Francesca Bellettini, from Bocconi to Saint Laurent

"Ever since I was a student, I wanted to manage a company and today I have fulfilled that desire, thanks in part to Bocconi. Many of my professional successes have in fact been made possible by the tools I acquired during my university studies."This is how Francesca Bellettini, a 1994 graduate in Business Economics and CEO of Saint Laurent, remembers her years at Bocconi, the enthusiasm she felt for her Economics lectures by Mario Monti and constant debate with Maurizio Dallocchio, the advisor for her thesis on Business Management and the Unique Factor: An application to the case of Pirelli.

Francesca Bellettini will return to Bocconi on Monday 29 May for three different appointments. In the afternoon, she will meet first with Bocconi graduate students at a gathering in collaboration with Bocconi Alumni Association and Bocconi Students for Fashion, then with SDA Bocconi students in the MAFED program. Later she will meet alumni during a Dinner Speech, where she will be the guest speaker (information for registration available here).

Bellettini came to the world of fashion through investment banking, working in corporate finance and, in particular, mergers of small companies in the industry. In 1999, she started at Prada and, in 2003, she joined Kering, the French luxury colossus of more than €11b owned by the Pinault family. First working for Gucci and then Bottega Veneta, in 2013, she was appointed CEO of Saint Laurent. She took part in an important rebranding operation at the maison, which recorded growth of 23.7% in the first half of 2016, the best performance of all the brands in the Kering group. From figures to pure creativity, Francesca Bellettini's task is to sell the dream of luxury, while keeping this
iconic fashion brand competitive.

Read the interview with Francesca Bellettini published in the October 2016 issue of Via Sarfatti 25.