MILAN — Sergio Rossi and its artistic director Evangelie Smyrniotaki, best known online as Style Heroine, are parting ways by mutual agreement and as the latter’s two-year contract with the footwear house expires.
This marks the first major brand move since a new chief executive officer, Helen Wright, was installed at Sergio Rossi last December.
The Athens-based Smyrniotaki was named to the top creative job by former CEO Riccardo Sciutto in January 2022 tasked with redefining Sergio Rossi’s brand image and identity. She worked on ad campaigns, content creation and debuted two footwear capsule collections for the shoemaker.
“It has been a privilege for Sergio Rossi to collaborate with such a talented artistic director. Evangelie [Smyrniotaki] has been able to shape the image of the brand, preserving its DNA creating a new aesthetic. Sergio Rossi wants to warmly express its gratitude to Evangelie for her professionalism and dedication and she will always be part of the Sergio Rossi family,” the company said in a statement.
New CEO Wright is tasked with spearheading a “strategic transformation of the house,” focusing on collection content, the optimization of distribution channels, brand visibility and execution, furthering the shoe label’s footprint in key markets such as North America, the United Arab Emirates, Japan and Greater China.
A fashion veteran who boasts a 25-plus year career in the industry, Wright succeeded Paul Kotrba, who stayed at the Italian luxury footwear brand for seven months in the interim CEO position succeeding Sciutto, who exited Sergio Rossi last May.
The footwear brand based in San Mauro Pascoli, a key footwear district in Italy, is owned by Lanvin Group. As reported, Sergio Rossi’s sales in 2022 amounted to 61.9 million euros. In the first half of 2023, its parent said revenues at the luxury footwear firm increased 22.4 percent to 33 million euros compared to the same period in 2022.
Lanvin Group, then known as Fosun Fashion Group, took control of the shoemaker in the summer of 2021 from Absolute Luxury Holding Srl, an independently managed subsidiary of European investment house Investindustrial, its former owner. The latter acquired Sergio Rossi from Kering in December 2015.
