Bruno Pavlovsky resigns from Chanel Ltd board but stays president of fashion

Bruno Pavlovsky has resigned from the board of Chanel Limited while remaining president of Chanel's fashion activities and president of Chanel SAS, the company confirmed in a statement on Thursday. The departure is a governance change, not an exit: the 63-year-old stays in place at the French house.

Chanel framed the move as the final step in a long rebuild. "This latest move marks the completion of the board's evolution towards a composition of independent directors, bringing diverse external expertise and perspectives," the company said, adding that executive representation continues through the global executive chairman and global chief executive officer.

Pavlovsky joined Chanel in 1990 from consulting firm Deloitte and became president of its fashion division in 2004. He is also president of Chanel-owned swimwear brand Eres, president of Le19M, the house's craftsmanship hub in the north of Paris, and head of the Fédération de la Haute Couture et de la Mode.

He took the federation chairmanship in 2022 and was re-elected in July. Last year President Emmanuel Macron named him an officer of the French Order of Merit for services to fashion. The resignation is the latest turn in a succession plan the Wertheimer family set in motion five years ago.

Chanel is the French house Coco Chanel founded in 1910, and Alain and Gérard Wertheimer own all of it. That privacy, we have written, lets the family hold prices and invest across downturns rather than answer to quarterly pressures. The same patience now shapes its leadership change.

A generation steps back

Pavlovsky is the last of a generation of senior executives to remain in place following the 2021 arrival of Leena Nair as global chief executive officer. Under Nair the company has seen a run of veteran departures, including John Galantic, president and chief operating officer of Chanel Inc. since 2006.

He has worked alongside three of the house's four official creative directors. Pavlovsky spent years beside Karl Lagerfeld until his death in 2019, then with Virginie Viard from 2019 to 2024, and now with Matthieu Blazy, who has been in the role since April 2025.

Blazy's first collections are driving the business. Chanel's revenues rose 3 percent at reported exchange rates to $19.3 billion in 2025, an increase of 1.8 percent in comparable terms, and unconfirmed reports put comparable sales up 16 percent in the first half of 2026 as those collections hit stores.

What the board change means

Chanel stressed that Pavlovsky "remains fully committed to his role as president of Chanel's fashion activities and president of Chanel SAS." The company did not say whether the vacated seat will be filled, or by whom, and gave no reason for the timing beyond the board's evolution.

The shift is part of the pricing strategy we have tracked closely. Chanel's Medium Classic Flap rose 95 percent in six years to $11,300, outpacing US inflation by more than four to one, and revenue climbed past $19 billion as demand intensified. Resale values have held 80 to 100 percent of retail.

In our guide to the Wertheimer empire we noted that staying private lets the family think in decades rather than quarters. A board of independents paired with an executive chairman and chief executive extends that logic to governance: ownership is unchanged, but outside voices now fill the room.

We also reported Chanel at $38 billion against Louis Vuitton's $33 billion when it overtook Vuitton as France's most valuable brand for the first time in years. Pavlovsky, in the fashion role since 2004, was part of the continuity behind that valuation.

The house met its first limit on pricing in 2024, when revenue fell 4.3 percent and China dropped 9.3 percent, prompting a shift to inflation-aligned increases of around 3 percent. The board change lands as sales rebound, testing whether an independent board sustains the same discipline.

Governance joins the other fronts Chanel is reworking under the Wertheimers: creative direction with Blazy, pricing moved toward inflation-aligned increases, and a board now composed of independents while the family's ownership stays at 100 percent.

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Images: Bruno Pavlovsky Courtesy of Chanel; Chanel