Francesca Bellettini is the 2018 Alumna of the Year

Francesca Bellettini, President and CEO of Saint Laurent, has been nominated 2018 Bocconi Alumna of the Year. The honor assigned by the Bocconi Alumni Community, awarded to a graduate who stands out due to his or her commitment to the Bocconi values of professionalism, initiative, integrity, responsibility and pluralism, goes to the manager who graduated from Bocconi in Business Economics in 1994.

After graduating Francesca Bellettini started her career in London as an investment banker, working at Goldman Sachs International and then Deutsche Morgan Grenfell, where she assisted financial operations for luxury fashion houses and dedicated herself to corporate finance and, in particular, to company mergers. In 1999 she entered the fashion sector, joining the Prada Group, and was then appointed operations manager of Helmut Lang in 2002. Francesca Bellettini joined the Kering Group in 2003 as strategic planning director and associate worldwide merchandising director of Gucci before then taking on the role of worldwide merchandising director of Bottega Veneta. Appointed in September 2013 as Chief Executive Officer of Saint Laurent, Francesca Bellettini is currently President and CEO of the Maison and also a member of Kering's Executive Committee.

"A very interesting and special professional path, dictated by her passion for her work and always mindful of Bocconi's values, with the right balance between analysis and flair, rationality and creativity. Francesca accepted the challenge of leading Saint Laurent with courage and dedication and initiated a process of profound renewal and redefinition, while at the same time managing to maintain unchanged the brand's DNA and its iconic and non-conformist style," comments Riccardo Monti, President of the Bocconi Alumni Community. 'Modernity is allowing creativity the freedom to express itself '. Words from Francesca herself, which well reflect her managerial thinking and personality: creativity at the heart of the strategic process, freedom of expression, teamwork in an international and multicultural context, trust in people, propensity to change, uncompromising passion. A formula that has proved to be successful for Saint Laurent which, in the years following the arrival of Francesca, has recorded an annual growth of 20%."

"It is an honor and a further opportunity to thank Bocconi University for its impeccable teaching, which has certainly contributed to the achievement of my ambitious professional goals," comments Francesca Bellettini.


The first Bocconi Alumnus of the Year award was given in 1988.

Here are past recipients:
Luca de Meo, 2017
Stefano Sassi, 2016
Giuseppe Sala, 2015
Federico Marchetti, 2014
Joerg Asmussen, 2013
Giovanni Ciserani, 2012
Fabrizio Saccomanni, 2011
Diego Piacentini e Laura Cioli, 2010
Nouriel Roubini e Giovanni Castellucci, 2009
Alberto Cribiore e Gaetano Micciché, 2008
Paolo Cuccia, 2007
Enrico Cucchiani, 2006
Vittorio Grilli, 2005
Claudio Costamagna, 2004
Vittorio Colao, 2003
Paolo Scaroni, 2002
Marco Drago, 2001
Corrado Passera, 2000
Renato Soru, 1999
Emma Bonino, 1998
Alessandro Profumo, 1997
Emma Marcegaglia, 1996
Isabella Ventura, 1995
Carlo Scognamiglio, 1994
Marco Tronchetti Provera, 1993
Giovanni Giudici, 1992
Lucio Stanca, 1991
Jody Vender, 1990
Tommaso Padoa-Schioppa, 1989
Giordano Zucchi, 1988
Roberto Mazzotta, 1987