Ferragamo names former Valentino CMO Yigit Turhan as chief brand officer

Ferragamo has handed Yigit Turhan one of the house’s most consequential jobs at a fraught moment: the former Valentino marketing chief will take over as chief brand officer on May 18, with control over marketing, communications, visual merchandising and CRM. In a luxury market where image, clienteling and conversion now move together, the role puts Turhan at the center of Ferragamo’s turnaround machinery, not just its public face.

Turhan is expected to succeed Michela Ratti and will report to James Ferragamo, the company’s chief transformation and sustainability officer. That reporting line matters. It places brand polish inside a broader reset, one that is clearly aimed at tightening the way Ferragamo looks, sounds and sells across channels. The appointment follows an internal shake-up that already brought Ferragamo Finanziaria’s naming of former Estée Lauder chief executive Fabrizio Freda as special strategic adviser on April 20.

The message from Florence is hard to miss. Ferragamo is not merely changing personnel; it is trying to align its brand story with a business still under pressure. The company’s first-quarter 2026 revenues were 209 million euros, down 5.5 percent at current exchange rates and 1.2 percent at constant exchange rates from the same period in 2025. Direct-to-consumer net sales reached 161 million euros, up 5.5 percent at constant exchange rates, while wholesale sales fell 19 percent to 42 million euros. In other words, Ferragamo’s own stores and digital channels are holding up better than the wholesale floor, exactly the sort of split that makes sharper client conversion and more disciplined brand presentation feel urgent.

Turhan arrives with a résumé built across some of luxury’s most closely watched houses. He joined Valentino in 2018, worked in roles including director of brand strategy, was named chief marketing officer in 2023 and left the brand in February 2026. Before that, he had stints at Gucci, Zegna and Dolce & Gabbana. Ferragamo appears to be betting that a marketer with both fashion-house fluency and a commercially minded instinct can help the label sharpen its narrative without losing its heritage.

The appointment lands after a difficult stretch. Ferragamo reported 976.5 million euros in consolidated revenues for the year ended Dec. 31, 2025, down 5.7 percent from 2024. CEO Marco Gobbetti’s departure was announced on February 3, 2025 and took effect on March 6, 2025, with Leonardo Ferragamo saying the company was continuing its brand renewal and succession process. Turhan’s arrival suggests that next phase is now less about symbolism than execution: a cleaner story, a tighter client journey and a more exacting luxury proposition.