Santa Maria Novella
Historic Italian fragrance brand Santa Maria Novella (Officina Profumo-Farmaceutica di Santa Maria Novella) announced two executive appointments, both effective immediately.
- Roberto Pesenti, the third child of Italmobiliare chairman Carlo Pesenti, was named chief executive officer.
- Marco Barberini was named general manager, a newly created role.
Above: Roberto Pesenti
Roberto Pesenti succeeds Ludivine Pont, who has left the company.
Born in 1994, Roberto Pesenti holds a degree in mechanical engineering and business finance from University College London and an MSc in materials engineering from Stanford University. He began his career in New York, spending two years at private equity firm Eurazeo, where he focused on investments in US mid-market companies.
In 2019, Roberto Pesenti joined the development and investment department of Italian industrial group Italmobiliare, where he worked on deal sourcing, due diligence, and investments in Italian companies and international investment funds. He has served on Italmobiliare’s board since 2023 and has headed the group’s strategic development department since January 2025.
In 2021, Italmobiliare, the investment group owned by the Pesenti family, took full ownership of Santa Maria Novella.
Roberto Pesenti has served on Santa Maria Novella’s board since 2024 and also chairs gres art 671, a centre for contemporary art and culture in Bergamo, Italy, established jointly by Italmobiliare and Fondazione Pesenti Ets.
Marco Barberini has extensive experience in the luxury industry, having held roles at companies including Bain & Company, YOOX NET-A-PORTER GROUP and Ermenegildo Zegna Group. He will work with Roberto Pesenti to lead the company’s expansion, oversee its operations, and carry forward the brand’s 800-year heritage.
The Estée Lauder Companies
US prestige beauty giant The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. appointed Rachele Testa Schaefers as executive director of global communications for makeup brands.
In her new role, Rachele Testa Schaefers will oversee global communications across the group’s entire makeup portfolio, taking a “social-first, culture-led” approach to strengthen brand relevance, deepen consumer engagement and drive business results. The portfolio includes Bobbi Brown and MAC Cosmetics.
Rachele Testa Schaefers has more than 20 years of communications experience. Before joining The Estée Lauder Companies, she was vice president of global communications at VaynerX. Over her career, she has worked with companies and brands including Procter & Gamble, Rémy Cointreau, Dr. Martens, and Uniqlo, leading award-winning marketing campaigns and global product launches.
Wella Company
International haircare group Wella Company announced a series of strategic leadership changes.
- Yannis Rodocanachi was named chief brand officer, a newly created role.
- Carole Gardner Diarra was named chief marketing officer.
- Victoria Spadaro-Grant was named chief scientific & product officer.
- Javier Huerta was named chief supply chain officer.
- Chief scientific officer Peter Coles is retiring.
Above: Yannis Rodocanachi, Carole Gardner Diarra, Victoria Spadaro-Grant, Javier Huerta
Yannis Rodocanachi, Carole Gardner Diarra and Victoria Spadaro-Grant will report to chief executive officer Calvin McDonald. Javier Huerta will report to Frank Smalla, chief financial officer and chief operating officer.
In his new role, Yannis Rodocanachi will oversee brand management, consumer and customer insights, and creative standards across the group’s seven strategic brands, with the aim of building brands that professionals and consumers recognise and love. He moves into the role from his position as Wella Company’s president of brands and chief marketing officer. From October 2019 to October 2021, he was chief executive officer of independent beauty brand BH Cosmetics, where he built a beauty platform for Gen Z consumers. Before that, he spent more than 18 years in senior management roles at L’Oréal. He holds an MSc in business from NEOMA Business School in France.
In her new role, Carole Gardner Diarra will lead global marketing and build the teams and processes to bring brand strategy to market, turn brand affinity into consumer demand and put a “professional-led, consumer-driven” approach into practice across the portfolio. She has more than 25 years of experience in beauty, fashion, and consumer brands, most recently as global vice president of marketing at UGG. She previously served as global chief marketing officer of direct-to-consumer wellness brand Arbonne and spent 15 years at L’Oréal, working in the US and Paris across global brand management, consumer insights, innovation, marketing operations, digital commerce and profit and loss management. She holds a BA in economics from Duke University and an MBA from Harvard Business School.
In her new role, Victoria Spadaro-Grant will connect scientific research with consumer needs and commercial opportunities, drawing on the group’s six global R&D centres, more than 300 researchers and over 1,200 granted and pending patents. Victoria Spadaro-Grant has served as chief science & innovation officer at Tate & Lyle since November 2020 and previously helped modernise Barilla’s R&D operations. Her qualifications include a bachelor’s degree in food engineering from Universidad Nacional de Luján, an MBA from the University of Minnesota’s Carlson School of Management and a PhD in food engineering from Texas A&M University.
In his new role, Javier Huerta will lead the global supply chain team and improve sourcing, manufacturing, quality control and logistics to support the group’s omnichannel strategy, including e-commerce and direct-to-consumer operations for selected brands. He will also join the group’s executive team. Javier Huerta brings 30 years of global experience at Imperial Brands, Unilever and Nestlé. At Imperial Brands, he built the company’s first fully integrated global supply chain.
Over his 36-year career, Peter Coles led R&D operations at Wella Company, Coty and Procter & Gamble. He will remain with Wella Company as a part-time adviser after retiring.
Unilever
European consumer goods giant Unilever announced that board member Ruby Lu resigned with effect from 24 October.
Ruby Lu joined Unilever as a non-executive director in October 2021 and also served on its Audit Committee and Corporate Responsibility Committee.
Ruby Lu is a venture capital investor with experience in China’s technology and consumer sectors. In 2019, she founded Atypical Ventures, an early-stage technology investment firm. She previously co-founded DCM China in 2006 and spent 12 years with the firm. Earlier in her career, she was a vice president in Goldman Sachs’ investment banking division. Unilever
Ruby Lu also serves as an independent director of Yum China and Kuaishou Technology and sits on the board of Volvo Group.
Galderma
Swiss skincare group Galderma announced the departure of chief financial officer Luigi La Corte.
Luigi La Corte will continue to serve as chief financial officer during the transition to ensure continuity and a smooth handover. The company will provide further details on succession plans and the transition timetable in due course.
Luigi La Corte has more than 30 years of international financial leadership experience in the healthcare and consumer sectors. He joined Galderma on 1 April 2026.
Meanwhile, Sherilyn McCoy will step down from the board after seven years due to conflicting commitments.
The board has put forward several proposals to strengthen its governance, including increasing the maximum number of board seats from 10 to 11 and electing Rosalind Brewer and Petra Rumpf as directors until the close of the next Annual General Meeting. Both candidates bring extensive leadership and corporate governance experience, with expertise across consumer-facing businesses, healthcare, medical technology and life sciences. The board has also proposed a separate vote to elect Rosalind Brewer to the Compensation Committee.
Haus Labs
US beauty brand Haus Labs announced that singer and brand founder Lady Gaga had been named chief executive officer.
Lady Gaga succeeds co-founder Ben Jones, who left the company in October.
Lady Gaga first launched the beauty brand in 2019 under the name Haus Laboratories. In 2022, she overhauled the brand, renaming it Haus Labs, refreshing its visual identity and reworking its product range to focus on clean formulations and active ingredients.
Alongside running Haus Labs, Lady Gaga recently became a co-founder of Outer Bio, a platform for researching and developing bioactive ingredients. She co-founded the company with US entrepreneur Michael Polansky. It uses Yuna, its in-house research platform, to discover and test new approaches to skin health.
Patrick Ta
US luxury makeup brand Patrick Ta announced the appointments of Angela Simpson as chief marketing officer and Carolyne Rapp as vice president of creative, both effective immediately.
Above: Angela Simpson, Carolyne Rapp
Angela Simpson joins from celebrity-founded makeup brand Haus Labs, where she had served as chief marketing officer since April 2025. Before that, she spent nine years in leadership roles at NARS, including two years as senior vice president of marketing.
Carolyne Rapp is Patrick Ta’s first vice president of creative. She previously held senior creative and visual roles at brands including Theory, Coach and MERIT, where she served as creative director.
Based in Los Angeles, Patrick Ta Beauty was co-founded in 2019 by renowned makeup artist Patrick Ta, established product specialist Rima Minasyan, and serial entrepreneur Avo Minasyan. The brand aims to offer versatile products that can create a range of looks and help people feel good in their own skin.
| Sources: Official press releases, personal social media accounts and FashionNetwork
| Image Credit: Official press releases and personal social media accounts
| Editor: Luxeplace
