Esprit never comes to rest. After the insolvency of the European companies and the departure from the classic trading model, Esprit Holdings Limited announced further profound changes at the top of the group shortly before the end of the year.
As the Hong Kong-listed fashion group announced, Chairwoman Christin Su Yi Chiu and Executive Director William Pak are resigning from their positions on December 19, 2025. Chiu most recently served as Executive Director and Chairman of the Board of Directors, and Pak as Executive Director. Both justify their withdrawal with other business obligations. According to the company, there are no disagreements with the board.
Pak shaped the renovation phase
Pak played a central role at Esprit during the strategic realignment. The former investment banker joined Esprit as Chief Operating Officer (COO) in September 2021. After CEO Mark Daley left the company after less than a year, Pak took over interim management of the group in autumn 2021. On March 1, 2022, he was finally appointed permanent CEO while retaining the roles of Executive Director and COO.
Pak is married to Christin Su Yi Chiu, who was at the head of the board of directors as chairwoman at the time.
New leadership and internal promotions
In parallel with the resignations, Esprit is restructuring its management structure. Former Executive Director Bradley Stephen Wright will take over as Acting Chairman of the Board effective December 19, 2025. In addition, two executives from the group are moving up to the board: Liu Jianyi, previously Senior Vice President China Operations, and Li Hui, Head of Legal Asia, have been appointed Executive Directors.
The composition of the board committees will also be adjusted. With the departure of Chiu and Pak, several committees will lose their existing members, while Wright will take over as chairman of the nomination committee. Liu and Li move into the General Committee.
Investigations in the context of insolvency
The new change in leadership comes at a time in which the fashion group’s crisis continues to worsen. After the insolvency of central European companies in 2024, the Düsseldorf public prosecutor’s office is now investigating Esprit. A spokesman for the authority confirmed to FashionUnited that there was initial suspicion of criminal behavior. It is still unclear who the investigation is aimed at and which specific allegations will be examined.
According to reports from Manager Magazine in September 2025, the focus will be on, among other things, possible delays in insolvency, tax law issues and asset transfers. Accordingly, extensive data evaluations are said to have been carried out on behalf of the administrator Lucas Flöther. Among other things, transfers of business shares and trademark rights from Germany via the USA to the British Virgin Islands at the end of 2023 are being examined – at a time when Esprit may already have been insolvent in Germany. In addition, tax credits from German companies are said to have been transferred abroad in spring 2024. The investigators are also examining a payment in the double-digit million range from a long-ago legal dispute that is said to have flowed to Esprit.
Note d. Editor: FashionUnited had already asked the Düsseldorf public prosecutor’s office, the law firm Flöther & Wissing and a spokesman for Esprit for a statement in September. There is no feedback on this so far.