine had worked years earlier.
In his senior year, he finally joined the Swiss luxury watch brand Tag Heuer and was entrusted with the company’s smartwatch activities. Bernard Arnault’s offspring was prepared for the executive chair from the start. Managing Director Stéphane Bianchi groomed him for the role – a move that bore fruit in June 2020, when Bianchi handed the reins to then-25-year-old Frédéric Arnault and himself rose to the helm of LVMH’s watch and jewelery division.
Jean Arnault
Jean Arnault has not yet made himself comfortable in the executive chair, but the youngest Arnault is well on the way to following in the footsteps of his siblings. He holds two master’s degrees, one in mechanical engineering from Imperial College, London and one in financial mathematics from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. After graduating in the summer of 2021, he was appointed Director of Marketing and Development of Watches at Louis Vuitton — the same brand where, according to his LinkedIn profile, he worked for two months as a sales associate in 2017. “I was a student in London when Frédéric started working at Tag Heuer,” Jean told the Financial Times, attributing his passion for watches to his older brother Frédéric. “We have a close relationship and he started talking to me about the new watches and all the different things he was working on. I was fascinated.”
Marc O’Polo: Like father, like son
When Werner Böck acquired more than 40 percent of Marc O’Polo’s Swedish parent company in 1987, his son Maximilian was still in its infancy. Ten years later, Böck Senior became the majority owner of the brand, which is now based in Stephanskirchen under the management of his son. At not even 35 years old, Maximilian Böck can already look back on almost two years in the executive chair of the family company.
He was well prepared for his role: after training as a trainee in buying and retail at the Düsseldorf clothing retailer Peek & Cloppenburg, Böck Junior worked there as a buyer before moving to the family business. He first held the position of Director Retail at Marc O’Polo before being appointed Chief Retail Officer and CO-CEO alongside Dieter Holzer. The latter should prepare him for his later role as sole managing director. With his son at the helm, the long-term and currently successful development of the company in the interests of the family can be ensured in the future, commented Werner Böck on the announcement of the change in management in 2020, thereby proving that the business is a family matter in this case too.
Prada scion and racing driver
The future of the Italian Prada Group lies in the hands of Lorenzo Bertelli, son of designer Miuccia Prada and her husband Patrizio Bertelli, with whom she shared the post of managing director for many years. Miuccia Prada herself took over the family-run business in 1978, now it’s her son’s turn. The older of the two Prada offspring has mainly made headlines as a racing driver, but has been part of the family business since 2015, at that time as a member of the board of directors, and in the meantime as Marketing Director and Head of Corporate Social Responsibility.
However, his area of responsibility could soon increase, as CEO Andrea Guerra, who was appointed in December, is to prepare Bertelli for his time in the executive chair of his parents’ company. The parents of the 34-year-old, who studied philosophy at the University of San Raffaele in Milan, make no secret of his future in the family business. “We’re getting older, my husband and I, so we’re trying to organize the future for our son and for the company,” Prada said in an interview with Vogue Business earlier this year.
Bugatti: family tradition since 1947
Family tradition is very important at Brinkmann. The clothing company from Herford, which is known today as Bugatti Holding Brinkmann GmbH & Co. KG, was founded in 1947 by Friedrich Wilhelm Brinkmann. The motto of the founder was “March separately, plan together” and his maxim is continued today in the second and third generation. In 1986, the two brothers Wolfgang and Klaus Brinkmann took over the management from their father Friedrich Wilhelm. Since 2015 they have been running the company – which includes Bugatti, Eduard Dressler, Wilvorst and Pikeur – together with their sons Markus and Julius Brinkmann.
Markus Brinkmann and his father Wolfgang manage the areas of production, human resources, IT, controlling and finance, while Julius and father Klaus Brinkmann are responsible for sales, quality, product management and marketing. The two Brinkmann cousins took their first steps in the family business and the associated brands long before they rose to the top. Markus Brinkmann joined the family business as a trainee in 2009, at just under 28. Julius, who is three years younger than his cousin, completed a trainee program with Eduard Dressler in Großostheim in the same year. Both have been board members of Bugatti since 2012.
Marta Ortega Pérez: The fast fashion heiress
Marta Ortega Pérez worked for 15 years at Inditex, her father Amancio Ortega’s fast fashion empire, before the now 39-year-old took over as chair of the board of directors of the Spanish textile group last April. It’s her first official position at Inditex, having previously worked where the company needed her most — including on the shop floor — Ortega Pérez explained in a rare 2021 interview with The Wall Street Journal.
Even without an official title, it was Ortega Pérez who significantly changed Zara’s brand image in recent years. Under her direction, campaigns with well-known creatives were created, which gave the fashion chain a premium touch even before a “premium” collection was launched. “I have lived and breathed this company since I was a child (…)”, said Ortega Pérez in a statement from Inditex in November 2021. “I have always said that I would dedicate my life to building my parents’ legacy by… looking to the future but learning from the past and serving the company, our shareholders and customers where I am needed most.”
Success guarantee parentage?
This is just an excerpt of particularly young CEOs from the executive register of well-known fashion dynasties in which the baton has remained in family hands. Family members of fashion houses like Missoni or Versace and of stylists like Carine Roitfeld could easily join the long list. Many fashion empires that at first glance are not quite as glamorous as Peek & Cloppenburg, the Otto Group and C&A are also firmly in family hands, but not always without problems. Sometimes the youngsters want to go their own way and not all try to follow them to be settled within the family.
François-Henri Pinault, CEO of the luxury fashion group Kering, is now regarded as Bernard Arnault’s and thus LVMH’s biggest competitor. He was just 23 years old himself when he joined his father, François Pinault’s company in 1987. In 2005 he finally followed in his father’s footsteps and a few years later renamed the group Kering. Compared to the Arnault clan, none of Pinault’s children are part of the group to date, and his potential successor is thus entirely open.
Clothing brands such as S.Oliver and Marc Cain are also trying their luck with candidates outside of the family – far from possible Nepo babies. Both in Rottendorf and in Bodelshausen, the reins are back in the hands of the founders and are prime examples of the fact that succession does not always run smoothly – neither in the family circle nor outside of one’s own clan.