Sebastian Suhl (born 1969) is an American fashion industry

executive Executive ( exe., exec., execu.) may refer to: Role or title * Executive, a senior management role in an organization ** Chief executive officer (CEO), one of the highest-ranking corporate officers (executives) or administrators ** Executive dire ...

and former

CEO A chief executive officer (CEO), also known as a central executive officer (CEO), chief administrator officer (CAO) or just chief executive (CE), is one of a number of corporate executives charged with the management of an organization especially ...

of Marc Jacobs International.Vanessa Friedman
"Marc Jacobs Gets a New C.E.O.: Why It Matters,"
''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'', July 18, 2014."Sebastian Suhl,"BusinessOfFashion.com
retrieved November 3, 2015. Suhl was the key player of sexual harassment and discrimination case of Prada Group,

Prada Female Discrimination Case The Prada Female Discrimination Case was a lawsuit filed in Japan by former Prada employee Rina Bovrisse accusing Prada of sexual harassment and gender discrimination in the workplace. Prada denied all charges and countersued Bovrisse for defamatio ...

, the first women’s rights case of fashion industry counter reported to the

Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, commonly known as the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) or the United Nations Human Rights Office, is a department of the Secretariat of the United Nati ...

and the first case for #Me Too movement of the fashion industry.

Education

Suhl earned a bachelor's degree in Political Science and Economics from Colorado College in 1989 and a Masters in Business Administration from

ESADE Esade (Escola Superior d'Administració i Direcció d'Empreses) is a prestigious international private educational institution based in Barcelona, Spain. Esade runs two schools of the university, Esade Business School and Esade Law School, as well ...

in 1992."Sebastian Suhl,"EuropeanCEO.com
April 17, 2012.

Career

Suhl began his career in 1992 as a senior auditor with

Deloitte & Touche Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu Limited (), commonly referred to as Deloitte, is an international professional services network headquartered in London, England. Deloitte is the largest professional services network by revenue and number of profession ...

in Barcelona. In 1996 he moved to Paris to take a managerial position with consulting firm Solving International.Miles Socha
"Marc Jacobs Appoints New CEO,"
''

Women's Wear Daily ''Women's Wear Daily'' (also known as ''WWD'') is a fashion-industry trade journal often referred to as the "Bible of fashion".Horyn, Cathy"Breaking Fashion News With a Provocative Edge" ''The New York Times''. (August 20, 1999). It provides infor ...

'', July 18, 2014. Suhl entered the Fashion Industry in 1997 as Managing Director at Thiminster, followed by his role as Director of Business Development for Courreges, beginning in 1999.

Prada

Suhl joined

Prada Prada S.p.A. (, ; ) is an Italian luxury fashion house founded in 1913 in Milan by Mario Prada. It specializes in leather handbags, travel accessories, shoes, ready-to-wear, and other fashion accessories. Prada licenses its name and branding t ...

in 2001 as General Manager of France. In 2005 he was promoted to CEO in the Asia-Pacific region, where he spearheaded the Italian firm's retail expansion. In September 2009 he became

Chief Operating Officer A chief operating officer or chief operations officer, also called a COO, is one of the highest-ranking executive positions in an organization, composing part of the "C-suite". The COO is usually the second-in-command at the firm, especially if t ...

of Prada Group, heading the retail, wholesale, e-commerce and marketing departments for Prada, Miu Miu and

Car Shoe The Original Car Shoe, or simply Car Shoe, is an Italian high fashion brand owned by Prada. Early years Car Shoe was founded in 1963 by Gianni Mostile. The brand soon became best known for its signature moccasin which feature tiny rubber nubs. The ...

brands. In 2011 Suhl launched Prada's

IPO An initial public offering (IPO) or stock launch is a public offering in which shares of a company are sold to institutional investors and usually also to retail (individual) investors. An IPO is typically underwritten by one or more investment ...

in Hong Kong where the luxury goods group raised $2.1 billion. Suhl was also instrumental for Prada's expansion into the

U.S. The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country Continental United States, primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., ...

Ukraine Ukraine ( uk, Україна, Ukraïna, ) is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the second-largest European country after Russia, which it borders to the east and northeast. Ukraine covers approximately . Prior to the ongoing Russian inv ...

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and

UAE The United Arab Emirates (UAE; ar, اَلْإِمَارَات الْعَرَبِيَة الْمُتَحِدَة ), or simply the Emirates ( ar, الِْإمَارَات ), is a country in Western Asia (The Middle East). It is located at th ...

."Sebastian Suhl COO of PRADA Group resigns,"CPP-Luxury.com
December 1, 2011. In 2009, Rina Bovrisse, an executive at Prada Japan K.K. contacted Suhl a Global COO at Prada Group in

Milan Milan ( , , Lombard: ; it, Milano ) is a city in northern Italy, capital of Lombardy, and the second-most populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of about 1.4 million, while its metropolitan city h ...

urging to protect her female employees from sexual harassment and illegal sales by forcing her staff to buy Prada products. The Prada Japan K.K. CEO, Davide Sesia and human resources manager, Hiroyuki Takahashi were threatening female staff to purchase Prada products and enter the sales as customers on a regular basis to boost up the sales in Tokyo for IPO approval in Hong Kong. Suhl asked Bovrisse to send him the evidence of sexual harassment and illegal sales. Right after Bovrisse sent the evidence, Suhl forced Bovrisse to resign. Bovrisse took the case to the Tokyo court. Suhl countersued Bovrisse from his Prada logo registration subsidiary, Prada Luxembourg SA, for “damaging Prada’s logo.” In Japan, sexual harassment is not illegal at workplace. The Tokyo court ruled in Prada's favor with the reason “well-compensated women should absorb this level of harassment.” This let the UN

Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, commonly known as the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) or the United Nations Human Rights Office, is a department of the United Nations Secretariat, Se ...

to call for Japan's State party to introduce new regulations that would make sexual harassment in the workplace illegal.

Givenchy

In 2012 Suhl left Prada to become CEO of

Givenchy Givenchy (, ) is a French luxury fashion and perfume house. It hosts the brand of haute couture and ready-to-wear clothing, accessories, perfumes and cosmetics of Parfums Givenchy. The house of Givenchy was founded in 1952 by designer Hubert de ...

. While there he opened 25 new boutiques while continuing to expand the brand's customer base in newly emerging markets in the East, including China and India. Suhl's appointment was met with controversy. Asian Transnational Corporation Monitoring Network (ATNC), a network made of labour organizations from 12 Asian countries wrote a letter of concern to LVMH Group's Bernard Arnault as Suhl is involved in the discrimination case at Prada when the company "should proactively adopt measures to eliminate any forms of discrimination and fully observe the laws and regulations regarding labour rights, social justice and equal opportunities".

Marc Jacobs

In July 2014

LVMH LVMH Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton (), commonly known as LVMH, is a French holding multinational corporation and conglomerate specializing in luxury goods, headquartered in Paris. The company was formed in 1987 through the merger of fashion house ...

appointed Suhl CEO of Marc Jacobs International.Scarlett Kilcooley-O'Halloran
"Marc's New Man,"
''

Vogue UK British ''Vogue'' is a British fashion magazine published based in London since autumn 1916. It is the British edition of the American magazine ''Vogue'' and is owned and distributed by Condé Montrose Nast. British ''Vogue'' editor in 2012 c ...

'', July 17, 2014. He was replaced in July 2017. Valentino He is since November 2017 managing Valentino's development of international sales.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Suhl, Sebastian Living people Colorado College alumni American chief executives of fashion industry companies Directors of LVMH 1969 births