Following a collaboration with L’Oréal, Nike and Apple, and the launch of a beauty line, French luxury fashion brand Jacquemus announces the appointment of a new CEO, Sarah Benady. In her new role, Benady will work with the founder and artistic director Simon Porte Jacquemus to drive international expansion and business growth.
Jacquemus Appoints New CEO, Sarah Benady
Following the departure of CEO Bastien Daguzan in December 2023, founder Simon Porte Jacquemus who previously held the positions of both creative director and CEO, once again managed the design, marketing and administrative, opening new boutiques in New York and London, plus franchise locations in Seoul and Dubai.
With Benady’s arrival, Simon Porte Jacquemus can invest more time in the collections. Jacquemus was recently honoured by the Couture Council of The Museum at FIT with its 2024 Couture Council Award for Artistry of Fashion, in New York City. He was also recipient of the 2024 Neiman Marcus Award for Innovation in the Field of Fashion; and most recently he was decorated as a Knight of the Order of Arts and Letters — the youngest fashion designer to receive this honour.
“As an independent designer, I was always keen on being innovative and creative in the design of my collections and also in my communication,” said Jacquemus. “It’s always about communicating and creating experiences with our community in a unique way.”
Who is Sarah Benady?
Sarah Benady joins Jacquemus from Celine, where she served as President of North America from 2021. In her role as CEO, Benady will open the Los Angeles boutique in April followed by the Miami store in the first quarter of 2026, explore more international markets, and lead the luxury fashion brand as it enters the beauty category with French giant L’Oréal as its long-term licensee and new minority investor.
A graduate of French business school HEC, Benady started her career as a project manager at French department store Printemps, later joining The Kooples, as international director and then president, four years as North American president of Ba&sh and finally at the helm of Celine’s North American operations.
Per WWD, Jacquemus described Benedy as “someone with a business mind, but also a product lover.…We had the same feeling and the same ambition for the brand, for where we want to go.…It’s about finding the right balance of development and protecting the brand.”
The way forward for Jacquemus
Jacquemus was founded by Simon Porte Jacquemus in 2009 in Paris. Dedicated to the memory of the fashion designer’s late mother, a passion for culture inspires the ready-to-wear and accessories that reference a French way of life and universal gestures of beauty: from fine art photography to the decorative arts, cinema, painting and sculpture. The styles are minimalist, asymmetrical, surrealist and effortless.
Simon Porte Jacquemus
Jacquemus has staged runway productions in spectacular locations such as a lavender field in Provence, a wheat field outside of Paris, a salt marsh in the Camargue, a beach in Hawaii and at the Château de Versailles. In 2012 the French designer was invited to present his collection at Paris Fashion Week. After being nominated twice for the LVMH Prize and winning a special jury prize in 2015, he has since gained not only the recognition of critics but also an international fan base that includes celebrities such as Kendall Jenner and Bella Hadid.
Today, Jacquemus is an independent fashion house known for its strong digital presence. The Parisian brand has over three hundred employees and hosted novel retail experiences worldwide, before opening its first flagship store at 58, Avenue Montaigne, Paris in 2022. Following this milestone, stores opened in Dubai, Seoul, New York and London.
One of the key factors behind Jacquemus’s success is the fashion designer’s ability to balance artistry with wearability. His collections draw inspiration from his childhood in the south of France, incorporating elements like sun-drenched colours, rustic fabrics and fluid silhouettes. He also gained widespread attention for his viral accessories, including the Le Chiquito bag, which became a must-have item among celebrities.
With this appointment, Jacquemus strengthens its vision of structuring its development while maintaining its creative independence. Jacquemus has stores in the best locations for luxury retail, including a 3,200 sq-ft, two-level space on Avenue Montaigne in Paris, Spring Street in New York and New Bond Street in London. Its seasonal boutiques in Saint-Tropez, Ibiza, Monaco, Capri, Courchevel, and Mykonos have also been met with great success.
The luxury fashion brand has huge plans for the year ahead. By the end of April, the first Jacquemus store in Los Angeles will open at 8800 Melrose Avenue, followed by the Miami store in early 2026. “There is room for Jacquemus in South America. Asia is also a significant potential market,” he told WWD, highlighting the performance of his store in the Dubai Mall. “We could open more stores in that mall because it’s been a huge success.
Jasmeen Dugal is Associate Editor at FashionABC, contributing her insights on fashion, technology, and sustainability. She brings with herself more than two decades of editorial experience, working for national newspapers and luxury magazines in India.
Jasmeen Dugal has worked with exchange4media as a senior writer contributing articles on the country’s advertising and marketing movements, and then with Condenast India as Net Editor where she helmed Vogue India’s official website in terms of design, layout and daily content. Besides this, she is also an entrepreneur running her own luxury portal, Explosivefashion, which highlights the latest in luxury fashion and hospitality.
