Paul Deneve (born 16 February 1961) is a

Belgium Belgium, ; french: Belgique ; german: Belgien officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. The country is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to th ...

business executive and former vice president at

Apple An apple is an edible fruit produced by an apple tree (''Malus domestica''). Apple trees are cultivated worldwide and are the most widely grown species in the genus ''Malus''. The tree originated in Central Asia, where its wild ancestor, ' ...

from 2013 to 2017. He is the former

chief executive 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 Yves Saint Laurent (YSL), a subsidiary of

Kering Kering () is a French-based multinational corporation specializing in luxury goods. It owns the brands Balenciaga, Bottega Veneta, Gucci, Alexander McQueen and Yves Saint Laurent. The timber-trading company Pinault S.A. was founded in 1963, by ...

. Between 1997 and 2013, he managed a number of companies in the luxury sector, including Courreges, Nina Ricci,

Lanvin Lanvin () is a French Luxury goods, luxury fashion house based in Paris. Founded in 1889 by Jeanne Lanvin, it is the oldest French fashion house still in operation. Since 2018, it has been a subsidiary of Shanghai-based Lanvin Group. Bruno Sialel ...

and YSL.

Early life and education

Deneve grew up in

. He graduated from the

Solvay Business School The Solvay Brussels School of Economics and Management (abbreviated as SBS-EM and also known as simply Solvay) is a school of economics and management and a Faculty of the Université libre de Bruxelles, a French-speaking private research univ ...

at ULB, University of Brussels. He also holds an MBA from the

University of Chicago The University of Chicago (UChicago, Chicago, U of C, or UChi) is a private university, private research university in Chicago, Illinois. Its main campus is located in Chicago's Hyde Park, Chicago, Hyde Park neighborhood. The University of Chic ...

and an MSc in Management from Stanford University.

Career

Deneve began his career in 1985 as an internal auditor at ExxonMobil EMEA, before becoming a financial controller at Oriflame International. He then went on to hold several sales and marketing positions within Apple Europe, from 1990 until 1997. In 1997, Deneve joined the fashion house Courreges as Managing Director and went on to take the helm of Nina Ricci between 2003 and 2005. He was President of

from 2006 to 2008, where he worked closely with the Artistic Director Alber Elbaz. In April 2011, Deneve was made President and CEO of YSL and in March 2012, he announced the appointment of

Hedi Slimane Hedi Slimane (; born July 5, 1968) is a French photographer and grand couturier. From 2000 to 2007, he held the position of creative director for Dior Homme (the menswear line of Christian Dior S.A., Christian Dior). From 2012 to 2016, he was the ...

as Creative Director. In July 2013,

Apple Inc Apple Inc. is an American multinational technology company headquartered in Cupertino, California, United States. Apple is the largest technology company by revenue (totaling in 2021) and, as of June 2022, is the world's biggest company ...

announced Deneve will be joining the company as vice president. In their announcement, Apple Inc specified that Deneve would work on "special projects" and report directly to

Tim Cook Timothy Donald Cook (born November 1, 1960) is an American business executive who has been the chief executive officer of Apple Inc. since 2011. Cook previously served as the company's chief operating officer under its co-founder Steve Jobs ...

. He assumed the role that September 16, then began working on the

Apple Watch Apple Watch is a line of smartwatches produced by Apple Inc. It incorporates fitness tracking, health-oriented capabilities, and wireless telecommunication, and integrates with iOS and other Apple products and services. The Apple Watch was rel ...

. During his tenure, he brought in other YSL execs to Apple, including Catherine Monier, then YSL Europe president and retail director. In December 2017, Deneve officially left Apple. Alongside the film producer Stuart Parr, Paul Deneve acquired and developed the Venetian velvet slippers (" friulane") company Piedàterre.

Boards

Since May 2012, he has been a member of the Executive Committee of the Fédération Française de la Couture, du Prêt-à-Porter des Couturiers et des Créateurs de Mode (English: French Federation of Fashion and of Ready-to-Wear of Couturiers and Fashion Designers), as well as a jury member for the ANDAM Fashion Awards. In 2008 he was elected member of the board of the

Comité Colbert The Comité Colbert is an association "to promote the concept of luxury." The members are 81 French luxury brands. It was founded in 1954 by Jean-Jacques Guerlain. ''Métiers'' or Trade Sectors The association is divided into thirteen métiers o ...

, the French luxury goods association, and was subsequently re-elected in June 2012. Deneve is an advisor to several

Silicon Valley Silicon Valley is a region in Northern California that serves as a global center for high technology and innovation. Located in the southern part of the San Francisco Bay Area, it corresponds roughly to the geographical areas San Mateo Coun ...

start-ups, and is a Sloan Fellow at Stanford University.

Personal life

Deneve is married with Anne-Sophie Deneve, an art collector.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Deneve, Paul Belgian businesspeople in fashion 1961 births Living people Apple Inc. executives Belgian chief executives Stanford Sloan Fellows