Lacoste names new North American and Latin American CEOs

By

Gabriella Lacombe

Published
May 27, 2020

Lacoste has named Robert Aldrich as chief executive officer of the brand's North America region and Pedro Zannoni as chief executive officer of the Latin America region. 

Aldrich began as CEO of the French brand's North America region, which covers Canada, the United States, Mexico and the Caribbean, on May 18. He comes to Lacoste from the Ermenegildo Zegna Group, where he most recently served as CEO of the Americas region. Previously, he served as the Italian fashion house's executive vice president, wholesale, and CEO of North America.

Prior to joining Ermenegildo Zegna, Aldrich also worked for Giorgio Armani as president, wholesale of Armani Collezioni Men's.

Zannoni began as CEO of Lacoste's Latin America region on May 1. He joins Lacoste from sports equipment company Asics Corporation, where he served as president of Asics' Latin America region since 2018. Previously, he worked for approximately four years at Adidas, where he served as senior commercial director for Brazil, and later as vice president of the Latin America region for Reebok, among other roles. 

Zannoni has also previously served as commercial director at Puma and general manager at French tennis, badminton, and squash equipment company, Babolat.

The two newly appointed executives will report to Jean-Louis Delamarre, executive vice president, global markets and distribution.

“We are delighted to announce today the appointment of Robert Aldrich and Pedro Zannoni," Delamarre said. "These two arrivals illustrate the brand's ambition to strengthen and accelerate our brand penetration and equity in these regions."

"We are counting on their in-depth knowledge of Latin America and North America as well as their commercial dynamism to continue the premiumization and desirability of the brand. These appointments come in a particularly challenging time. Yet I am confident that [Aldrich] and [Zannoni] will demonstrate their leadership, commitment and solidarity to help Lacoste come out of this crisis stronger."

Alongside the new executive appointments, Lacoste has begun to adapt its business during Covid-19. Early last week, the French brand began to reopen U.S. boutique and outlet locations with new health and safety measures in place, including stores in Texas, Florida, North Carolina and Ohio.