Speakers
Please find below the list of the confirmed speakers as per date, in alphabetical order:
Ms Yuwadee Chirathivat
CEO of Central Department Store Group, Thailand
Ms Chirathivat joined Central Department Store, a part of Central Group, in 1981 and was appointed to various positions in both the operations and merchandising departments. In 1996, she was appointed the President of Central Department Store. In 2004 until 2006, she was the first-ever woman - as well as the third-ever Asian - to be elected President of the Intercontinental Group of Department Stores (IGDS). After her Presidency, she remains active in her role in the IGDS as part of its Executive Board. Whilst being President of Central Department Store, she has seen the store nominated in 2008 as one of the top three department stores in the world and as one of the top 5 in 2010, by the Global Department Store Summit. Presently, Central Department Store has 21 stores throughout Thailand and Ms Chirathivat has been instrumental in its continuous growth to the present day. In 2014, Central Group has reorganized the business and management structure and Ms Chirathivat has been appointed CEO of Central Department Store Group overlooking all of the Group’s department store operations in Asia (Central, Robinson, ZEN in Thailand; Central in Indonesia), and Europe (La Rinascente in Italy; Illum in Denmark; The KaDeWe Group in Germany). She has also been chosen by Forbes as one of Asia’s 50 Power Businesswomen in 2012, 2013, 2015, and 2016.
Prof Bin Dai
President of China Tourism Academy, China
Prof Bin Dai is a professor and the president of China Tourism Academy, as well as a doctoral supervisor of Huaqiao University and Henan University. He received his PhD degree of Economics from the China Academy of Social Sciences in 2004. He specialized in studies of tourism enterprise management and tourism industrial economics, with over 400 theses and 40 monographs published. Prof Dai has presided more than 60 research projects funded by government and commercial organizations such as National Natural Science Foundation, China National Tourism Administration, the Ministry of Education, etc. Since January 2001, he has been working for Beijing International Studies University as associate professor, professor of tourism management department, director of restaurant management department, deputy director general, director general of the scientific research department, standing subeditor of the academic journal, assistant to the principal and president of the college of Sino-Swiss restaurant management.
Mr Frédéric de Narp
CEO of Bally, Switzerland
Mr De Narp has been CEO of Bally Schuhfabriken AG since November2013. Before joining Bally, he has been CEO and President at Harry Winston, Inc. at Dominion Diamond Corporation since January 2010, where he led the turnaround of the renowned luxury jewellery and timepiece brand. He spent before two decades at Cartier where he held international luxury retail positions throughout Asia and Europe. He also served as President and CEO at Cartier North America, Inc. from 2005 to 2010; Retail Manager of Cartier Switzerland and Retail Manager and CEO of Cartier Italy. Mr De Narp has been a Director of Jewelers of America since August 2006.
Prof Stéphane Garelli
Professor of World Competitiveness at IMD Business School, Switzerland
Professor Garelli - a world authority on competitiveness - has pioneered research in this field for 25 years. Professor at IMD, where he has founded the World Competitiveness Centre, he is also professor at the University of Lausanne. Closely connected to the world of business, he is among others, Chairman of the Board of Directors of "Le Temps", the leading French language Swiss newspaper. He was formerly Chairman of the Board of the Sandoz Financial and Banking Holding, and member of the board of the Banque Edouard Constant. Professor Garelli was the Managing Director of the World Economic Forum and of the Davos Symposium for many years. For twelve years he was also permanent senior adviser to the European management of Hewlett-Packard. He is a member of a number of institutes: China Enterprise Management Association, Board of the ‘Fondation Jean Monet pour l'Europe’, The Swiss Academy of Engineering Sciences, the Mexican Council for Competitiveness, etc. and an advisory committee member of the Thai Management Association. He is the author of numerous publications on competitiveness and global business, and he published his best-selling book "Top Class Competitors - How Nations, Firms and Individuals Succeed in the New World of Competitiveness" with Wiley. His latest book in French is: “Etes-vous un tigre, un chat ou un dinosaure’, chez Slatkine, Genève.
Mr Daniel Grieder
CEO of Tommy Hilfiger, U.S.A.
Mr Grieder has over 25 years of international experience in various positions as Managing Director, Founder, President and CEO within several European companies. After graduating from HWV (Höhere Wirtschafts & Verwaltungsschule) Business School in Zürich, Switzerland in 1986, he founded Max Trade Service AG, which produced and sold leatherwear to leading department stores throughout Switzerland. In 1989, he became Managing Director of Pepe Jeans Switzerland, overlooking then also Austria. As part of the pan European launch of Tommy Hilfiger, he became an independent sales agent for the company in 1997, and helped introduce the brand in his native home of Switzerland and Austria. Seven years later he joined the company’s management team as Vice President of Commercial Operations, and within two years he relocated to Amsterdam, The Netherlands, to assume the role of COO and President, Tommy Hilfiger Europe. Since then, Mr Grieder has effectively overseen the overall operational leadership of the European business, and in 2008, he became CEO, Tommy Hilfiger Europe. Following PVH Corp.’s acquisition of the Warnaco Group, Inc. in 2013, which integrated Calvin Klein Europe into their portfolio, he assumed the role of CEO, PVH Europe, overseeing all of the groups’ businesses for both Tommy Hilfiger and Calvin Klein in Europe. On July 1, 2014, Mr Grieder became the global CEO, Tommy Hilfiger, in addition to his continued role as CEO, PVH Europe.
Mr Georges Kern
CEO of IWC Schaffhausen, Switzerland
Mr Kern studied Political Science in Strasbourg, France, and obtained a degree in Business Administration from the University of St. Gallen, Switzerland. He acquired experience in the fast-moving consumer goods sector at Kraft Foods Switzerland before joining the watch industry at TAG Heuer (LVMH group). In 2000, he joined the Richemont Group of Swiss luxury goods, and following the acquisition of A. Lange & Söhne, Jaeger-LeCoultre and IWC, was active in the integration of these brands. In 2002, he became the youngest CEO within Richemont when he joined IWC Schaffhausen which, upon his initiative gained certification as a carbon-neutral company. Mr Kern counts active climate protection among his corporate responsibilities, and is a Board Member of The Climate Group, an independent, non-profit organization helping governments and businesses focus the economy on a path to a low-carbon, prosperous future. He is also committed to charitable causes, serving as a Board Member of the Laureus Foundation, which promotes the use of sport as a tool for social change. He is a Board Member of the Swiss-American Chamber of Commerce, served as a member of the Young Global Leaders at the World Economic Forum (2005 – 2010), and then as Founding Curator of the Global Shapers Community in Zurich in 2011.
Mr Mathieu Loury
Senior Vice President of Merchant Solutions, MasterCard Solutions, U.S.A
Mr Loury is the Senior Vice President and Group Head of Global Merchant Solutions for MasterCard Advisors, the analytics and insights consulting unit of MasterCard. He has worked globally with the leading names across all our merchant client verticals (Airlines, Hotels, Restaurants, Grocers, Specialty Retailers, Department Stores and Malls) on how to use data, analytics, consulting and technology to inform best ROI decisions across a wide array of topics. These topics include customer acquisition and retention, market entry and store location, retail and brand mix optimization, tourist spending, loyalty and customer experience, store performance, marketing and merchandising optimization. rior to joining MasterCard, Mathieu worked for 8 years with McKinsey &Company as a core member of the retail and consumer goods practice.
Mr André Maeder
CEO of The KaDeWe Group, Germany
Mr Maeder, born in Switzerland, is an expert for the global market of international retail and premium and luxury brands. In January 2014, he became CEO of The KaDeWe Group GmbH with its three top German department stores: KaDeWe in Berlin, Alsterhaus in Hamburg and the Oberpollinger in Munich. The future focus of the KaDeWe Group is to develop all three stores over the next years into modern, trendy and creative meeting places for all customers from all over the world. Before the division of the KARSTADT Warenhaus GmbH into three different companies, Mr Maeder was Chief Retail Officer and Member of the Board of KARSTADT Warenhaus GmbH. Prior to this he served as CEO of Charles Voegele Holding AG for 3 years, a fashion chain with 800 stores in 10 countries and more than 20,000 employees. Before joining Charles Voegele, he worked at Harrods, London, as Chief Retail and Chief Merchandise Officer for 6 years. From 2004 to 2009 he was Member of the Management Board of Hugo Boss AG and Chief Retail Officer in charge of developing more than 500 stores worldwide.
Mr Colm McLoughlin
Executive Vice Chairman of Dubai Duty Free, United Arab Emirates
Mr McLoughlin began his retailing career in London in the 1960’s working for the popular high-street chain of Woolworths, before moving back to Ireland to work for Shannon Duty Free. He was one of a team of ten from Aer Rianta (the Irish Airport Authority) who moved to Dubai in 1983 to set up Dubai Duty Free. Following the successful opening of Dubai Duty Free in 1983, Mr McLoughlin was asked to remain as General Manager of the start-up operation. He later became the Managing Director of Dubai Duty Free, which is one of the leading airport retailers in the world with sales turnover of US$1.917 billion in 2014. Employing almost 6,200 staff, Dubai Duty Free is widely regarded for having set the benchmark for the duty free industry in the region. In July 2011, he was named Executive Vice Chairman of Dubai Duty Free and its subsidiary businesses, which include The Irish Village, The Century Village and the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Stadium, home to the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships and the Jumeirah Creekside Hotel, which is owned and developed by Dubai Duty Free and is managed by the Jumeirah Group.
Dr Lars Nittve
Advisor & former Executive Director of M+, Hong Kong
Dr Nittve was born in Stockholm in 1953. He studied Economics at the Stockholm School of Economics and Art History at Stockholm University where he also served as a lecturer in Art History 1978-1985. Since 2010 is he a Professor in Art History at Umea University in Sweden. After working as Senior Art Critic in Stockholm Daily Svenska Dagbladet and regular contributor to Artforum magazine in New York 1979-1985, he started a career as Curator and later Museum Director taking him to the Moderna Museet, Stockholm (Chief Curator 1985-1990); The Rooseum – Center for Contemporary Art , Malmoe, Sweden (Founding Director 1990-1995); The Louisiana Museum of Modern Art, Humlebaek, Denmark (Director 1995-1998); Tate Modern, London (Founding Director 1998-2001); The Moderna Museet, Stockholm (Director 2001-2010) and M+ at West Kowloon Cultural District, Hong Kong (Executive Director 2010-2016). From 2016 Dr Nittve is an External Advisor to M+ in Hong Kong and an international museum consultant and CEO of Sweden based Nittve Information AB. He has served on the jury of numerous international prizes and been on the board of large number of international art organizations. He is the author of several books on art, as well as articles in journals and catalogues in Sweden and abroad. He is a member of the Royal Swedish Academy of Fine Art and was in 2010 awarded H.M. The King’s Medal in gold, 12th size in the Order of the Serafim’s ribbon. In 2013 Dr Nittve was named, by Le Nouvel Observateur magazine, one of “The Fifty who Change the World” and in 2014 the Art Review “Power 100” list ranked him as the number eight museum director in the world and as number one in Asia.
Mr Michele Norsa
CEO and Group Managing Director of Salvatore Ferragamo, Italy
Mr Norsa was appointed CEO and Group Managing Director of Salvatore Ferragamo S.p.A. on 2 October 2006. Prior to this, he was General Director of the Valentino Fashion Group S.p.A. from July 2005 and CEO of the Valentino Group from May 2002. He was also Vice Chairman of Sistema Moda Italia from 2002 to 2006. Furthermore, from 2003 to 2005, Mr Norsa served on the Board of Directors of Hugo Boss AG. Starting from 1997 he worked with Marzotto S.p.A., where he was General Director Apparel Sector, Chairman of Marzotto USA and Chairman of Marzotto France. From 1994 to 1997, he was President and CEO of Benetton Sportsystem Active and, earlier still, from 1985 to 1993, he worked in Sandys (Sergio Tacchini), where he was CEO of the group. Between 1976 and 1985 Mr Norsa was President of the Rizzoli Book Division and Chairman of Sansoni. Previously, at Rizzoli he had been appointed to different posts in Buenos Aires, Geneva and New York. Mr Norsa graduated with first class honours in Business Administration from the Università Cattolica, Milan, in 1971. He currently serves on the Board of Directors of Oettinger Davidoff AG and is a member of the International Advisory Board of the China Europe International Business School (CEIBS).
Mr Sehun Park
Corporate advisor at Galleria Department Store Group, South Korea
Mr Park is corporate advisor and former CEO (2012-2015) of Galleria Department Store Group, the leading luxury retail brand in Korea. Galleria Department Store Group consists of 5 department stores nation-wide, 2 duty-free stores and directly run coffee franchise (US$ 1.8 Billion in volume). During his tenure as CEO of Galleria, Mr Park led full-scale turnaround of the business, including reopening of Galleria flagship store in 2014, which is regarded as a distinguished premium specialty store in Korea and Asia. Prior to joining Galleria Mr. Park served as CMO/ head of consumer finance at Hyundai Capital/ Hyundai Card for 7 years (part of Hyundai Motor Group, Korea), and also as consultant at McKinsey & Company for 8 years. Mr Park holds an M.Phil degree in International Relations from St. Antony's College, Oxford.
Ms Yolanda Perdomo
Director of Affiliate Members Programme of The World Tourism Organization (UNWTO), Spain
Ms Perdomo has experience in both the public and private sectors and is an expert in tourism destination promotion and distribution. She has been Vice-Councillor for Tourism of the Government of the Canary Islands and Managing Director of PROMOTUR, the tourism promotion organization of the Canary Islands, where she has directed communication and promotion campaigns for tourism, strategic plans, statistical and competitive analysis, loyalty campaigns and the creation of product clusters with the aim of diversifying and differentiating tourism products. She has also been Director of the BungalowsClub booking portal, as well as Business Development Manager at Tourism Revolution Ecosystem (TRE). Born in the Canary Islands (Spain), Ms Perdomo attended the American University of Paris, lived in France, the United States, Italy and now works in Madrid. She is a member of the International Advisory Board of the Vienna Tourist Board and Doctor Honoris Causa by the University of Tourism and Management of Skopje, FY Republic of Macedonia.
Mr Gabriele Pezzini
Co-Founder & Vision Seeker of Thinkers Consulting, France
Mr Pezzini, Artistic Director & Design Theorist, studied photography before finding his 'calling' and completing the Master of Design program at ISIA in Florence. His approach is immersive and involves bringing a spirit of inquiry and experimentation to the problems of industrialization. In 1991 he joined the international team at Allibert where he became Design Manager. In 1999, he opened his own studio in Milan and began to collaborate with Italian and International companies, as well as pursuing a variety of self-initiated projects. The creation and organization of design exhibitions allowed him to deepen his theoretical analyses of human perception and the contamination of our everyday lives by objects. Since 2006, he serves as consultant for the house Hermes, for whom he was Design Director from 2008 until 2010. In 2012, he cofounded the Thinkers Consulting agency, specialized in Creative Strategies and Artistic Direction.
Ms Anne Pitcher
Managing Director of Selfridges & Co, United Kingdom
Ms Pitcher has been Managing Director of Selfridges since 2011, having joined as Buying and Merchandising Director in 2004. During her time with the business, Selfridges has been voted Best Department Store in the World by IGDS on three consecutive occasions. Ms Pitcher has overseen a period of unprecedented commercial performance and growth at the luxury retailer, with sales reaching £1.3 billion in 2014. Selfridges is also focused on the development of a truly multi-channel operation which in October 2014 saw the successful re-launch of selfridges.com, which is now delivering to over 130 countries. With the commencement of a £300 million investment in its Oxford Street store, plans for the coming years are very ambitious. In 2014 Selfridges was the first department store to achieve the Carbon Trust triple standard award of certification for achievements in carbon, water reduction and improvement in waste management for the Carbon Trust. Selfridges is working with the Centre for Sustainable Fashion to ensure its teams are equipped to ask the right questions of brand partners.
Ms Corinne Poux-Bernard
Co-Founder & Harmony Hunter of Thinkers Consulting, France
Ms Poux-Bernard, Manager of strategic projects, brings her extensive experience and perspective gained managing a variety of renowned French luxury goods companies. She began her career at eyewear paragon Alain Mikli International where she was Director of Collections. In 1992, she joined the Hermes group, where she held 3 executive positions over the course of 20 years. She served as business unit manager, first over the ”Home and Leisure” segment, and then the ”Bags and Luggage” division, then subsequently created the Innovation group in 2006, which she managed until 2012. Ms Poux-Bernard’s experience has culminated in a broad, holistic approach where creativity is the mainspring of differentiation, and is leveraged to deliver character, value and performance. In 2012, she completed an EMBA at HEC and partnered with Gabriele Pezzini, cofounding Thinkers Consulting, an agency specialized in Creative Strategy and Artistic Direction.
Mr Urs Rohner
Chairman of the Board of Directors of Credit Suisse, Switzerland
Mr Rohner is the Chairman of the Board of Directors of Credit Suisse Group AG and chairs the Chairman's and Governance Committee. Before his appointment to Chairman, he was full-time Vice-Chairman of the Board of Directors of Credit Suisse Group AG. Prior to that, he was a member of the Executive Board, where he served as Chief Operating Officer and Group General Counsel. Mr Rohner is a member of the Board of Directors of GlaxoSmithKline plc as well as of the Institute of International Finance and other industry groups in financial services. Prior to joining Credit Suisse, Mr Rohner served as Chairman of the Executive Board and CEO of ProSiebenSat.1. This followed a number of years in private practice at major law firms in Switzerland and the USA.
Mr Steve Sadove
Principal at Steve Sadove and Associates & Advisor to MasterCard, U.S.A.
Mr Sadove currently serves as a principal of Steve Sadove & Associates and as Chair of the Board of Trustees of Hamilton College. He also sits on the Board of the National Retail Federation and was its prior Chairman. Mr Sadove previously served as Chief Executive Officer of Saks Incorporated from 2006-2013, acting as Chairman of the Saks Incorporated Board from May 2007-2013. Before becoming Chief Executive Officer, he served Saks Incorporated as Vice Chairman from January 2002 to March 2004 and served as Vice Chairman and Chief Operating Officer from March 2004 to January 2006. Prior to his position with Saks Incorporated, Mr. Sadove served as Senior Vice President of Brisol-Myers Squibb Company (“Bristol-Myers”) and President of Bristol-Myers Worldwide Beauty Care and Nutritionals from 1996 to January 2002. Mr Sadove holds a bachelor’s degree from Hamilton College and an MBA with Distinction from Harvard Business School.
Mr Franco Savastano
CEO of Jelmoli, Switzerland
Mr Savastano has been CEO of Jelmoli – The House of Brands department store in Zurich - since 2012 and member of the Swiss Prime Site Executive Board. From 2001 to 2012, he was a member of the Executive Board of Brunschwig & Cie where he held the position of Director of the Grieder fashion stores in German-speaking Switzerland, as well as Procurement Director for Grieder throughout Switzerland. From 1997 to 2001, he held positions as Head of the creative teams for the fashion labels Strellson and Tommy Hilfiger Clothing. From 1988 to 1996, he worked as Procurement Director at Fein-Kaller Uomo and Donna; and from 1986 to 1988, as Assistant to the Director of Sales at Hugo Boss Switzerland Ltd. Other mandates include Member of the Foundation Board of the pension fund and of the charitable foundation of SPS and Jelmoli; Chairman of the Zurich Bahnhofstrasse Association.
Mr Marc Spiegler
Global Director of Art Basel, Switzerland
In his role as Art Basel's Global Director, Mr Spiegler leads the organisation's activities worldwide. Art Basel stages three premier art fairs, sited in Basel, Miami Beach, and Hong Kong, which together spotlight more than 500 of the world's top galleries and their artists, as well as developing an expanding roster of activities beyond the shows. In recent years, Art Basel has developed further projects worldwide such as the Crowdfunding Initiative in partnership with Kickstarter and a course for emerging collectors, realised in collaboration with Hong Kong University and Central Saint Martins in London. Before joining Art Basel, Mr Spiegler worked as a journalist for 15 years, covering the art world most recently but before that architecture, design, the high-technology industry, and politics. He obtained his B.A. in Political Science at Haverford College (USA), and attended Medill School of Journalism in Chicago, earning a Masters of Journalism in 1994.
Mr Richard Umbers
CEO & Managing Director of Myer, Australia
Mr Umbers was appointed CEO and Managing Director of Myer in March 2015. In his role, he is responsible for leading the organisation and delivering a significant program of change and reinvigoration to ensure that Myer continues to be an exciting destination for all customers.
Mr Umbers joined Myer in September 2014 as Chief Information and Supply Chain Officer, with responsibility for online strategy, financial services and MYER one, as well as the logistics and IT functions. He has extensive retail, logistics and IT experience and has held senior roles at Aldi in Europe and Woolworths in Australia and New Zealand. He joined Myer from Australia Post, where he was the Executive General Manager for Parcel and Express Services and CEO of StarTrack.