The Estée Lauder Cos.’ ownership of Tom Ford is kicking off with high-level hires.

Because it accomplished its acquisition of Tom Ford Friday and just days after the legendary designer released his final women’s collection, the Estée Lauder Cos. has appointed Guillaume Jesel president and chief executive officer of the brand, while Peter Hawkings has been tapped as creative director.

The Ermenegildo Zegna Group, which holds the style license as a part of Estée Lauder’s deal — which valued the brand at $2.8 billion — has appointed a CEO of Tom Ford Fashion, who is anticipated to be revealed in July and assume the role within the third quarter. This role will probably be liable for the collections, merchandising and production, in addition to retail and wholesale distribution.

Tom Ford and Domenico De Sole will proceed to function brand advisers through the top of the yr. As an alternative of fashion, Ford plans to focus on film projects in development via his production company Fade to Black, in line with a representative.

Of the brand new leadership appointments, Ford said, “Guillaume is an exceptional leader, with not only a powerful business understanding of beauty, but an excellent understanding of fashion as well.”

He called Hawkings, his longtime collaborator, the perfect creative director. “Peter began working with me 25 years ago as a menswear design assistant at Gucci and rapidly worked his way as much as turn into the senior men’s designer at the corporate when he left to affix me on the Tom Ford brand,” he continued. “He’s an incredibly talented leader with tremendous industry experience, and his appointment gives me confidence that my commitment to creating fashion products with the very best level of design and quality will proceed.”

As president and CEO of Tom Ford, Jesel, who has led Tom Ford Beauty since 2014 and was promoted to president of Tom Ford Beauty and Balmain Beauty in September, can have oversight across all verticals, reporting to Lauder executive leaders Jane Hertzmark Hudis, executive group president, and Tracey T. Travis, executive vp and chief financial officer.

Jesel has helped construct Tom Ford Beauty, for which Lauder has held the license since around 2005, into a significant brand that is anticipated to attain $1 billion in net sales annually over the subsequent couple of years, with analysts expecting that it’ll soon expand into skincare and latest markets.

Prior to leading Tom Ford Beauty, Jesel spent a decade with MAC Cosmetics and in addition served in a variety of other senior roles since joining Estée Lauder in 2000, including vp of world makeup marketing.

“Guillaume has been instrumental in shaping the luxurious beauty sector of our business. His ability to articulate the Tom Ford brand has resulted in Tom Ford Beauty achieving remarkable global success, making him ideally suited to steer the Tom Ford brand into its exciting future,” said Fabrizio Freda, president and CEO of the Estée Lauder Cos.

As for Hawkings, most recently senior vp of Tom Ford menswear, his responsibilities will include oversight of womenswear, menswear and accessory categories, assuming the role of lead designer for the style segment and fashion shows. He’ll report on to Jesel and to the CEO of Tom Ford Fashion when that person joins.

Hawkings began his profession in 1998 at Gucci under the helm of Tom Ford and worked closely with him on the event of the Gucci menswear collections. He left Gucci in 2006 to affix Tom Ford within the launch of his eponymous brand, where he oversaw the design and production of menswear.

“Peter is considered one of the world’s most achieved menswear designers. His design experience working under Tom Ford is unparalleled and his commitment to quality is relentless,” said Jesel. “There isn’t any yet another perfectly suited than Peter to hold the founder’s legendary creative vision into the long run.”

Of the yet-to-be-announced Tom Ford Fashion head, Ermenegildo Zegna, CEO of Ermenegildo Zegna Group, said, “We’re delighted to appoint a powerful leader for Tom Ford Fashion and sit up for leveraging the leader’s luxury business acumen and international experience to further grow the Tom Ford Fashion business globally.”

As a part of the deal, Marcolin SpA has entered long-term license agreements for Tom Ford eyewear.

As previously announced, the Estée Lauder Cos. paid about $2.25 billion for Tom Ford, outbidding Gucci owner Kering and marking the beauty giant’s first enterprise into the style world and its biggest deal ever. The deal was funded by money readily available and proceeds from the issuance of business paper, in addition to $250 million received from Marcolin. An extra aggregate amount of $300 million in deferred payments from Estée Lauder to the sellers becomes due starting in July 2025.

Recently Estée Lauder’s business has been grappling with COVID-19 cases in China, which weighed on the corporate in the course of the crucial holiday season, triggering declines on each the highest and bottom lines and causing it to lower its full-year profit forecast. On the time Freda said its return to growth has shifted to the fourth quarter.

One among the brilliant spots, nevertheless, was Tom Ford Beauty, especially in fragrances, which include Black Orchid and Tuscan Leather, helping that category enjoy double-digit growth. Lauder is little doubt betting this can only proceed to grow.