MOVING TO MILAN: Valentino has named Karim Zebdji director of global communications, effective Monday.
He will be based in Milan and will report to Liran Peterzil, chief marketing officer, who joined the brand in February.
Zebdji was most recently worldwide PR director at Saint Laurent in Paris, a brand he joined almost 10 years ago. Prior to Saint Laurent he held communications roles at Hogan, under the Tod’s Group umbrella, and Dunhill.
Zebdji will succeed Tanja Ruhnke, who left in May 2025.
Valentino has been led by chief executive officer Riccardo Bellini since September 2025. He has been gradually building his team, starting with a deputy to flank him in the new chapter of the Rome-based couture house. In December last year, he appointed Laurent Bergamo deputy CEO. Bergamo first joined Valentino in 2018, after spending 14 years at Tod’s.
Davide Tosi was named chief merchandising officer of Valentino. He was previously global chief merchandising officer of ready-to-wear at Gucci.
Valentino is designed by creative director Alessandro Michele, who unveiled his spring 2027 collection for the brand in Paris last week at the Sainte-Geneviève Library in the Latin Quarter.
Last year, Kering and Mayhoola jointly announced that the current ownership structure of the Valentino house will not change before 2028 at the earliest. This represents an amendment to their shareholders’ agreement, inked at the time of Kering’s acquisition of a stake in Valentino in 2023. Following the new agreement, Mayhoola’s put options on Kering exercisable in 2026 and 2027 for its remaining 70 percent stake in Valentino are now postponed to 2028 and 2029, respectively. Kering’s call option to acquire Mayhoola’s stake in 2028 is also deferred to 2029.
